Mammoth Cave National Park

In celebration of Memorial Day weekend, my family and I took a road trip to Mammoth Cave National Park in South Central Kentucky. This has been on my husband’s bucket list for a while now. I didn’t anticipate that it would become part of mine too. We drove from Chicago to Louisville and rented a sweet farm house in Oakland, KY – a short drive from Mammoth Cave.

Our visit started with the two hour Domes and Dripstone tour. You board a bus at the Visitor’s Center and it takes you to a cave entrance. After a safety and security introduction by a Park Ranger, you file one by one down 500 stairs into the cave through dramatic dripstone formations. Frozen Niagra is included on this tour, which is totally worth it. This amazing spectacle includes an additional 48 stairs down to see gothic-like natural formations that look frozen in time. Super grateful we booked this tour ahead of time as it sold out. Special bonus: Our Ranger, Tegan, was full of fantastic cave jokes. 

On our second day we picked the popular Discovery tour, nestled a short walking distance from the Visitor’s Center. This is a self-guided tour that takes roughly 30 minutes to walk through. This cave includes the vast canyon passageway and Rotunda, one of the largest rooms in the cave. While Park Rangers are stationed along the route to answer questions, you can also read about prehistoric American Indian explorers, saltpeter mining operations, and basic cave geology. The Rangers are fantastic with kids’ questions as well.

The National Park Service has wonderful activities for kids of all ages that encourage them to discover and learn more about native plants, animals, and understanding the delicate balance of the ecosystem. After completing a variety of activities in the Junior Ranger Adventure book, our 7 year daughter was sworn in as a Junior Ranger. She was quite pleased with herself as were we.

Check out the website to learn more about Mammoth Cave National Park.

A few fun pics…