Spelunking at Mammoth Cave National Park

Last summer my family and I took a trip to Mammoth Cave National Park (KY)! It was a great trip and I can’t wait to share it with you.

First off, Mammoth Cave National Park, in Kentucky, is the world’s longest known cave system, with more than 400 miles explored, and is one of the oldest tourist attractions in North America. It was HUGE when we went inside and it took us about 2 hours to navigate most of it. We got to see some old remnants of early irrigation, some mini waterfalls, and stalagmites and stalactites. One of the coolest things was actually the beginning where you walked in. It was a huge opening into the ground and we walked down about 60 steps!

As my family and I were walking down the steps, it felt like the temperature dropped about ten degrees.  Some parts of the cave have water and are very narrow, so we only walked about ⅓ of it, but still, it took us a good two hours to explore. I never knew a cave could be so big before. I was truly amazed! My brother kept saying, “This is so big!” and we laughed every time. After we were done with the walk through the cave underground we saw the beautiful forests, wildlife, and elegant mini rivers above ground in the park.

When the walk through the cave was over our tour guide gave us some quick facts about the cave. One amazing fact was that one man mapped out all of Mammoth Cave in 1815. His name is Nahum Ward. This was especially hard because there were no other existing maps before this time to navigate the cave, so he had to create his own.

Here are some helpful tips if you ever visit Mammoth Cave National Park. Make sure that if you are going to be hiking, you wear shoes or hiking boots, not slippers or sandals. Also, after a long day of hiking or sightseeing, there is a restaurant nearby where you can sit down and get a bite to eat. Make sure you bring water, trust me you’re going to need it. 

If you ever go to Mammoth Cave I think you will like it too.