Mammoth Cave National Park in a Day

Today we are visiting the world’s longest cave system in the world at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Along with our daughter we are headed to Mammoth Cave for the day. And we have a full day planned for our trip to our 21st national park together!

Planning Our Day at Mammoth Cave

There is only 1 national park that Becky has been to that I haven’t. And it’s Mammoth Cave National Park near Bowling Green, Kentucky. She went about 20 years ago with her parents, but it’s my and our daughter’s 1st time. Though I’ve been to Bowling Green before and remember it’s not far from Nashville, Tennessee. So we book a timeshare rental in the Music City. Nashville is a great place to stay for many reasons, and it’s an easy 1.5 hour drive up I-65 to the park.

Mammoth Cave National Park contains the longest cave system in the world over 426 mile long!  And the thing to do here is a cave tour of course. However, there are multiple options with different levels of difficulty.  And it is highly recommended to book your tickets online prior to arriving at the park.  So, we buy tickets for the Historic Tour at 11:30AM for the classic 2 hour tour.  It is rated Moderate and a distance of 2 miles but does include 540 stairs. For more information including how to purchase them, see Cave Tours – Mammoth Cave National Park (nps.gov).

We’re supposed to check in for our tour 30 minutes early at the visitor center, so we’ll go there first.  And after the tour, we’ll plan to eat lunch.  But since most of the restaurants are closed due to construction at the lodge next door, we’ll pack a picnic lunch.  And after our cave tour we’ll explore the park more. There are plenty of short interesting hikes in the park.  Though the outside temp is in the high 70’s today, the cave is around 54 degrees Fahrenheit. So we’ll bring layers. Sounds like a plan!

Arriving at Mammoth Cave

We arrive at the Mammoth Cave entrance sign just after 9:30AM in plenty of time before our tour. So, we stop at the sign to get a few pictures. We also notice a trailhead here for the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail. This trail follows an old railroad line all the way to the visitor center. Though it is many miles from here. So, after a short stop we get back into our car to head to the visitor center.

As soon as we start driving though, we see a wild turkey on the side of the road.  So, we turn around to get a closer look. We park to see a female turkey venture into the road before heading back to the side. Already excited to see wildlife, we continue on the road to the visitor center. Though we don’t see any more wildlife on the way, it is a beautiful drive to get there.

Checking in at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center

We arrive at the visitor center right before 10:00AM and there is plenty of parking.  And out front is a covered area with signs for the tours today. All of the guided tours show sold out except for one historic tour starting in 15 minutes. Though, there are self-guided tours still available. But we are glad we booked ours in advance. Inside is an information area in the center staffed by multiple park rangers. So we ask where we need to check-in for our tour. And they advise to be at Shelter A outside, just 5 minutes before the tour starts. We also talk to them about some of the hikes we’re interested in doing.

Afterwards, we go inside the park store where Becky gets her passport stamp. Our daughter also has a junior ranger passport book we get stamped. Though she does not want to do the $2 junior ranger activity book.  Since admission to the park is free, they charge a nominal fee for the books. Though you also have to pay for the cave tours which are very reasonable.

To the side of the rangers is where you can purchase tickets if available. And we see a 3:30PM Cleaveland Avenue Tour has become available so we go to inquire. All the tours start at the visitor center, but this one you load a bus to go to another cave entrance a few miles away. It sounds very interesting and we could do it. But we are not sure if our daughter will be able to do both 2 hour tours. So, we decide to pass and head outside. We immediately see Shelter A, but with 45 minutes until our tour, we decide to explore the area.

River Styx Spring Trail

Just past Shelter A is a paved walkway that heads down and past the lodge. Though the walkway to the lodge is closed due to construction at this time. And from here it is just 0.2 miles to the historic cave entrance, though it’s on a decline all the way. As we approach the cave, a ranger asks if we have passes. We tell him we do for the 11:30 tour, but we’re headed to the River Styx Spring and back first. We only have about 30 minutes at this point, but he tells us we can do it if we hurry.

