mammoth cave historic tour description

How to Pick the Best Mammoth Cave Tour: from Families to Avid Adventurers

Mammoth Cave National Park is a natural wonder nestled in the heart of Kentucky. We’ll show you all the reasons why you should add this extraordinary national park to your travel bucket list and how to pick the best Mammoth cave tour for you and your family. Uncover the mysteries of the world’s longest-known cave system, boasting awe-inspiring rock formations and captivating underground passages at this underrated family destination!

We visited Mammoth Cave National Park when our kids were 4 and 6. In fact, it was the first time they earned Junior Ranger badges! We asked our friend Amanda Perkins of Life Has Its Perks Blog to break down the best Mammoth cave tours, so you can choose the right tour for you- whether you are a first-timer, a family with small kids, or looking for a more challenging or adventurous tour through Mammoth Cave.

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Table of Contents

Is Mammoth Cave Worth Visiting?

Yes, Mammoth Cave is worth visiting! Immersing yourself in the park’s stunning landscapes, from lush forests to picturesque river valleys to the famous cave itself, is a family bucket list experience.

Mammoth Cave National Park offers an experience unlike any other National Park east of the Mississippi River. From the moment you step foot into the cave, you’ll be transported to a world of natural wonder and beauty that will leave you awestruck. Mammoth Cave makes a great stop on a family cross-country road trip .

Mammoth Cave is an incredible feat of nature, with massive chambers, intricate passageways, and bizarre formations that have been sculpted by millions of years of water erosion and geologic activity. But beyond its sheer size and beauty, Mammoth Cave also has a rich history that is woven into the fabric of American culture.

In addition to the cave tours, Mammoth Cave National Park has a variety of outdoor activities to enjoy. We love hiking and biking as a family and there are plenty of trails to explore here. The Green River also provides opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. And for those who prefer to stay indoors, the park offers a variety of ranger-led programs and exhibits.

When is the Best Time to Visit Mammoth Cave?

The best time to visit Mammoth Cave National Park is during the spring and fall seasons, specifically from April to June and September to October. We visited in September, right after school started, and that seemed like the perfect time to come to Mammoth Cave! During these times, the weather is generally pleasant, with milder temperatures and lower humidity compared to the hot and humid summer months. 

The park’s natural beauty flourishes during spring, as wildflowers bloom and the surrounding landscape comes alive with vibrant colors. Fall offers a picturesque spectacle with the changing leaves, creating a breathtaking backdrop for exploration.

Visiting during these seasons also ensures a more comfortable experience while exploring the cave system. The cave’s temperature remains constant at around 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius) throughout the year, making it a refreshing escape from both the summer heat and winter chill.

More importantly, spring and fall attract fewer crowds compared to the peak summer season. This means shorter lines for the best Mammoth Cave tour, easier access to hiking trails, and a quieter overall ambiance.

Mammoth Cave National Park is a popular destination year-round, and each season offers its own unique charm. However, for those seeking pleasant weather, beautiful scenery, and a more relaxed atmosphere, spring and fall are the ideal times to experience the park’s wonders at their best.

The Best Mammoth Cave Tours

Tours are required when visiting Mammoth Cave. They offer visitors the opportunity to learn about the cave’s history and geology from knowledgeable rangers who will guide you through the cave system and point out interesting features along the way. There is one option for a short, self-guided tour of the cave, which is only offered in the summer. All other tours are guided tours.

There are a variety of tours available to suit every interest and level of ability, from easy strolls through well-lit sections of the cave to more challenging explorations of remote areas that require crawling and climbing. The cost of most tours ranges from $10 – $30 a person. Many cave tours require a short bus ride to and from the visitor center to the cave entrance.

We took the Domes and Dripstone Tour which was a perfect fit for us. There are quite a few stairs and some tight spaces, but we were up for the adventure. The views were incredible and not something I will soon forget. 

No matter which tour you choose, you’ll be treated to a one-of-a-kind experience that you will never forget. And with so much to see and do at Mammoth Cave National Park, you’ll want to plan a return trip before you even leave.

Top Tip: Make sure to book tours well in advance- not all tours are available year-round.

Best Mammoth Cave Tours for Families

Exploring Mammoth Cave with kids can be lots of fun! There are lots of fun things to see and do in the park, including many cave tours that are suitable for families with kids. Here are some of the best Mammoth cave tours for families.

1. Frozen Niagara Tour

🌟 Easy ⏳ 1.25 Hours ✅ 1/2 mile, Great for young children

The Frozen Niagara Tour is a great option for families with young children. This tour is an easy, half-mile walk through the cave, and it’s filled with all kinds of cool sights to see. You’ll get to explore the Frozen Niagara Formation which looks like a big, frozen waterfall. Your guide will tell you all about how the cave was formed and answer any questions you might have. This is one of the most popular tours at Mammoth Cave.

2. Domes & Dripstones Tour

🌟 Difficult ⏳ 2 Hours ✅ Great for older children

For families with slightly older kids who are up for a bit more adventure, the Domes & Dripstones Tour is a fantastic choice. We loved this tour that took us on a 2-hour journey through some of the most beautiful parts of the cave. We saw massive domes, towering stalagmites, and sparkling dripstones. You’ll even get to climb up a spiral staircase to a lookout point that offers a stunning view of the cave.

3. Mammoth Passage Tour

🌟 Easy ⏳ 1.25 Hours ✅ Educational

If you’re looking for a tour that’s both fun and educational, check out the Mammoth Passage Tour. This tour is led by a park ranger who will teach you all about the history of the cave and the animals that live inside. You’ll get to see some amazing cave formations, like the Giant’s Coffin and the Bottomless Pit. This tour is perfect for families with kids who love to learn new things.

4. Accessible Tour

🌟 Easy ⏳ 2 Hours ✅ No Stairs

Mammoth Cave National Park offers an accessible tour designed to accommodate visitors with mobility challenges. The Accessible Tour is the only tour with no stairs . This tour provides an inclusive experience, featuring wheelchair-accessible routes and audio descriptions. It allows everyone to marvel at the cave’s wonders and learn about its fascinating history, ensuring that no one is left behind in experiencing this incredible natural treasure.

5. Best Mammoth Cave Tour for History Buffs: Historic Tour

🌟 Difficult ⏳ 2 Hours ✅ Focus on History and Usage

If you love history, you’ll love the Historic Tour , which explores the cave’s role in the War of 1812 and the Civil War, as well as its use as a source of saltpeter for gunpowder during both conflicts. This tour involves a lot of stairs and some tight spaces. You can also do the Extended Historic Tour for a slightly longer, more in-depth experience.

6. Best Mammoth Tour for First-Time Visitors: Domes & Dripstones Tour

The Domes & Dripstones Tour is a fantastic choice for first-time visitors who want to experience a mix of history and beauty inside Mammoth Cave. We loved this tour that took us on a 2-hour journey, which includes massive domes, towering stalagmites, and sparkling dripstones. You’ll even get to climb up a spiral staircase to a lookout point that offers a stunning view of the cave.

Best Mammoth Cave Tours for Hard Core Adventurers

If you are looking for an exciting adventure during your visit to Mammoth Cave National Park, look no further! Here are some of the best Mammoth Cave tours for hard-core adventurers and adrenaline junkies like you.

7. Wild Cave Tour

🌟 Very Difficult ⏳ 6 Hours ✅ Ages 16+, Includes crawling

The Wild Cave Tour is not for the faint of heart and you must be at least 16 years old to take part. This tour takes you on a 6-hour journey through the cave that includes crawling through tight spaces, wading through underground streams, and climbing up steep rocks. You’ll get to explore parts of the cave that most visitors never get to see, and you’ll feel like a true explorer. This tour is definitely not recommended for anyone who is claustrophobic or has mobility issues.

8. Grand Avenue Tour

🌟 Very Difficult ⏳4 Hours ✅ Beautiful Areas, ages 6+

If you’re looking for a tour that’s both challenging and awe-inspiring, check out the Grand Avenue Tour. You must be at least 6 years old to do this tour. This tour takes you on a 4-hour journey through some of the most beautiful parts of the cave. You’ll get to see massive domes, towering stalagmites, and sparkling dripstones. You’ll also get to climb up and down several sets of stairs, so be prepared for a workout!

9. Violet City Lantern Tour

🌟 Very Difficult ⏳ 3 Hours ✅ Tour by Lantern Light, Ages 6+

For a truly unique and thrilling experience, try the Violet City Lantern Tour. This tour takes you on a 2-hour journey through the cave by lantern light and you must be at least 6 years old to go. You’ll get to explore the darker corners of the cave and learn about the history and geology of Mammoth Cave. This tour is not recommended for anyone who is afraid of the dark or has trouble walking on uneven surfaces.

