Mammoth Cave National Park — [Traveling During COVID-19 Part 9]

I’ve lived in Indiana all my life and I never knew our neighboring state Kentucky had so many caves. Over 130 to be exact! That’s when I came across Mammoth Cave National Park and realized Kentucky has some hidden gems. They’re just underground!

Most of the National Parks in the United States are located out west, so it’s nice that we have a few near us we can drive to for a road trip! We ended up doing just that and made a girls weekend out of it.

When To Visit:

Mammoth Cave National Park is open all year round and the temperatures inside the cave usually hover around 54°. This is super beneficial because you can visit at any time of the year. During the off-season in winter, you’ll face less crowds, so this would be an ideal time to visit. It’s no surprise the summer months are the busiest and most crowded times. During the months of March, April, and May they experience heavy visitation from schools which results in larger groups on tours. We went in October and fall is still considered one of their busiest seasons. Since we visited during the Covid-19 pandemic, our tour group was already limited which was really nice, but it was definitely a bit crowded still. We spent about 10 hours at Mammoth Cave, so depending on what tours you plan on doing, going during the winter months might work best.

Tours:

There are numerous tours to choose from depending on which season you go and the amount of physical activity you’re willing to do. They have one accessible tour, but the rest involve being able to walk long distances and climbing stairs. They also offer tours where you spend your time crawling through extremely tight spaces if you’re looking for the full experience. We saw some people struggling on our tours and someone even walked out before one began. I guess they realized they were claustrophobic and it wasn’t for them.

We picked the Historic Tour and the Domes and Dripstones Tour. These were both two hour tours and two miles or less, but combined, we had to ascend and descend a total of 1,040 steps. 🥵 It’s not as bad as it sounds, but something to keep in mind because once you’re down there, there’s only one way back up!

Some other tours they offer at Mammoth Cave are:

• Broadway Tour
• Cleaveland Avenue Tour
• Frozen Niagara Tour
• Gothic Avenue Tour
• Grand Avenue Tour
• Mammoth Passage Tour
• Wild Cave Tour

Hiking Trails:

Besides all the excitement underground, Mammoth Cave National Park offers many hiking trails. Luckily for us, the weather was still in the 60s, so after spending all day in a cave, we also decided to hike some of the trails in the late afternoon/evening. It was pleasant because there weren’t many people out in the woods. We even got to see a few deer since we were kind of quiet (a first for us not being loud).

I highly recommend going during late fall because you’ll get to see the leaves changing colors which makes it more scenic!

We did the following trails:

• Green River Bluff Trail
• Dixon Cave Trail Loop
• Cedar Sink Trail
• Sunset Point – Heritage Trail Loop

After our time at Mammoth Cave, we concluded our trip with a visit to Lost River Cave (I’m telling you, I had NO idea Kentucky had all these hidden gems)! It’s about 40 minutes south of Mammoth Cave, but we were staying in Bowling Green, so it was literally down the street from us making it super convenient.

Mammoth Cave National Park did not disappoint! We already talked about going back and doing some other tours we didn’t get to do. If you’re looking for a successful outdoorsy trip and you’re not claustrophobic, check out Mammoth Cave!

Xox

La Flare