Just past the cave entrance, the paved walkway turns to a rocky dirt trail. Though well-maintained, our daughter complains about the rocks the whole way getting a couple in her shoes.  But this is a nice walk through the woods where we can hear a woodpecker in the distance. The trail leads to a fork, where a sign points left 0.1 miles on a boardwalk to River Styx Spring.

At the end of the boardwalk is an overlook of the spring. The River Styx is an underground river that emerges here to join the Green River. And you can see a cave entrance with water trickling out of it. It’s cool, but it would be nice to get a little closer. Though we see some trees with what looks like a ruler on them. And we can imagine this area flooded after a lot of rain. But with less than 20 minutes, we head back and of course it’s uphill the whole way.  Not to mention, it’s getting pretty warm.  But we make it to Shelter A just before the start of our tour.

Start of Historic Cave Tour

A ranger says the tour will start in a few minutes and if anyone needs to use the restroom to go now. There are some restrooms on the outside of the visitor center here and Becky takes our daughter. While they go there, I find a trailer selling bottled water and grab some. We hiked back so fast we need it.

We meet back at the shelter in time to hear the park ranger start the tour. And it’s hear he talks about what we will go through in the cave. He says there will be tight spaces and lots of stairs almost to dissuade anyone from going. He even says if it doesn’t sound right for you that you can get a refund for your tickets. But we’re ready to head back to the entrance.

We are in a large group of more than a hundred. And we stop half way to the entrance where the ranger tells us about keeping the pace of the group through the cave. And it’s about 15 minutes by the time we get to the cave where the park rangers there check our tickets. Once checked, we descend the stairs into the cave while others are walking out. There are handrails the whole way as we continue on a paved walkway into the cave.

Mammoth Cave Historic Cave Tour

Once inside the cave, we are greeted with cool air that feels great to me. However, our daughter wants a jacket as we continue on the path. It opens up into a large round room named the Rotunda with a very high and flat ceiling. But we follow the group past the rotunda to the left where the paved floor transitions to hexagon pavers. The pathway lights up as we continue down a narrower path until we make it to our 1st stopping point.

Our park ranger guide gets us together to talk about some of the history of the cave. We learn that the 1st European settler discovered the cave around 1790. And the cave was already very large then as it was carved out over a million years ago. In fact prehistoric artifacts have been found indicating humans have lived and worked in the cave for thousands of years. Though no mammoth fossils were found, the cave was named after how huge it is. The guide then explains how early settlers mined the cave for saltpeter used to make gunpowder. And how saltpeter from Mammoth Cave was used in the War of 1812 versus the British.

We continue walking through the large caverns keeping pace with the group. We walk for about 10 minutes noticing no stalagmites or stalactites in this dry cave.  It’s very different then the Luray Caverns we visited last year in the Shenandoah Valley. And a little uninteresting until we head down some stairs ducking our heads. Here we see names of early explorers who burned their names on the ceiling using candles. One of the names shows a date of 1838.

Fat Man’s Misery and more of the Cave Tour

We continue on the tour up some metals stairs to a platform. Here we see a sign labeled Bottomless Pit with a deep hole on the other side of the fence here. We look down but it’s dark and of course can’t see the bottom. The passage is getting shorter having to duck more until we get to the 2nd sign – Fat Man’s Misery.

This is the narrow section the guide warned us about. It’s narrower below the waist then above it and we go through it slowly. Becky hits her leg as she passes a section, but it’s wide enough for everyone. However, there are many places I have to duck to get through. Once through we have to catch up to the rest of the tour until we get to another section with restrooms.

About halfway through the tour, the guide has stopped here to let the group catch up. I see Becky take our daughter to the restroom so I take the opportunity as well. Once out, I catch up with Becky listening to our guide. And once we get going we pass an amphitheater we also didn’t know was down here. We eventually get to more stairs that zigs-zags up about 3 stories past some interesting carved out areas. And once past this section we continue back to the main tunnel.