10. Introduction to Caving Tour

🌟 Very Difficult ⏳ 3 1/2 Hours ✅ Includes Crawling and Climbing

For families with older kids ( 10 years or older ) who are ready for a real adventure, the Introduction to Caving Tour is an awesome choice. This tour takes you on a 3-hour journey through the cave that includes crawling through narrow passageways and climbing up steep rocks. You’ll get to see parts of the cave that most visitors never get to experience, and you’ll feel like a real explorer. This tour is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a great way to challenge yourself and make some amazing memories.

Most Underrated Mammoth Cave Tours

If you are looking for a Mammoth Cave tour that’s off the beaten path but still offers amazing views, you are in luck. Here are the most underrated Mammoth Cave tours that offer incredible sights you won’t want to miss.

11. River Styx Tour

🌟 Moderate ⏳ 2 1/2 Hours ✅ Includes Boat Ride, Ages 6+

The River Styx Tour may not be as well-known as some of the other tours, but it’s definitely worth checking out. This tour takes you on a 2.5-hour journey through the cave that includes a boat ride on the underground River Styx. Kids must be at least 6 years old to go on this tour. You’ll get to see some amazing cave formations and even a few bats hanging from the ceiling. And the best part? You’ll get to experience the cave in a completely unique way.

12. Great Onyx Lantern Tour

🌟 Moderate ⏳ 2 1/4 Hours ✅ Unique Part of the Cave

The Great Onyx Tour takes you on a 2-hour journey through a portion of the cave that’s not open to the general public. Kids must be at least 6 years old to go on this tour. You’ll get to see some incredible formations, including one of the largest stalactites in the world. You’ll also get to learn about the history of the cave and the people who have explored it over the years.

No matter which underrated tour you choose, you’re sure to be blown away by the amazing sights and experiences. Don’t forget to bring your camera and be prepared to be amazed!

Booking your Mammoth Cave Tour

To explore the cave, you’ll need to purchase a ticket for one of the guided tours. Tickets can be purchased online or in person at the park. It’s a good idea to book your tour in advance, especially during peak season, to ensure you get the tour you want. Tickets tend to sell out fairly quickly. You can book your tickets up to 2 months in advance.

Tickets can be purchased at the recreation website . Be aware that not all tours are available year-round. 

How to Get to Mammoth Cave

Getting to Mammoth Cave National Park is easy! The park is located in south-central Kentucky and can be reached by car, bus, or plane. If you’re driving, the park is located off Interstate 65, about 90 miles south of Louisville and 35 miles north of Bowling Green.

The closest airport to Mammoth Cave National Park is Louisville International Airport (SDF) , located approximately 90 miles north of the park. From the airport, visitors can rent a car or arrange for a shuttle service to reach the park. Interstate highways, such as I-65 and I-165, provide a straightforward route from the airport to Mammoth Cave.

To reach Mammoth Cave National Park from Nashville International Airport (BNA) , you can rent a car and drive approximately 95 miles north via I-65. The journey takes around 1.5 to 2 hours, offering scenic views of the Kentucky countryside.

Need a rental car to visit Mammoth Cave? We recommend Discover Cars , they always have easy, straightforward pricing. No last-minute surprises!

Book a Rental Car with Discover Cars

Don’t forget to stock up on road trip essentials and of course the best road trip snacks as well!

Where to Stay to Visit Mammoth Cave

When visiting Mammoth Cave National Park, there are various accommodation options available to suit different preferences and budgets.

Remember to book your accommodations well in advance, especially during peak season, to secure your preferred choice. Here are some suggestions for places to stay near the park.

Recommended Budget Hotel: Days Inn Wyndham Cave City

This Days Inn hotel is a clean, and no-frills motel, with a pool that our kids quite enjoyed. It is also very close to Dinosaur World if that is also on your itinerary.

Book Now: Days Inn Wyndham Cave City

The Lodge at Mammoth Cave

The only lodging within the park, you’ll find The Lodge at Mammoth Cave just next to the visitors center. This historic lodge offers comfortable rooms and cabins with modern amenities. Staying here provides easy access to the cave tours and other park attractions.

Campgrounds in Mammoth

Mammoth Cave National Park offers several campgrounds, such as the Mammoth Cave Campground and Maple Springs Group Camp, which provide opportunities for a more immersive and budget-friendly experience. These campgrounds offer both tent and RV camping facilities, along with amenities like restrooms, showers, and picnic areas.

Tips for Taking a Tour of Mammoth Cave

Here are some tips for visiting Mammoth Cave National Park, including what to bring and what is allowed in the park.

-Dress appropriately. The cave stays a constant 54 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, so bring a light jacket or sweater regardless of the season.

-Wear comfortable shoes with good traction, as some of the tours require climbing stairs or walking on uneven surfaces.

-Bring a water bottle to stay hydrated.

-Photography is allowed as long as there is no flash.

-Strollers are not allowed, and neither are backpack child carriers. Front packs are allowed.

-Pets are not allowed in the cave or on the cave tours, and they must be leashed at all times in the park.

-Smoking is not permitted in any buildings or on any trails.

-Always remember to stay on designated trails and respect the park’s wildlife.

FAQ: Best Mammoth Cave Tours

The “best” tour at Mammoth Cave National Park depends on personal preferences and interests. Ultimately, the best tour depends on factors such as fitness level, desired level of adventure, and interest in specific cave features or history. The park offers a variety of cave tours, each providing a unique experience. The Domes and Dripstones Tour is popular for its stunning formations, while the Historic Tour delves into the cave’s rich history. The Frozen Niagara Tour showcases the magnificent Frozen Niagara formation. The Grand Avenue Tour is the longest and most strenuous, offering a comprehensive exploration. For an adventurous experience, the Wild Cave Tour is recommended.

The most popular tour at Mammoth Cave National Park is the Domes and Dripstones Tour . This tour takes visitors through the cave’s awe-inspiring formations, showcasing the breathtaking domes and intricate dripstone features. It offers a glimpse into the natural wonders and geological history of Mammoth Cave. The Domes and Dripstones Tour is suitable for a wide range of visitors, providing an engaging and informative experience without being overly strenuous. Due to its popularity, it is advisable to make reservations in advance, especially during peak seasons, to secure a spot on this highly sought-after tour.

The hardest tour at Mammoth Cave National Park is the Wild Cave Tour . This tour is designed for the adventurous and physically fit, as it involves crawling, climbing, and navigating through tight spaces within the cave system. Participants wear helmets, headlamps, and kneepads as they explore lesser-traveled sections of the cave, experiencing the raw and rugged aspects of underground exploration. The Wild Cave Tour requires a high level of stamina, agility, and a willingness to challenge oneself physically and mentally. Due to the demanding nature of the tour, participants must meet certain age and health requirements and should be prepared for a thrilling and strenuous adventure.

The easiest tour at Mammoth Cave National Park is the Frozen Niagara Tour . This tour offers a relatively accessible and leisurely exploration of the cave. Visitors can experience the beauty of the Frozen Niagara Formation, a magnificent display of stalactites and flowstone. The tour involves minimal walking on well-maintained paths, making it suitable for individuals of various fitness levels and ages. It provides a captivating introduction to the wonders of Mammoth Cave without requiring strenuous physical exertion or navigating challenging cave passages. The Frozen Niagara Tour offers a convenient option for those seeking a more relaxed and accessible cave experience.

No, you cannot explore Mammoth Cave without a tour, although one self-guided tour is available for part of the cave. The cave is a complex and delicate natural environment, and for conservation and safety reasons, access to most of the cave system is restricted to guided tours. The National Park Service offers a range of tours led by knowledgeable guides who provide valuable information about the cave’s geological features, history, and environmental significance. These tours ensure that visitors can safely navigate the cave while minimizing any negative impact on the delicate ecosystem.

A tour in Mammoth Cave National Park ranges from 30 minutes to more than 6 hours depending on which tour you choose. The shorter tours, such as the Frozen Niagara Tour or the Historic Tour, typically last around one hour, providing a condensed but still captivating cave experience. Longer tours like the Domes and Dripstones Tour or the Grand Avenue Tour can last two to three hours or more, allowing for a more comprehensive exploration of the cave’s features and passages.

The cost of touring Mammoth Cave National Park varies depending on the specific tour chosen. The prices range from approximately $8 to $30 per person, depending on the tour. The shorter tours, such as the Frozen Niagara Tour, generally have lower prices, while longer and more extensive tours, like the Grand Avenue Tour, are more expensive.

While Mammoth Cave does not have a boat tour, however, The River Styx Tour includes a boat ride. This 2 1/2-hour tour is the only one that includes a boat. Mammoth Cave primarily offers walking tours, allowing visitors to explore the stunning underground passages and formations on foot.

Yes, you can visit Mammoth Cave in the winter. The cave remains open year-round, allowing visitors to explore its wonders even during the colder months. The cave retains the same cool temperature all year. However, some tours and facilities may have adjusted schedules or limited availability during the winter season.

