Officially marking the halfway point in my journey to see all 59 US National Parks, Mammoth Cave National Park protects the longest natural cave system in the world, with vast underground caverns stretching for over 400 miles beneath the flat and forested terrain of Kentucky.

At what point does a quest become legitimate? That is the question I have repeatedly asked myself since that fateful day last June when I decided to embark on this voyage to see all that America’s National Parks had to offer. It’s funny looking back at some of the early parks like the Channel Islands (park #2) and thinking how absurd it seemed that I would be visiting 57 more places in the coming years. Yet- here we are 8 months later, past the halfway point and only 29 parks away from being done!

Anyways- enough about me- let’s talk about Mammoth Cave!

About Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park protects the longest Natural Cave System in the world- stretching for over 400 miles! To put things in perspective, the next closest cave (in Mexico) is only 335 miles long.

Fun Facts About Mammoth Cave

• While it officially has been mapped at 405 miles, expert cavers continue to find new, unexplored passages in the Cave and predict that there may be as much as 600 more miles of cave to be explored.

• Originally the area was all Private land and many profitable businesses sprouted up to give “cave tours.” Since there were only a handful of natural entrances, inspired entrepreneurs would look for depressions or divots in the earth and use dynamite to create their own cave entrance:

• Part of what makes the cave so long is that very little water seeps through, preventing the growth of stalagmites and stalactites. In a normal cave, these naturally growing cave phenomenon would eventually become large enough to “seal” off entire caverns.

Where is Mammoth Cave and How Do I Get There?

Mammoth Cave is in South-Central Kentucky near Bowling Green- the easiest way to get there is to fly to Nashville and drive up (roughly 1.5 hours).

Tips for Visiting Mammoth Cave

• The only way in or out of the cave is via Ranger-led tour- I would highly recommend booking the tours in advance of your visit. I did the Domes and Dripstones tour which was awesome- you can book that here:

https://www.recreation.gov/tourDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&tourId=206060

• This Park is designed to be visited in one day- the tours are short and infrequent and the trails outside of the cave leave much to be desired.

• Some of the passages are quite narrow- so if you are claustrophobic, I would probably take a pass on this Park!

Next up I’m off to Virginia to see Shenandoah Valley- so long for now!

-MB

Bonus Photos: