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A Peek into Mammoth Cave

Cathy Dompier | Published on 5/15/2025
Mammoth Cave National Park
In case anyone is wondering, Mammoth Cave NP is exactly that! Mammoth! Located in Kentucky, Dave and I visited one day recently and only saw a small part when we took a tour. According to the NP flyer, beneath the National Park lies the largest cave system on earth. The full extent of the water-formed labyrinth is unknown, but the 420 miles of surveyed passageways already make it over twice as long as any known cave. Geologists think there could be 600 more miles of passageways. Interestingly, the underground cave system extends far beyond the park boundaries.
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If you haven’t been in an underground cave system, be sure to assess if you may be claustrophobic. Dave and I are not, so we signed up for a tour. There are 12 tours offered in different areas of the cave at different times of the year. Children must be 6 years or older to tour. We took the Domes and Dripstones tour which was 2 hours.  Starting with a short bus ride, we then went through an iron door and hallway, and through another door before we descended into the narrow tunnel. Was it dark? Yes! Was it scary? No!

As we descended the stairway our eyes adjusted to the darkness. The guide in front would turn on some lamps as we journeyed down. The cave trail surfaces can vary between dry and dusty, or damp and slippery. When we were not on stairs, some of the surface was even asphalt or cement. Most of the passageways had handrails, and we were all instructed NOT to touch the cave.
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The oils from our hands can permanently damage the cave and take hundreds of years to reheal. Our group stopped periodically in very large caverns, one with a low, flat ceiling and we were in wonder about how it never collapsed. There is so much to see in caves!  Speleothem; Stalactite; Stalagmite; Gypsum; forms that look like soda straws, bacon, draperies, and waterfalls. Speaking of waterfalls, we saw one INSIDE the cave!

After the tour we took a short hike on a trail near the visitor center. The park is largely wooded with mostly second-growth forest. I read that beech trees populate much of the park, but there are also yellow poplar and sugar maple, white and black oaks and some hickory in different areas. There are multiple ways to enjoy this park besides cave tours! There are horseback and bicycle trails, camping, fishing, as well as bird-watching.

Mammoth Cave NP has 53,000 surface acres including the underlying cave ecosystem, and was a fully established National Park in 1941. In 1981 it was named a World Heritage Site, and in 1990 became the core area of an International Biosphere Reserve. To learn more about Mammoth Cave NP go to https://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm or just google Mammoth Cave National Park.

photo credit: Cathy Dompier
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