It is very helpful to have a car when visiting Mammoth Cave National Park. Public transportation options are limited, and having a car provides flexibility and convenience for accessing the park, touring the area, and exploring nearby attractions. We recommend using Discover Cars for your car rental- you’ll find an easy interface and upfront pricing.

There You Have it: Best Mammoth Cave Tours

Mammoth Cave National Park is a truly fantastic place, and with a little planning, you can enjoy the best Mammoth Cave Tour for you and your family. From exploring the cave’s depths to hiking through the park’s beautiful forests, there’s something for everyone to enjoy at the beautiful National Park.

With so many cave tours to choose from, ranging from family-friendly to extreme adventures, there is something for everyone to enjoy. The park also offers a variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, and water sports, as well as ranger-led programs and exhibits. 

From the stunning cave formations to the beautiful natural scenery, there is so much to see and do at this incredible park. So, pack your bags, grab your sense of adventure, and get ready to explore the best tours of Mammoth Cave!

Interested in National Parks? Don’t miss our posts of family favorites like Glacier National Park , Yellowstone National Park , or Yosemite . We also like more under-the-radar parks like Craters of the Moon and the Wright Brothers Memorial ! For a wonderful autumn destination, check out Acadia National Park in Maine .

Cynthia Matthews von Berg is the founder of Sharing the Wander. She is a passionate traveler, mom, and travel coach specializing in long-term travel and family travel. She and her family embarked on a Family Gap Year in 2021, and haven't looked back.

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Mammoth Cave Historic Tour

The Historic Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park is one of the most popular and was the most frequent tour when we visited in Fall 2017. It enters through the Historic Entrance and provides a variety of experiences and information about Mammoth Cave. The one downside of this cave tour is that it lacks some of the beautiful geological formations present in the Frozen Niagara section of the cave system. Nevertheless, it is a great experience overall and one that we would recommend for anyone while attending Mammoth Cave.

The Historic Tour meets at the Lodge after you pick up your tickets at the Visitor Center. From there, it is a short downhill walk from the Lodge down the trail to the Historic Entrance. Standing at the mouth of the cave is awe inspiring and something that we would recommend even if you choose to take a different tour because of your schedule. It is a totally different experience at the mouth of the Historic Entrance compared to the doors and narrow passages that we saw at Frozen Niagara, Carmichael or Great Onyx. There is no way to really describe it. You will have to do it for yourself.

We took the Historic Tour as our third cave tour of the day and the second through the Historic Entrance (after we had already done the Gothic Avenue tour). Although the Historic and Gothic Avenue tours overlap slightly, our experiences were very different and we would have no hesitation in recommending to someone who wanted to do all the tours that they were not wasting their money in choosing to do the Gothic Avenue Tour in addition to the Historic Tour.

If you are only able to do two cave tours, this one has to be on your list. You will learn about Stephen Bishop’s exploration of the cave, see the handwriting on the ceiling (although in much shorter supply than on the Gothic Avenue tour), encounter the stacked rocks and geological formations such as the Historic Entrance, Bottomless Pit, Fat Man’s Misery and Mammoth Dome. It would be hard to choose between this tour and the Frozen Niagara section of Domes and Dripstones though, because they are very different cave sections and tours.

As in all of the tours, there were two park rangers leading it. In general, one takes the point of the group and leads the way, turning on the lights as they go. The other brings up the rear of the group to make sure no one is lost as well as turn off the lights on the previous section. The rangers in general either took turns in the lead/follow position or switched half way through. They all seemed very passionate about their position in the cave and were eager to convey their knowledge to you either through their stories or by answering your questions. There was plenty of time to have questions answered on every tour.

The tour is listed as a moderate effort on the national park website. There are primarily two reasons for this rating. It requires some flexibility to make it through a section known as Fat Man’s Misery when the path through the rocks is very narrow and the ceiling can be a bit low in spots. The other reason is that there is a fire tower toward the end of the tour at the Mammoth Dome with a number of steps to climb.

All tours conclude with a trip across the bio-security mats to prevent the spread of White Nose Syndrome. On this tour, this takes place after you have climbed the stairs outside the historic entrance before taking the return path back up to the Lodge.

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Historic Tour in Mammoth Cave National Park

Journey through the depths of history with the Historic Tour in Mammoth Cave National Park. This immersive experience takes you through a series of mesmerizing caverns, each revealing the secrets of an ancient underground world. From the grandeur of Mammoth Dome, the largest known dome in the cave system, to the echoes of the past in passages like Broadway Avenue and Fat Man's Misery, this tour offers a glimpse into the geological wonders and cultural significance of Mammoth Cave.

Bathrooms No

Stairs 230 descending, 210 ascending

Duration 2 hours

The tour begins with a quarter-mile stroll along the paved Historic Entrance Trail, starting at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center. The path descends through a steep valley to reach the Historic Entrance, the largest natural opening into Mammoth Cave, serving as a passage for exploration for nearly 3,000 years.

After a short descent into the cave and a brief walk through the dimly lit passage known as Houchins Narrows, the tour arrives at the Rotunda, one of Mammoth Cave's most well-known cave rooms. The expansive chamber spans roughly one quarter acre and features a circular-shaped ceiling that towers nearly 40 feet above.

Here, in Mammoth Cave's sixth-largest cave room, three intersecting passages - Houchins Narrows, Broadway, and Audubon Avenue - converge. The tour progresses along Broadway Avenue, where visitors will encounter numerous wooden pipes on the left side of the cave, remnants of saltpetre mining from the early 1800s.

After a few hundred yards, Broadway Avenue descends into a large canyon room named Methodist Church. In the 1830s, Reverend George Slaughter Gatewood conducted church services here, occasionally taking parishioners' lanterns upon their arrival to ensure they remained throughout his sermons. He preached from a formation referred to as The Pulpit, which can be found along the left side of the trail, near the bottom of the Methodist Church room.

Rangers frequently pause at this point to delve into the cave's history. If you're lucky, they may showcase one of the instances of ancient Native American rock art within Mammoth Cave.

Near the edge of one of the enormous limestone slabs along the trail, there is a petroglyph resembling a checkerboard pattern. The true intention of the ancient artist remains unknown, however, similar depictions have been discovered both in the local area and across the country.

Proceeding from Methodist Church, the tour advances along Broadway Avenue, passing more leaching vats akin to those in the Rotunda, until reaching a junction known as Booth's Amphitheater. The large canyon passage, named after 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth, guides visitors to Gothic Avenue. Those who later opt for the Gothic Avenue Tour would turn right and ascend a short staircase, while those on the Historic or Extended Historic Tours continue straight.

Beyond Booth's Amphitheater, the Historic Tour continues along the gentle rolling contour of Broadway Avenue, venturing deeper into the cave.

Upon reaching The Giant's Coffin, a colossal 1,000-ton boulder measuring 48 feet in length and 20 feet in height, embellished with numerous historical signatures, park rangers pause to elaborate on the area and address any questions that visitors may have.

The initial moniker bestowed upon this landmark was "Steamboat," but as the 1840s unfolded, visitors collectively envisioned it as a colossal coffin fit for a giant. Guides began crafting narratives about an ancient race of giants that once traversed this terrain. Among them, a young giant named Cozad made daily excursions into the depths of a cave, discovering a realm untouched by sunlight, inhabited by peculiar creatures thriving in darkness. Cozad formed a bond with these beings, pledging to safeguard them and their abode.

Local tribes, acknowledging Cozad's benevolence, made daily offerings at the cave entrance. Despite the passage of time, the offerings vanished each night, fostering a harmonious relationship between the tribes and Cozad. The entrance to the underworld remained accessible, contingent on the preservation of the cave and its inhabitants.

One fateful night, a tribal warrior patrolling the entrance noticed the offerings remained untouched. Concerned tribal leaders feared they had offended the giant, prompting them to dispatch their finest warriors and scholars on a pilgrimage. Illuminated by torchlight, the group ventured into the depths, witnessing shadows dancing in the amber glow against ashen stone walls. Deep within the silence, they discovered the aged gentle giant peacefully slumbering on the stone floor.

Despite numerous attempts to awaken him, the giant remained undisturbed. In response, the tribe constructed the stone coffin that now safeguards him. Legend foretells that when his cave companions require his assistance, the giant will awaken and traverse these passages once more.

From here, the route continues behind The Giant's Coffin and leads through Dante's Gateway, a narrow passage guiding visitors from the expansive upper sections to the lower areas of the cave. This snug passageway is named after Dante Alighieri's Inferno, where Dante's Gateway is depicted as the entrance to the Underworld.

Following the descent of Dante's Gateway, the tour continues through the Wooden Bowl Room and Black Snake Avenue, both low-clearance passages adorned with an abundance of historical cave graffiti.