Exiting the Cave

Once back at the main tunnel, the guide stops the group for the last time. He talks about the breezes that we get in the cave and how the temperature can fluctuate. Though it’s always colder in the cave than outside. He also talks about white-nose syndrome that kills bats. And that we will need to wipe our feet before leaving so we don’t spread it. Then we head back passing a memorial to fallen Kentuckians from the World War. Once past the rotunda, we take the path to the exit.

Our group leaves the cave taking the stairs up the other side from the one we entered. As we get to the outside of the cave, we see water sprinkling down beside us. And before we leave we have to rub our feet across a rubber mat so we don’s spread the white-nose syndrome. It seems pointless and per the guide it’s very rare to see bats at least on this tour. But afterwards we walk back to the visitor center and Shelter A arriving 5 minutes before 1:30PM.

Visitor Center and Museum

Once we get back to the visitor center we are ready for lunch. We stop to ask a ranger about some picnic areas. She tells us about the main visitor center just past here. Though she recommends a smaller picnic area at Sloan’s Crossing Pond. But before we leave, we decide to walk through the park museum here.

The museum is very informative and we spend almost 20 minutes reading the different exhibits. It has facts about the cave, including the history and timeline of events here. It also has displays on saltpeter mining, cave explorers and more. We learned so much more in the museum than on the tour. So we definitely recommend walking through the exhibits. And since our daughter was so good on the tour, I buy here 1 thing in the park store. She picks a barn owl she nicknames Snowy.

Afterwards, we drive to the Mammoth Cave Picnic Area just past the visitor center parking lot. There are plenty of tables including some covered pavilions, but the outside tables didn’t have much shade. So, we decide to drive to the Sloan’s Pond Picnic Area.

Sloan’s Crossing Pond Picnic and Walk

We get to Sloan’s Pond after 2:15PM and there are multiple cars parked in the little parking lot here. But there are 3 picnic tables here and 2 are open. The other one is a group that has 3 little dogs and our daughter goes crazy. She loves the pups. And we find a table with partial shade. After a relaxing lunch, we throw our cooler in the car and head back to do the Sloan’s Pond Walk.

There are many sinkholes in the area, but a surface pond is unusual. And we were told you can find wildlife here including salamanders. Intrigued, we start on the 0.4 mile boardwalk trail around the pond. At the start of the trail you can go straight to a dock over the water. The pond is very still and peaceful. But we don’t see any salamanders, so we head back and start the loop around the pond. Heading left we go through the woods with glimpses of the pond on our right.

On the other side we come to a small platform where 2 people are sitting by the water’s edge. We ask what they’re looking at and they point out a large bullfrog and a small snake in the water. They also say there’s another larger snake sunning off the boardwalk farther down. As we continue on the boardwalk, Becky spots a large black racer crawling through the brush.

A little farther, we see some more people stopped on the boardwalk ahead. And they are looking at a large water snake sunning himself on the shore. Seeing enough of snakes, Becky is ready to go. We spent almost 30 minutes on the trail and about 50 minutes here before we leave.

Cedar Sink Trail

The Cedar Sink Trail is the 1 hiking trail we are most looking forward to doing. This loop trail to Cedar Sink and back is listed as only 1 mile. And it is supposed to be the best place to see wildflowers, especially this time of year. From Sloan’s Pond, it’s a 7 minute drive turning off the main road on KY-70 West. There are a few cars parked here and a portalet which is actually very clean. After a quick pit stop, I am ready for the trail.

The beginning of the trail is another nice walk through the woods. We spot an orange-colored butterfly before Becky almost steps on a millipede. She gets a stick to show our daughter and they’re both fascinated. And once over a small bridge we start to see some purple and white wildflowers. We just let our daughter run loose on the trail until we get to a fork.

Then we head left and get to some metal stairs going down to the sink. And we some people coming up the stairs, the only people we’ve seen so far on the trail. It’s easy going down, but looks much harder coming back up. So, we hope to find another way out.

Cedar Sink

At the bottom we see an overlook and a sign. Here we look down to see some water from an underground river surface before going back underground. There’s a pile of tree limbs at the bottom but can imagine a stream here after a good rainfall.  To our left is a little bridge to a platform overlooking another hole filled with water. We can also see some limestone bluffs looking up at the top of the sink. On the way back we check out the wildflowers near the bridge and pick up the trail through the sink.

