Mammoth Cave National Park
Day 1 April 19, 2023
This park has no entry fee however, to go in the caves, you have to take a paid tour. I got to the park in the afternoon and spent 3.5 hours hiking all the trails around the visitor center. The visitor center was swarmed with people waiting for cave tours. As soon as I got on the trails, there were few people. Surprisingly, the trails were mostly gravel with set in steps, some concrete or boardwalks. As it was spring, wildflowers and butterflies were in abundance. The deer were not even remotely concerned about nearby hikers. There were several dry river beds where the river is now underground and likewise several springs where the underground rivers have come to the surface. This dynamic was kind of cool. There were also information signs along several trails explaining the history, geography and how the caves formed. The most concerning part of the whole hike was a small snake in the middle of the trail that looked way too much like a baby rattlesnake. I am not the best with snake identification, so I stayed far away from it.
Day 2 April 20, 2023
On the way into the park I saw a flock of guinea fowl and a single large tom turkey strutting his stuff. I had researched all of the different cave tours in advance and booked the Grand Historic Tour. Another bonus point for planning ahead. Most of the cave tours were sold out for the day by 8am. My tour was just under four hours and went into several side caves including one by lantern. The caves no longer have many stalagmites and stalactites as they were broken off and removed by tourists 200 years ago, but the caves are so massive that it is impressive and worth taking a tour. Not all of the passageways were large. There were many spots where everyone had to duck down or in the case of “Fat Mans Misery” squeeze through. We were able to see one of the underground rivers that I saw the spring above ground the day before. The guide was informative and entertaining. The history of the cave system from modern mans impact is really a lesson in what NOT to do with a cave including graffiti, soot from lanterns and killing off most of the bats.
Total Cost: $171.28