The path continues over Side Saddle Pit, and right after that, it traverses the Bottomless Pit—a storied feature of Mammoth Cave, plunging 105 feet deep. A steel bridge with grated flooring stretches across both pits, but those with a healthy fear of heights may want to avoid looking down.

Prior to 1838, the Bottomless Pit remained unconquered. The very idea of attempting to cross it was considered insane. There were no bridges spanning it and no ledges to walk along to pass it. In the early days of Mammoth Cave, explorers would test the pit's depth by tossing torches into it, labeling it "bottomless" when the light became invisible. Stories of the treacherous pit became widespread, and in February 1838, various newspapers circulated reports about the pit, suggesting its profound depth might extend throughout the entire diameter of the earth.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the Bottomless Pit, Stephen Bishop, an enslaved cave guide and the greatest spelunker to ever explore Mammoth Cave, remained undeterred. In the autumn of 1838, he achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the first person to traverse it. The narrative unfolds with Hiram C Stevenson, a native of Kentucky, tempting Bishop with a "fistful of money" to guide him to uncharted territory within the cave—a place no visitor had ever set foot. Undaunted, Bishop led Stevenson to the Bottomless Pit, improvising a precarious wooden ladder to bridge the gap. With Bishop navigating while gripping his lantern between his teeth and Stevenson securing the ladder at one end, he crawled to the opposite side. Stevenson soon followed, and once they returned from their expedition, he rewarded Bishop with a gold piece. A brief mention of Bishop's accomplishment was published in the Vermont Watchman and State Journal.

The Raleigh Register provided a more extensive account, detailing several additional contributions made by Bishop to Mammoth Cave.

Following the Bottomless Pit, the route progresses through more low-hanging passages, eventually leading to Fat Man's Misery. Discovered by Stephen Bishop, Fat Man's Misery, formerly named Winding Way, is a keyhole-shaped passage spanning approximately 100 feet in length and slightly wider than hip-width. Toward the end of the passage, visitors navigate through Tall Man's Misery, a section with low clearance that reduces to a height of only three feet.

After navigating through Fat Man's Misery, the tour arrives at Great Relief Hall, where rangers commonly take a break to answer visitors' questions and provide insights into the upcoming cave features. About 200 feet from the beginning of Great Relief Hall, an intriguing piece of graffiti appears, bearing the inscription "Landram's Saxhorn Band, 1855." Although it is believed to be the handiwork of a musical group that explored Mammoth Cave a few years before the Civil War, there is no documented record of the band in park registers, shrouding the identity of the band in mystery to the present day.

Following Great Relief Hall, the trail meanders past a junction where two passages diverge - Pensacola Avenue, formerly Pensico Avenue, branches to the right, while River Hall extends to the left. Although the Historic Tour takes the path through River Hall, it's noteworthy that along Pensacola Avenue, Stephen Bishop left a heartfelt inscription to his wife, reading, "Charlotte Brown, the flower of Mammoth Cave."

Moving forward, the tour advances through River Hall and Bacon Chamber, navigating Sparks Avenue, eventually reaching a highlight of the excursion—the remarkable Mammoth Dome. This remarkable 190-foot-tall vertical shaft comprises Crevice Pit at its base and Mammoth Dome at its apex, earning the title of the largest known dome in the cave system. The Mammoth Dome Tower acts as a bridge linking the lower Historic Trail to the upper Historic Trail, ascending over 200 feet above the cave floor via nearly 140 stairs.

Before ascending the tower, visitors can enjoy a breathtaking view of Mammoth Dome overhead.

While climbing the tower, visitors can enjoy incredible views from above, capturing the splendid beauty of both Mammoth Dome and Crevice Pit.

Upon reaching the top of the tower, the tour continues along Little Bat Avenue, a former residence for scores of bats. Although the passage is now devoid of bats, observant visitors may still notice stains on the ceiling left by the bats' feet when they used to roost there.

Little Bat Avenue terminates at Audubon Avenue, which circles back to the Rotunda, creating a loop. From the Rotunda, visitors are led back to the Historical Entrance, where the tour comes to its conclusion.

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The complete guide to Mammoth Cave National Park

Apr 15, 2021 • 11 min read

A view of the Green River from a bluff in Mammoth Cave National Park framed by redbud trees

The rolling hills of central Kentucky look solid enough where the well-worn foothills of the Appalachian Mountains slide into the flatter, fertile farm land of the Mississippian Plateau. But laced underneath that pretty landscape of telescoping green slopes is a vast network of caves, sink holes, and underground creeks that stand in stark contrast to the sunny spreads of spring wildflowers like trillium, dwarf iris, trout lily, and phlox above ground. And one of those caverns is Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system anywhere in the world. 

Humans have been exploring Kentucky's hidden depths for over five thousand years. Down here in the dark, there is evidence of the first intrepid visitors to what is now known as Mammoth Cave, who carried burning reed torches into winding, unmapped passageways. Now scientists have determined Mammoth Cave extends for over 400 miles. It winds down in numerous layers carved over millions of years by trickles and torrents of water making their way to join the wide Green River.

These days, you don't need torches to see the upper reaches of Mammoth Cave, now softly lit by electricity, punctuated by park rangers ready to explain the cavern's many features, and the sometimes unusual ways the cave has been used since the arrival of European settlers in the 1700s.

Editor's note: During  COVID-19 , please check the latest travel restrictions before planning any trip and always follow government health advice. Events may be subject to change.

Mammoth Cave history

Legend has it that a bear hunt is what lead the first non-Indigenous person to the entrance of Mammoth Cave, which sits at the end of a long-eroded creek bed that now mostly runs dry. The water that ordinarily would flow here instead works its way down into the cave through tiny cracks in the earth and the sandstone below it, carving the tunnels below from limestone deposits created millions of years ago, when the Appalachian Mountains were new and jutted into a shallow inland sea that covered much of the southeast. Eventually, a sinkhole collapsed at the thin intersection of the creek bed and the cave mouth, revealing Mammoth to whoever passed by.

While it's unclear if it was the hunter chasing the bear or the other way round (or if the incident even happened) what is confirmed is that Mammoth Cave was first seen not as a natural wonder, but a manufacturing resource by the man who purchased the land in time for the war of 1812. Dozens of enslaved people were tasked with hauling tons of dirt into huge vats in the cave, where natural lime could leach from the stone walls and eventually be used in the manufacture of saltpeter needed by the young United States' military to make gunpowder.

After the war was over the cave changed hands again and the new owner saw an opportunity to capitalize on affluent travelers' growing interest in outdoor recreation. Enslaved guide Stephen Bishop was the first to create a contemporary map of large swaths of the cave, and the names he gave many of the cave's features are still in use today. Bishop worked with Materson Bransford, Nick Bransford, and Alfred Croghan to lead early tourists past the old earthworks and other unusual businesses that had cropped up in Mammoth Cave, including a mushroom farm and a failed tuberculosis clinic.

The Bransfords and their descendants carried on the guiding trade long after they, Bishop and Croghan were emancipated and well into the 1930s. However, when Mammoth Cave was turned into a national park in the 1940s, the four-generation tradition of Bransfords working in the cave came to a close. The family guides were replaced by park rangers until 2004, when Jerry Bransford joined the NPS staff as the fifth generation of his family to lead tours in Mammoth.

Visiting Mammoth Cave National Park

Unlike many other national parks, you don't need to pay admission or flash your America the Beautiful pass to enter the park or enjoy its trails. The only fees you'll need to pay are if you're camping, staying in the lodge, want to reserve a picnic shelter, or to tour the cave itself. It's wise to book your cave tour at the same time you're making any other reservations in the park, as tours often sell out – especially on weekends, and especially while tour offerings and capacity are limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The nearest airports are in Nashville, Tennessee (about two hours away) and Lousiville, Kentucky (about an hour and a half away). Bowling Green, Kentucky is about half an hour away – a college town with restaurants, bars, a new brewery , and the vibrant, historically Black Shakerag neighborhood. Scattered nearby throughout central Kentucky are several of the state's famous bourbon distilleries. Just eight miles from Mammoth Cave is Cave City, whose quaint mid-century main street is lined with antique shops. Stop for a beer at The Dive, an atmospheric watering hole full of long-time locals. 

Peak season at Mammoth Cave matches the summers in central Kentucky, which tend to be warm and humid, with highs in the 70s and 80s. Fall and spring are mild and cool, and winters see temperatures hovering in the 30s and 40s. Temperatures inside Mammoth Cave itself, though, are consistently around 54 degrees no matter the time of year or weather. Even when it's raining outside (spring is the wettest month in central Kentucky), Mammoth Cave will be dry, however – at least the part open to visitors.

Activities near Mammoth Cave 

When the COVID-19 pandemic isn't raging, there's usually several cave tours on offer that go to different areas of the cave and showcase different features, from The Rotunda to a formation known as Frozen Niagara. Most of the tours go a quarter of a mile to two miles into the cave, and some involve staircases or some challenging climbs. There are also special holiday-themed events that have been offered in years past, including caroling around Christmastime. Many of the tours depart from one of two outdoor pavilions close to the visitor center before entering Mammoth through the Historic Entrance.

