Do not rely on your mobile GPS or web based mapping applications. These services often lead visitors off track onto routes requiring river crossings via ferry or onto narrow winding roads not suitable for large vehicles. More information about travel directions to the park are available. Please note that this tour ascends and descends hundreds of stairs and several steep inclines, which can be difficult for many visitors, as there are no alternative routes. This tour is seen in its entirety on the River Styx Modified Tour.
Duration: 2 hours Distance: 2 miles 3. Youth under the age of 16 years, must be accompanied by an adult 18 years or older. Mammoth Cave offers numerous cave tours throughout the year. The selection of tours changes seasonally and with staffing availability. You can read descriptions and learn more about these other cave tours before planning your trip to the park.
Check back with our cave tour schedule or park calendar to see future offerings of these other cave tours. Box 7 Mammoth Cave , KY Explore This Park. Mammoth Cave National Park Kentucky. Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Cave Tours. Tour Schedule Tour route availability and times change depending on the season. October 24, - November 24, November 25, - November 28, November 29, - December 4, December 5, - February 26, February 27, - March 12, The wilder north side, accessible only by ferry crossing, hosts more than 60 miles of backcountry trails.
From things to do to where to stay, here's how to plan your trip. When professional spelunkers finally found a passage in linking Mammoth Cave to the Flint Ridge system, the unified cave system became the most extensive in the world. Even with more than miles of caverns and passages already surveyed, new passages continue to be discovered and explored each year. Visitors can get a peek inside the cave with numerous guided tours and one self-guided walk see more below.
For things to do in Mammoth Cave National Park above ground, hiking, camping, biking, and horseback riding can be enjoyed. Likewise, a handful of private outfitters rent kayaks and canoes on both the Green River and Nolin River.
The most popular stretch for paddling flat, scenic water is from the Dennison Ferry to the Green River Ferry 7. Continuing on to the Houchin Ferry adds Within the boundaries of the national park, you can legally fish in the Green River and small creeks without a license or permit.
Game fish species include bass, perch, crappie, and catfish. Thanks to the cave connections, the Green River is also home to rare species of mussels and an endangered freshwater shrimp! Rangers lead a long list of cave tours ranging in difficulty from easy strolls to arduous crawls through tight passages. For the easiest experience, opt for the Discovery Tour 30 minutes; all ages. If you're looking for a serious spelunking adventure, sign up for the Wild Cave Tour , which involves six hours of crawling and climbing.
The self-guided Extended History Tour 90 minutes allows visitors to enjoy an easy route at their own pace. Guides are posted along the way. The park has six picnic areas in relaxing settings.
Look for the largest one, the Mammoth Cave Picnic Area, just north of visitor center parking. It has picnic tables, fire grates, charcoal grills, potable water and restrooms.
You can also just find a secluded clearing in a forest. Go underground. Like most visitors to MCNP, you came to venture down into its caves — and booking a cave tour is the only way to do that.
Depending on the time of year, you may have more than a dozen ranger-led tours of varying durations, difficulty and area of focus to choose from. Experience what it must have been like to discover the caves more than a century ago on the three-hour Violet City Lantern Tour. By lantern light, you'll see outcroppings of rock and walk steeps hills created by both man and nature, as well as petroglyphs more than 2, years old.
But note: You must traverse 3 miles of steep inclines and declines on uneven dirt paths, with the limited lighting. The two-hour Accessible Tour covers just 0. Look up in the large Snowball Room, named for the snowball-shaped calcium carbonate formations on the ceiling. On the Historic Tour, you'll see displays about geology, sightless fish, saltpeter mines and other uses for the caves over time.
Rangers usually lead this 2-mile tour, but it has been temporarily switched to self-guided during the pandemic. Rangers stationed inside tell stories and answer questions, though.
With discovered miles underground, the tours take different routes and don't necessarily overlap, so book more than one — perhaps a tour heavy on history and one that highlights petroglyphs. Buy tickets in advance online to save time and make sure you get a spot, as they do sell out. You'll have more options in the summer, but also more people trying to get tickets at the same time.
You'll have less competition in off-season, but also less availability. The park has nearly 85 miles of interconnected and overlapping aboveground trails, most of them accessible by both hikers and those on horseback. In addition, mountain bikers can ride on three.
Many trails tend to be steep, so always ask about difficulty level before hiking one. For one of the steeper trails, set out on the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail , which follows the historic rail line. The 9-mile one way , mostly gravel trail starts east of the Green River and winds its way past four cemeteries and a lovely pond, then into a meadow and through densely wooden forest.
On the 1-mile Cedar Sink Loop Trail, get a hint of cave topography without going underground — it leads to a sinkhole where you can see the kind of water that formed the caves. In spring, wildflowers fill the landscape and tree leaves turn red in fall.
The walk itself is fairly easy, but stairs lead down to the sinkhole. The park recently regraded several trails, making them wheelchair-accessible. With the construction of a new bridge, the 1. Tactile exhibits and audio panels accommodate the seeing-impaired.
Many of the trails have lovely shade from the summer sun and nice overlooks. Meadows are dotted with wildflowers such as Eggert's Sunflower, a native plant that has been removed from the Endangered Species List because of its recovery in the wild. The 7 miles of trail around the visitor center, cave entrance, lodge and Old Guide's Cemetery have fewer inclines and more benches and places to rest.
The bulk of the park's trails 60 miles are in the backcountry and perfect for horseback riding, a popular Mammoth Cave activity. Sign up for a guided trail ride at Double J Stables, just outside the park's northeast corner, and spend from one to two hours seeing the park from a saddle. Go canoeing or kayaking on the Green and Nolin rivers, which run through the park.
Paddling adventures offered by Ochoa's company and Green River Canoeing vary in length, from three hours to two-day excursions, with senior discounts available. The Green River, a wide river without rapids, has lots of islands where you can stop and rest. The narrower Nolin has fewer stopping points. When its water level is high, you can do a round-trip paddle heading back upstream.
Do some casting in either river in hopes of reeling in bass, bluegill, catfish or muskie. Many Cave City and Park City shops stock bait and basic gear. You don't need a fishing license in the park, but there are catch limits.
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Upcoming forecasts and what to expect of the weather to help plan ahead for your camping, kayaking, and hiking adventures. Box 7 Mammoth Cave , KY Explore This Park. Mammoth Cave National Park Kentucky. Info Alerts Maps Calendar Reserve. Alerts In Effect Dismiss. Dismiss View all alerts. Basic Information.
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