The trail takes us above the hidden river and through the middle of the sink. Cedar Sink is actually the largest sinkhole in Kentucky at 300 feet deep and 7 acres long. And hiking through we take our time until we see some stairs on the other end adorned with yellow wildflowers.

The steps take us to some more metal steps up to a platform. Here we turn left to find the trail goes beside the limestone cliffs to a secret spot underneath the bluff. We call it a cave, but whatever it is, it’s a cool spot.

We turn around to take the stairs up and out of the sink to another platform. And this one looks down at the sink from the other side. After the platform the trail picks up with more stairs. Though unlike the metals stairs up and out of the sink, these are more gradual stairs until we even off. And we get back to the fork and head back the way we came. We take our time and finish the trail in about an hour and 15 minutes.

Echo River Springs Loop Trail

Becky really wants to check out the Green River Ferry. So we head back toward Sloan’s Pond and then back toward the visitor center. And then we turn on Green River Ferry Road getting there in about 10 minutes. But instead of lining up for the ferry, I pull into the parking lot here and get out. I still want to do 1 more trail, the Echo River Springs Loop Trail.

It is almost 5:00PM, but the ferry is still running. So I gamble we still have time to hike the trail before the ferry stops running. So, we start the trail from the corner of the parking lot onto a bridge over Echo River. This trail is an easy 0.6 mile loop paved and accessible trail. Though our feet are hurting. I still want to walk but our daughter wants a piggyback ride.

It’s a lovely walk through the woods getting to the spring in about 10 minutes. Here the Echo River emerges from underground and feeds into the Green River. And here I let our daughter down on the wooden platform with glass walls overlooking the spring. We then take another bridge to head back to the other side of the river. There is another overlook on this side looking back at the spring. And before the trail ends we see 2 picnic tables. They are right next to the parking lot and directly in the Sun, so glad we went to Sloan’s Pond. We finish the trail in 20 minutes and the ferry is still running!

Green River Ferry

The Green River Ferry has been operating since 1934 and is the only ferry still operating in the park. There’s an overlook to see the ferry from the parking lot where we watch it go across the river. It’s a short trip there, and we get in our car before it comes back.

By the time we get in our car, there is a car loading the ferry ahead of us. It can only take 2 cars at a time, though it can take passengers as well. So, we head down the road onto the ferry behind the other car. Once on, the gate closes behind us and we see a sign to put our car in park. So, we sit back and watch the ferry move slowly across the river. We can see a ferry pilot in the cockpit working the controls as the ferry motors engage pushing the water. The ferry is guided by cables as it goes across the river to keep it in line with the road.

This free shuttle service takes us across quickly in a minute or so. Once across the gate comes down and we follow the car in front of us onto the road on the other side. Once across there’s not much to see. We pass the turn for the Maple Springs Campground and exit the park. Then we continue on the road outside the park. We go through the small town of Brownsville before we circle back toward Nashville.

Mammoth Cave Summary

We spent the day at Mammoth Cave National Park for about 8 hours. And we did everything we wanted to do today and more. Though the Historic Cave Tour felt rushed, we walked for 1.5 hours in the massive labyrinth. We also survived Fat Man’s Misery and I didn’t hit my head once! Though this tour really makes me long to come back and explore other parts of the cave. But we also got to see so much outside the cave. We maximized our time having a picnic lunch at Sloan’s Pond. And the short boardwalk trail around the pond was nice, though we did see some big snakes.

The other hikes we did I had planned to do. We rushed down the River Styx Spring Trail and hurried even more on the way back. This trail would be more enjoyable taking it easy, but it worked out before our cave tour. And the Echo River Springs Trail was a nice paved walk through the woods to the spring and back. But our favorite hike was to the largest sinkhole in Kentucky on the Cedar Sink Trail. Not only did we get to see plenty of wildflowers, but the sinkhole itself was really interesting. We would definitely do this hike again. We had a great day in Mammoth Cave National Park, and we would definitely love to come back again soon!