Currently, the Historic Extended tour is what's on offer with limited capacity. This self-guided experience gives you the opportunity to go at your own pace and ask park rangers stationed at notable points along the tour route any questions you might have. Notable features included are the Rotunda, the Methodist Church where actual church services were once held, the historic salt peter mining site, Booth’s Amphitheatre (where the brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth would recipe passages from Shakespeare), and an eerie formation known as the Giant’s Coffin. 

Tickets for cave tours can be purchased at the Visitor Center or reserved online and cost $25. 

There are a number of hiking trails at Mammoth Cave, but those concentrated around the Visitor Center, campgrounds, and picnic pavilions are well-connected, moderately challenging, and can easily be tackled over the course of a weekend – or even combined into various loops for a day hike. 

Some like the Cedar Sink Trail, Echo River Spring Trail, and River Styx Trail give you a chance to learn more about the unique geography and hydrology of Mammoth Cave. They lead to spots where water either enters or exits the cave system. Water might enter through a sink (think a big natural drain) like the one surrounding the Historic Entrance, or the Cedar Sink on the side of the ridge under which Mammoth is carved. Water also exits the cave on its way to the Green River through several springs where water bubbles out from under rocks or from beneath ponds not far from the main shore.

The Dixon Cave Trail Loop climbs to a separate cave system that used to be connected to Mammoth Cave, but was cut off by a rock collapse similar to that which made Mammoth's entrance accessible. There's a wooden platform built to give hikers a good vantage point of the sink surrounding Dixon Cave's entrance, but you cannot enter the cave. That's to protect Dixon's resident bats, who are at risk from white nose syndrome – a disease that isn't harmful to humans, but can be carried by their shoes and clothing and is a severe threat to bat colonies worldwide.

The Green River Bluffs trail connects to several of these shorter jaunts and offers splendid views of the titular river from high on the bluffs down to the bottom of the ridge where paddle wheel steamboats used to dock at the turn of the last century. One of the easiest loops to create with the Green River Bluffs trail is by connecting to the Heritage Trail for a 2.5 mile hike. The Heritage Trail leads to the historic cemetery where Stephen Bishop is buried, along with several other former cave guides, community members, and the tuberculosis patients treated in Mammoth Cave.

The Echo River Spring Trail has been recently renovated to be more accessible for visitors with disabilities. A portion of the trail has been redesigned as a level, composite boardwalk loop around the Echo River with interpretive features that have tactile elements as well as braille and audio captions. It's part of a longer two mile trail that connects to the Green River Bluffs and Mammoth Sink Hole trails. The new, more accessible section also connects to a recently renovated trailhead that will include a put-in for canoes and kayaks. This trailhead will also be serviced by the Green River Ferry, which has transported vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists from the south to north shores since 1934. 

Back in the late 19th century, when the Kentucky Caves wars were just starting to heat up and land-owners were competing to see who could tap into the success of Mammoth Cave as a tourist attraction, a railroad was built to bring travelers into the area. It was in service for almost fifty years before the age of the automobile took over and ferry service began at sites like Green River. Today, nine miles of that old rail bed has been turned into a Railroad Trail, an easy to moderate cycling and hiking route that winds through the park.

Staying at Mammoth Cave

There are two primary campgrounds at Mammoth Cave – the main campground and the Maple Springs campground, which caters more to groups, equestrian campers, and those heading into the backcountry. Both feature bathrooms with flush toilets and dumpsters on site. There is also more primitive, tent-only, but still car-accessible camping at Houchin Ferry Campground 15 miles from the visitor center. Backcountry sites are scattered throughout the park, and include some remote island sites only reachable by boat.

You aren't required to have a bear canister in Mammoth Cave National Park, and there aren't bear boxes on site due to low risk. That said, you are advised to keep food in your vehicle overnight to prevent interference from other wildlife. The campsites can accommodate both RV and tent campers, as well as hammock campers thanks to the abundant tree canopy. Due to the threat of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle to trees in the park, campers shouldn't bring firewood with them from neighboring states, but should instead purchase at the camp store or use dead, fallen timber collected on site. 

The Caver’s Camp Store has a range of convenience food and beverage items, including takeaway like pizza, coffee, and biscuits and gravy, as well as some camping supplies and souvenirs. There's a post office on site where you can get stamps for postcards from the gift shop or pick up a package. There are also hot showers available. WiFi is available in the Visitor Center and  in the Lodge, but cellphone service is limited throughout the park.

The Mammoth Cave Lodge

The Mammoth Cave Lodge is made up of several different buildings ranging from hotel-style rooms in a 1960s modernist structure to small cottages to an ADA-accessible motor-lodge style space. There are two eateries on site, including a sit-down restaurant called the Green River Grill  and the more casual cafeteria-style Spelunkers Café & Ice Cream Parlor, which has takeaway sandwiches, chips and drinks, as well as hot items like burgers on offer. Both make extensive use of local products from Kentucky vendors on their menus.

While the Visitors Center was built in 2012 in a contemporary style that refers back to classic "parksitecture" and is powered by banks of solar panels, recent renovations to the Lodge buildings weren't started until 2017. Thus far, the updates have focused on making Mammoth Cave National Park more environmentally friendly, with outdoor LED lighting, upgrades to waste water treatment, and refreshes to the room amenities, as well as expansions of the concessionaire and gift shops. Since 2019, has been continued expansion of the lodge with new construction, too, as well as continued renovation of the existing rooms. 

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Ultimate Guide to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky (Tours, Pricing, History, Map)

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Beginning to form more than 10 million years ago, Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world . There are more than 400 miles of caves running under Kentucky, and that is just what has been mapped.

Mammoth Cave is one of the Natural Wonders of the United States, alongside Niagara Falls, Hawaii Volcano Natural Park, Devil’s Tower, Old Faithful, Crater Lake, and Death Valley

Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Mammoth Cave was created by limestone erosion, also known as karst topography . During this process, rain and rivers dissolve and shape soft limestone, creating a vast system of caves.

Fun fact: Karst Aquifers like Mammoth Cave provide drinking water for about 40% of the entire U.S. population.

How Big is Mammoth Cave?

While the surface of Mammoth Cave National Park covers nearly 80 square miles, no one knows how big the underside is. The cave system is five levels and more than 365 miles of it has been mapped, though new caves are always being discovered.

Mammoth Cave Tours

Over 2 million people visit Mammoth Cave National Park every year. About 1/4 of those people take a cave tour . 10 miles of passages are available for tours.

There are many different tour options to explore the caves at Mammoth Cave National Park, ranging in the time it takes (2-6 hours in length) as well as the difficulty of the tours. These tours are perfect to get out of the humid Kentucky heat. Park rangers lead these tours.

Frozen Niagara Tour is not only the most popular, but is the perfect tour for those with trouble walking, or just don’t like having to hike to see the caves. 

The Frozen Niagara tour is a very steep walk up and down a paved road, but it’s only a quarter of a mile and there are several benches along the way.

Mammoth Cave Accessibility Tour is another cave tour perfect for those who cannot climb stairs, or have difficulty walking. Drive your car to the elevator entrance, and take the elevator down to the cave.

The paths are concrete and fairly level for wheelchairs and scooters. Bring your own flashlight, as the path isn’t very well lit. This is a two-hour tour with a maximum distance of a quarter of a mile. 

The only downfall to this tour is that it caps at 14 people, and can be canceled at any time if the elevator malfunctions, as this is the sole mode of transportation into the cave for those with wheelchairs.

Historic Tour is a two-hour, two-mile tour that dives deep within the caves to show the beauty behind this National Park. This tour is paved, and you don’t see as many formations as on the other tours.

Although this is a moderate hike, it is not for the faint of heart, as there are 540 stairs and only one way through. In addition, if you’re tall you will need to duck quite a bit, and some sections are so narrow your knees will touch as you squeeze through.

Domes and Dripstones Tour is a route for the science lover. It goes down about 250 feet and is tight in some spots. At 2 hours and ¾ of a mile, this gives visitors the perfect opportunity to view stalactites and stalagmites. 

The only issue some may have with this route is the 540 stairs that it takes to get underground, but this tour is perfect in the summer, as it is cooler at this depth.

Violet City Lantern Tour is not for a family with children. This tour has an age restriction as it is longer, and more unsteady with no lights except the lanterns that are carried. 

The Violet City Lantern Tour is a 3 hour, 3-mile hike into a historical cave that has been around for centuries. Unfortunately, this cave does not have a restroom as it is still in its natural state, so go to the bathroom topside before you head down.

Great Onyx Lantern Tour, separate from the Violet City Lantern Tour, is a longer passage for the science lover as there are many unique rock formations in this cave. 

