Mammoth Cave National Park

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Mammoth Cave Tours

April 11

We got to Mammoth Cave National Park for cave tours, camping, and hiking at about 4:00 pm. There was no ranger at the entrance so we just proceeded to Mammoth Cave Campground, and then set up camp at our reserved site, and relaxed a bit. Our site, 101, was a nice site that backed up to a beautiful scene of woods, and our neighbors were not too close.  We were within walking distance of the camp store, visitors center, and the departure point for cave tours. We had one cave tour scheduled for each of the next two mornings.

At around 7:00 pm we hiked the very close and very short trail to Sunset Point from the campground to see sunset. It was good to get there about 20 minutes before actual sunset tine since the sun actually sets behind the mountains and trees way before it goes below the horizon. A few people got there too late.

Back at the campsite, we sat around the fire for the night. Weather was beautiful for camping. A starry night and a bit cool. We slept comfortably with the exception of an overinflated new air mattress and the demonic sound of screech owls or something like it in the middle of the night.

April 12

Extended Historic Tour

Breakfast of oatmeal cups and coffee at the campsite. We did our usual camp cooking…boiling water over our Coleman propane stove.

We walked to the visitors center to meet up with the 9:45 am ranger-led “Extended Historic Cave Tour”, our first Mammoth Cave National Park cave tour. This was a 2.25-hour, 2-mile walking tour. Ranger Lauren was a good, lively guide, and the cave sections we hit were great. Upon entering, we were greeted by two small brown bats sleeping on the wall right above our heads. The cavernous rotunda section is truly mammoth, and traversing over the bottomless pit and through other amazing cave sections was well worth the price of admission.

This tour was easy to complete, and fit for all ages and abilities. These tours are as long as they are because the rangers do spend a good amount of time explaining the history and geology of the caves.

After the tour we proceeded to hike pretty much all of the trails around the visitors center, which totaled close to 7 miles. It was very warm. Half way through the hikes we found ourselves back at the visitors center. Here we grabbed a hot dog for lunch, and then finished the hiking.

We realized that Mammoth Cave National Park is really all about the caves. The hiking trails were unremarkable with little, to no wow factor. The one wow factor was in fact a snake crossing our path on one trail.

From the trails though, we got down to the beautifully swamp-like Green River. The car ferry was in operation that day. This was the highlight of hiking on this day…beating out the excitement of the snake on the trail easily.

After the hiking we grabbed some very refreshing eskimo bars at the camp store and retired to the camp site. I cooked up some Spaghetti-O’s and we enjoyed our gourmet meal by the fire. I tossed some disc with the kids next door to us and we chilled by the fire until bed.

April 13

Cleaveland Avenue Tour

After our typical camp breakfast, we broke down camp to prepare for departure after our 10:30 AM “Cleaveland Avenue” cave tour.  This 2-hour tour also met at the visitors center but from there we took a short bus ride to where the tour actually entered the cave.  Ranger Aaron led this tour and he was very knowledgeable about the caves, history and geology, and he was passionate about Mammoth Cave National Park.  Add to that, he had been there for six years, so he was a good guide.

This cave section was different than the cave section we did the day before. This section had gypsum formations throughout that were really cool. There was also a lot of historic graffiti on the cave walls. There was also a tuberculosis healing hut down in the cave made out of stone that was actually used to “cure” the sick of TB way back when.

Mammoth Cave National Park cave tours are well worth the visit to the park.

Cedar Sink Trail

After our bus ride back, we headed to finish loading the car at the campsite. We drove to a final hike a few miles away before making our way toward Nashville.  The Cedar Sink Trail is a 2-mile loop trail that turned out to be our favorite hike at Mammoth Cave National Park. This was much more interesting than all the other hikes we did the day before. Parts of the underground river system in the park can be seen on this hike.

National Corvette Museum

From here, we took scenic roads out of the park to the National Corvette Museum about 45 minutes away in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was right on the way to our day’s destination of Nashville and then Memphis, Tennessee.  A huge attraction for the Corvette Museum used to be, ironically, a sink hole that had opened up inside and swallowed several corvettes. However, they filled it in, pulled all the cars out, and no longer show that.  We were disappointed to learn this upon entering.  But we still enjoyed looking at all the vintage cars.

We got to Nashville around 6:00 pm.  Our friends Helene and John hosted us for two nights in their home on the western edge of Nashville, near the Bellevue area, which is really just like a suburb.

Next: Memphis, Tennessee