This cave tour is less than 2 and a half hours long, and is only a mile long, but does have an age restriction of 6 years old. 

Gothic Avenue Tour is for the historian in the group. This tour has many beautiful formations in a museum-like area, with artifacts left behind from those who have once traveled through this area. The Gothic Avenue tour is 2 hours, and a mile and a half long.

River Styx Tour is perfect for those who want to see the formation of the cave, and who don’t mind getting their feet a bit wet. In this tour, you can observe the many years of wear on the walls, and see what’s left of the water still in the cave. The River Styx Tour is geared towards those who love natural history. This tour is 2 and a half hours, and 2 miles long.

Mammoth Cave Tour Prices and Discounts  

Although the park itself is free to get into, there are many affordable tours to give a more in-depth look into the caves, as well as the opportunity to camp on site.

• The Frozen Niagara Tour is $14 for adults and $10 for children or $7 for pass holders
• The Historic Tour is $17 for adults and $12 for children or $8.50 for pass holders
• The Domes and Dripstones Tour is $17 for adults and $12 for children for $8.50 for pass holders
• The Gothic Avenue Tour is $15 for adults and $10 for children or $7.50 for pass holders.
• The Great Onyx Lantern Tour is $20 for adults and $15 for children or $10 for pass holders
• The Violet City Lantern Tour is $15 for adults and $10 for children or $10 for pass holders
• The River Styx Tour is $18 for adults and $13 for children or $9 for pass holders

Is Mammoth Cave Cold?

It’s a cool (or cold, if you’re from Arizona) 54 degrees year-round inside the cave. In the “variable temperature zones” close to the entrances, wind chills in winter can dip below freezing, or temperatures can rise to around 60°.

What to Wear

No matter which tour you take, be sure to wear hiking boots or good shoes with nonskid soles. Bring a jacket, because it’s chilly underground.

IMPORTANT: In an effort to prevent more deaths from White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), clothing, footwear, and handheld items that have previously been worn in caves or mines in certain areas may not be brought into Mammoth Cave .

White-Nose Syndrome is a disease in bats that is tragically killing bats by the millions. Read more about why bats are so vital to our lives here.

Mammoth Cave Hours

Hours vary by day and season; see a full list here . Reservations are strongly encouraged during the summer months and on holidays, including weekends in the Spring and Fall.

Mammoth Cave Kentucky is on Central time, so be sure to plan accordingly if you’re coming from another time zone!

What to do at Mammoth Cave (besides tours)

Don’t skip the tour, because you’ll definitely regret it, but there are other activities at Mammoth Cave National Park. You can hike and ride horses on more than 70 miles of trails. Much like at other National Parks, you can also fish, canoe, camp, and picnic.

Mammoth Cave Horse Riding

North of the Green River, you’ll find sixty miles of trails open for horseback riding. You may park your trailer at Lincoln Trailhead, Maple Springs Trailhead, or across the road from the Maple Springs Campground bulletin board. The trails at Mammoth Cave National Park are well-marked and well-maintained.

Download the free horseback riding trail map , courtesy of NPS.

Mammoth Cave Camping

Most campsites at Mammoth Caves National Park are $20 a site, and the VIP campsites that are a lot nicer are $50. If you are planning to bring your horses along, you can get an equestrian campsite for $25.

To reserve a campsite, go online or call the National Park Reservation Service at (877)444-6777.

More to do at Mammoth Cave National Park

This beautiful park features more than 52,000 acres, meaning the possibilities are endless when finding things to do:

• The Big Woods : get a glimpse of the uncut forest of Old Kentucky.
• Turnhole Bend : the “turnhole”, once used by riverboat pilots to turn around in the narrow river.
• Good Spring Church: A silent sanctuary that echoes memories of a past community.

No matter what you plan to do at Mammoth Cave, take a few days to explore… it’s worth it!

Best Time to Visit Mammoth Caves

The average temperature inside Mammoth Cave is 54 degrees year-round. Even with the air temps in Kentucky dropping into the lower 30’s during the winter, the temperatures in the cave only fluctuate slightly. This means that it is warmer in the cave than it is outside during the winter and cooler in the cave during the summer months.

Camping at Mammoth Caves National Park is open all year long. So plan your trip today and enjoy a tour of the most famous cave system in the world.

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How to Get to Mammoth Cave

The best way to describe how to get to Mammoth Cave is from their website .

From the North:  Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway to the Visitor Center.

From the South:  Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway to the Visitor Center.

Do not rely exclusively on your GPS or Google Maps™ to get you to the park Visitor Center in time for your Cave Tour. Follow the directions above.

Hotels Near Mammoth Cave

Not a fan of camping? There are several hotels within a short drive of Mammoth Cave.

Places To Stay Nearby

History of mammoth cave.

The majority of the mapping at Mammoth Cave was done by slaves. Public tours of Mammoth Cave started in the early 1800s. Slaves led tours as early as 1830.

Stephen Bishop

Stephen Bishop, a freed slave, worked in Mammoth Cave from 1838 until 1856. Bishop crossed a frightening landmark now known as the Bottomless Pit , to discover unmapped areas of this cave system with nothing more than a flickering lard-oil lamp to guide his way.

During the War of 1812, slaves were used to mine saltpeter from the sediment in the cave. Saltpeter was used to create gunpowder.

Stephen Bishop was unquestionably one of the greatest explorers Mammoth Cave has ever known. He was in his late teens when he was brought to Mammoth Cave in 1838. He learned the toured routes from white guides Joe Shackelford and Archibald Miller Jr. However, Stephen Bishop ventured beyond the toured areas and discovered many miles of the Mammoth Cave no eye had ever seen. The gateway for modern exploration of the cave could be attributed to Stephen’s crossing of a deep vertical shaft known as the Bottomless Pit. (Source)

Bishop, who took the name of his previous master, is buried near the cave entrance in the Old Guide’s Cemetery, along with several of his family members.

Learn more: Journey to the Bottomless Pit, the Story of Stephen Bishop & Mammoth Cave

Underground Tuberculosis Hospital

The cemetery also holds the remains of several Tuberculosis patients that passed there. In the early 19th century, the owner of the cave, Dr. Croghan, established an underground tuberculosis hospital. He believed the steady temperature and humidity would heal their lungs. Patients lived in the small stone structures inside the cave, with canvas roofs.

Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure and that was evident within just a few months. A few years later, Dr. Croghan himself died of TB. You can view the structures where the patients lived if you take the Violet City Lantern Tour.

Stalactites  form when water containing dissolved calcium bicarbonate from the limestone rock drips from the ceiling of a cave. As the water comes into contact with the air, some of the calcium bicarbonate precipitates back into limestone to form a tiny ring, which gradually elongates to form a stalactite. (Source)

Geological Cave Formations in Mammoth Cave

There are several cave formations you will see when you visit this cave, most notably:

• stalactites
• stalagmites
• travertine dams
• gypsum formations

You could spend a week in Mammoth Cave National Park and see and learn more than you could ever imagine!

Wildlife in Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave National Park is home to over 70 threatened or endangered species, including birds, crustaceans, fish, insects, mammals, mussels, reptiles, and plants.

More than 130 species of animals live in the Mammoth Cave system. Currently, 12 species of bats live within the caves. Bats species include the Indiana Bat and the Eastern Pipistrelle Bat, both of which are endangered.

Mammoth Caves National Park is home to the largest colony of bats in the United States , but unfortunately, the numbers have been dwindling. There is a disease called the white-nose disease which is a fungus that grows on the skin of bats and has wiped out 90% of the bats at Mammoth Caves.

Aside from bats, it is also home to fish that have adapted to being underground. Some of the unique fish species found in the cave are Indiana Eyeless Crayfish, Southern Cave Fish, and Albino Shrimp.

Due to the lack of light, many species of fish have developed a white color, and many are being bred without eyes as a form of evolution. Because these fish cannot see, they have adapted to utilize their sense of smell and hearing to survive, rendering their eyes useless.

The Mammoth Caves National Park is a great place to explore a natural exhibit, go camping, and enjoy the outdoors. It’s cheap and a great way to sneak away from work and life for a week with family and friends.

Download our FREE Mammoth Cave Guide (Unofficial)

Is mammoth cave haunted.

One of the most frequently asked questions about Mammoth Cave is if it’s haunted or not. Many deaths have happened in this cave system, though the exact number of deaths is unknown.

Mummified remains have been found in different areas of the cave, along with pottery, primitive tools, and other remnants of the past .

In 1925, Floyd Collins became trapped (and died) while mapping out a previously unexplored area of Mammoth Cave (the “lonely sandstone cave”). Several slaves and TB patients also died in this cave.

Mammoth Cave is considered one of the most haunted places in the world! Many have claimed they sense spirits when visiting.

Visiting Mammoth Cave

Still, need more information before visiting? Call (270)758-2180 or email the NPS for an information packet.

PIN IT FOR LATER!

9 thoughts on “ Ultimate Guide to Mammoth Cave, Kentucky (Tours, Pricing, History, Map) ”

[…] broken barbed wire, but you don’t even need to climb over it to get to the cave. There are no tours with this cave, as most likely there will be nobody in sight when you arrive. With that being said, if you do […]

[…] a week, the brewery is closed to allow for the owners to focus on the history of the caves, and give tours for $10 a person. Over the past 2 years, they have taken about 40,000 people on a […]

[…] it was not until a few years later that the cave was toured and discovered more in full. There was a newspaper ad searching for explorers, and five women […]

[…] process of the acid in the groundwater slowly breaking it down. We have talked about other Karst Caves like Mammoth Cave National Park, of […]

[…] Mammoth Cave […]

[…] is the historic candle-lit lantern tour through an undeveloped section of the cave on unpaved trails. If you are visually challenged, you need to know it might be too dim […]

[…] over 300 miles of underground trails, Mammoth Cave National Park is the longest cave system in the […]

This is a great guide! I’m from Kentucky and have been to Mammoth Cave a few times, but this will be my first time taking a tour. I’m excited to learn more!

Have fun! 🙂

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Best Mammoth Cave Tour for Families

With so many cave tours to choose from, how do you know which one is best for your family we break it down in this article with our recommendations for the best mammoth cave tour for your family..

On the road home from Mammoth Cave National Park, our grandsons were on the phone trying to talk their mom (who stayed home) into a second trip to the caves. Yes, they had that much fun! So we wanted to share the best Mammoth Cave tour for families with you. 

But we almost messed up. There are over a dozen cave tours, and we discovered that not all are kid-friendly or even interesting to kids. Based only on the description on the NPS website, our tour selection could have resulted in a boring trip for the boys (age 10 and 12). Due to a combination of luck and extensive research, we ended up with amazing tours they loved. 

Here are our thoughts on the best and the worst tours for families in Mammoth Cave National Park.

Best Mammoth Cave Tours Based on Your Family

Let’s be realistic; what works for a 2-year-old might not be the best cave tour for your teen. So we’ve broken the tours into categories based on age and mobility to help you choose the Mammoth Cave tours that are best for your family.

Best Overall Mammoth Cave Tour for Families: Domes and Dripstones

Our recommendation is the Domes and Dripstones Tour for a family tour. It’s an interesting tour that will entertain family members of all ages. Our family is still talking about this one.

About the Domes and Dripstones Tour

There are just enough tight squeezes between the rocks that our grandsons felt like they were on a big cave adventure. And the youngest (10)  was the only one to go through some tunnels without ducking.

The Domes and Dripstones Tour also features a collection of stalactites and stalagmites that we all found interesting. The most famous is the dripstone Frozen Niagra, which is stunning. You won’t find the extensive stalactites and stalagmites in Mammoth Caves that we saw in Carlsbad Caverns National Park .

The tour guides share a lot of history along this tour with stories that all ages will enjoy. These sections of Mammoth Cave have been a tourist destination for over 100 years. They also explain the science of the natural formation of the caves in a family-friendly way.

You will get a workout on the Domes and Dripstones Tour as you climb up and down 540 steps. The good news is that the 2-hour tour moves at a meandering pace so that you can take your time on the stairs

Domes and Dripstones might not be good for families with:

• Independent toddlers who demand exploring on their own. (You know if this is your child.) The narrow passages, deep drops and hundreds of stairs require a tight rein on toddlers.
• Anyone with health issues, those 540 stairs will give you a good workout. 
• Someone with extreme claustrophobia might not enjoy it. The tight spaces are not extensive and usually open up to a larger area quickly, so most folks don’t even think about it. But they do exist and should be considered if you have concerns. 

Best Challenging Tour for Your Family: Grand Avenue Tour

The Grand Avenue Tour might be the best tour for your family if your kids are pre-teen to teen and love an adventure. On this 4-hour tour, you cover everything in the Domes and Dripstones Tour plus a lot more!

According to the NPS description : You’ll be “going through slot canyons, tubular passageways, tall canyons, and tunnels sparkled with gypsum”… and you’ll cover “a wide variety of the history and geology of Mammoth Cave”.

We did not take this extended tour because I was concerned the boys couldn’t stay engaged for 4 hours. In hindsight, that was a good call. A 2-hour tour was the limit for the 10-year-old. When evaluating if your kids could handle this 4-hour tour, remember that there is no free exploring; you must stay with and follow the ranger guide. It’s a bit like being in school for 4 hours without a recess, except maybe more interesting than learning how to conjugate verbs.

There is a minimum age of 6 for this tour because of its 4-hour length and the 1300 stairs you will climb. The park rangers have designated this a difficult hike because of all those stairs. However, the tour travels at a comfortable pace, so don’t be frightened by those stairs unless you have a health issue.

Best Easy and Short Tour: Frozen Niagara Tour

The highlight of the Domes and Dripstones Tour is the finale at the Frozen Niagara section of the cave. It’s a beautiful section discovered in 1923. The large draping flowstone appears as a frozen waterfall. This tour is the way to shortcut right to that fantastic site.

The Frozen Niagara Tour lasts a little over an hour, including the short bus ride to and from the entrance. You’ll descend into the cave with only 12 stair steps and a walking distance of ¼ mile.

Although the caving experience is minimal on the Frozen Niagara Tour, it is an easy way to see one of the most famous sites in Mammoth Cave National Park if you have an active toddler or health restrictions. 

Ready for a Second Tour? Family Friendly Cave Tours that Round Out Your Visit

We’d encourage you to take a second tour with your kids while at Mammoth Cave to experience all the park offers. And the best second tour explores the original historical sections of the cave. You have several choices, listed from easiest to most challenging:

• Easy: Discovery Self Guided Tour
• Easy to Moderate: Gothic Avenue Tour
• Moderate: Historic Tour
• Moderate with extra features: Extended Historic Tour

All of these tours focus on the history of Mammoth Cave. The most impressive part of the tour is the massive open rooms that gave the caves their name. Did you think the caves were named after the animal? Nope… they were named because the early explored sections of the cave were “Mammothly” big.

The tours explore periods when the caves were mined for saltpeter, which was used in gunpowder. Much of the mining equipment was abandoned in the cave. The guides also have abundant stories to tell about early explorers and the first tourists.

The biggest difference between these 4 tours is primarily in how far they travel into the cave system. I recommend only planning to take one tour from this group, choosing the level best suited for your family.

Best History Tour of Mammoth Cave for Families: The Historic Tour

Want to walk through the tunnels that “humans have used for thousands of years”? Then the Historic Tour is for you as you tour many of the originally opened sections of Mammoth Cave. Your guide will regal you with past stories, talking about early explorers and visitors plus the mining operations.

The 2-hour tour travels about 2 miles, first through the large open rooms that made the cave famous. And then you’ll explore deeper into the cave, including tighter spaces. Some might find the steeper inclines and the 540 steps a bit challenging on this tour. But just like our favorite Domes and Dripstones Tour above, it moves at a slow enough pace that visitors in good health should be able to keep up.

We wish we had been able to get tickets for this very popular tour instead of the Gothic Avenue Tour listed below. I think we all would have really enjoyed walking through the deeper caverns.

Best Cave Tour for History Buffs: Extended Historic Tour

For a little more historical information, grab a ticket for the extended Historic Tour, which is the same tour as above with a bonus side trip “to one of the sites of the famous 1840s Mammoth Cave experiment to treat consumption”. 

If you have a few history buffs in your family, it’s worth adding this extra 15 minutes to your tour. But our grandkids would have been happy to skip this section. Know your audience.

Best Quick Tour: Discovery Self-Guided Tour

The Self Guided Tour is only offered when the park is super busy. It’s the option for many people who didn’t realize you needed to order your tour tickets online and in advance. So on busy days, the park opens up the Self Guided Tour with same-day ticket sales only.

Although I think it’s very thoughtful that the park has this overflow option for visitors, I also think the 30-minute Self-Guided Tour is a great option for people who can’t easily participate in a two-hour tour. For that reason, I wish they offered it all the time.

The Self-Guided Tour focuses on the history of the cave. You’ll find signage throughout the trail explaining the artifacts and geology of the cave. You can move at your own pace, but most people complete the tour in less than ½ hour. Rangers are available to answer questions as you travel along the ¾-mile trail. Although rated an easy trail, keep in mind there are 125 stair steps required, and the walk back to the visitor center is a fairly steep graded walkway.

Best Easy Guided Tour: Gothic Avenue Tour

We embarked on the Gothic Avenue Tour on our second morning at Mammoth Cave National Park. The size of the rooms is astounding. The large open rooms just keep going in this section of the cave. No wonder early visitors were impressed.

The guides shared many stories about the early visitors, explaining the historical graffiti and the early mining operations in great detail. Overall it was an interesting experience.

In hindsight, I would choose the Historic or Extended Historic Tour for our family’s tour. The Gothic Avenue Tour moved too slow for two energetic boys, and they were ready to move on after the first hour. 

Gothic Avenue Tour is Good for:

• Families with small children because the walkways are wide and there are no steep drops. They can easily walk holding hands with their parents. 
• Family members who wanted to move at a slower pace. 
• People with claustrophobia might be able to handle this tour since this cave section is very open. 

Best Mammoth Cave Tours for the Adventurous Family

These 4 tours are restricted to children at least 6 years old. The tours are a bit more challenging and your kids need to be able to listen to and follow instructions for their safety. 

These tours are smaller groups and have a very limited schedule, so make sure you order your tickets as soon as possible. When we ordered our tickets, about 2 weeks prior to our visit to Mammoth Cave, all these were sold out. The information I’m sharing is from the NPS website and Facebook Page since we didn’t have an opportunity to try any of them.

All except the Great Onyx Lantern Tour cover a lot of the sections included in the historic tours so would be a great substitute for families with older children.

Great Onyx Lantern Tour

Great Onyx Cave is not believed to be connected to the Mammoth Cave system, it sits in an area of the park by itself. But because it is unique, tours are offered with only a short bus ride from the visitor’s center. You’ll tour the cave by lamplight, recreating the experience of early visitors.

According to the NPS website description : “Great Onyx Cave houses an abundance of beautiful geologic formations that sparkle in the lantern light of this tour. Visitors on this tour can see many stalactites, stalagmites, gypsum crystals, and helictites.”

River Styx Tour

The River Styx Tour is the same as the Historic Tour with a really cool side trip down to the underground water level. The tour is 2 ½ hours long, covering 2.5 miles.

River Styx flows through and under the Mammoth Cave system, eventually emptying into the Green River. Early visitors to the cave were able to tour this section in a small boat. Because human interaction was affecting the little creatures that live in the river, you can now only walk along the river on a raised platform.

Star Chamber Tour

The rangers describe the Star Chamber Tour as an experience rather than site seeing. It’s “an evening tour in Mammoth Cave by lantern light, this winding its way to historic Star Chamber.” The tour is by lantern light to get the feel of what it felt like to be an early explorer walking through the caverns.

The 2 ½ hour tour travels through some of the same areas as the Gothic Avenue and Historic Tour and is only offered in the evening. 

Violet City Lantern Tour

“A truly historic way to experience Mammoth Cave, this tour travels exclusively by lantern light.”

For a longer, 3-hour and 3-mile exploration by lantern light, the Violet City Lantern Tour is quite the experience. Although there are only 160 steps, you’ll find several steep walking grades that make this a difficult tour.

Best Mammoth Cave Tour for Families by Age

Here’s a quick recap of which tours are probably best for families of different age groups. Of course, you know your kids best so take into account their unique abilities when selecting your tour.

Best Tour for Families with Babies

Since babies are allowed on most tours if you carry them on your chest, you are then only limited by your own level of fitness. If you can carry your baby for 2 hours going up and down stairs, then the Domes and Dripstones Tour is our top choice.

It’s important to know that the only way to include a baby on a Mammoth Cave NP tour is to carry the baby in a chest harness or chest carrier. Strollers and backpack carriers are not allowed on the tours. Babies are also not allowed on the tours with a 6+ age restriction.

Check the list below for the number of steps and the difficulty level to help you choose.

Best Tour for Families with Toddlers

Families with toddlers have a unique buddle of energy to accommodate. The basic Historic Tour is a good choice. The wider walkways will allow your toddler to walk holding hands with you. The tour often stops at benches for stories which will give you a break.

Be prepared to carry your toddler for some of this tour, 2 hours of walking is a lot for many little ones.

Best Tour for Families with Grade Schoolers

The best tour for school-aged kids is the Domes and Dripstones Tour, which is also our top recommendation for families. The tour has enough variety that kids will love exploring the cave.

Best Tour for Families with Pre-Teens and Teens

Teens will also love the Domes and Dripstones Tour. However, try to add in a second tour for them from the Lanterns tours that take them into parts of Mammoth Cave that few visitors see. They will appreciate the extra side trips that make those tours unique.

List of Mammoth Cave Tours at a Glance

The tours offered at Mammoth Cave can vary based on the season and demand. This is the current list of offerings. Tours may vary seasonally.

Why You Should Trust Us When Planning your Mammoth Cave Trip

Brad and I are on a mission to explore all of the US National Parks. Mammoth Cave National Park was the 33rd park we’ve visited! Before visiting a park like Mammoth Cave, we research like crazy to ensure we are ready to explore, have fun and create great memories. Then we go and do!

This article summarizes our personal experiences in the park, additional research, and all of our pre-visit research. 

The advice you read here is exactly what we’d tell our best friends if they plan a trip to Mammoth Cave! We hope you enjoy your visit to Mammoth Cave National Park.

About Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park is in rural Southern Kentucky. Rolling green hills, dotted with farms and ranches, define the landscape. The aptly named Green River cuts through the park. 

Underneath all of this serene beauty, there is a whole other world of caves. The Mammoth Cave system runs over 450 miles. That makes it the world’s longest cave. The cave is a collection of caverns and tunnels connected by passageways. Over thousands of years, underground rivers and seeping rain have eroded the limestone creating the cave.

It’s estimated that Mammoth Cave might be over 600 miles long, with new passageways yet to be discovered. To be considered part of the same cave, a passageway must exist that a human can pass through. The most recent 50-mile addition was found when water levels dropped in one of the caverns exposing an opening that led to more miles of the cave. Rangers shared that they often join together to explore more of the cave system on their day off… that’s their entertainment!

Arrive Early to Explore the Museum

The museum in the Mammoth Cave National Park visitor center is extremely well designed to engage visitors of all ages. Our youngest (10) climbed through the mock cave tunnel repeatedly while our older grandson (12) explored independently. There are many hands-on activities to engage your kids while teaching them about the science and history of the caves.

As always, we had to drag Grandpa Brad out of the museum because he loved the abundance of explainer displays and videos. Mammoth Cave’s museum is one of the best we’ve experienced during our National Park Adventures.

Junior Ranger Program

When we picked up our Junior Ranger booklets in the gift shop, the clerk gave us a tip that all the answers could be found in the museum. Of course, that encourages your kids to search through all the displays. 

I’d suggest you spend 30 minutes in the Museum before your tour to plant a few seeds of knowledge about caves with your kids. Then another 30 minutes after your tour explore and finish their Jr Ranger books.

What to Expect Inside Mammoth Cave

Temperatures.

The temperature in the caves is a constant 54 degrees so you might want to bring along a light jacket. Temperatures on the top will vary with the season from cold winters to hot summers.

Formations in the Caves

Stalactites and Stalagmites make their home in many caves. These are the formations you anticipate seeing in caves that result from water dripping over limestone. However, most of the cave is open caverns. You won’t find as many of the beautiful cave structures as you can experience in the caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Size of Tour Groups

Tour size varies from a couple of dozen to over 100 people. The more popular tours will have bigger groups. However, even though our Domes and Dripstones tour comprised of about 110 visitors, we surprisingly didn’t feel crowded.

Bathrooms on Mammoth Cave Tours

Bathrooms on the tours are non-existent. You’ll find beautiful bathrooms at the visitor center so go before you head out. 

Tour Guides

The tour guides are excellent. They come prepared with a variety of stories to tell to illustrate the history and geography of the caves. Our first guide was a college student and our second guide was a retired teacher. Both exhibited a passion for the caves during the tours.

There is no free exploring. You must stay on the paths following the tour guides. They will remind you to not touch the rocks. Some additional rules for your cave tours:

• Photography is encouraged although you can’t use a flash. Tripods and monopods are not allowed as they will slow up the tour. If you are a professional photographer, you can apply for a special tour, although not many are granted.
• Child backpack carriers and strollers are not allowed. Feel free to use a front pack for babies.
• Large backpacks are not allowed. They defined that as “Metal framed backpacks and backpacks that are higher than the shoulder or that are of a length that extends below the hips”
• Firearms or other weapons
• Pets (You can kennel for a small fee nearby.)

What to Bring on Your Cave Tour

• Light Jacket
• Bottle of water
• Small snacks are allowed, especially for longer hikes or if you have health concerns.
• A camera that can be used without flash
• Closed-toed shoes are best for the metal stairs and extensive walking.
• Your tickets – they will be checked as you board the buses or enter the caves.

More Information for Planning Your Family’s Mammoth Cave Tours

How to get tickets for your mammoth cave tour.

While tour tickets are available at the visitor center, it is better to purchase your tickets in advance online through Recreation.gov . During our visit, tickets for almost all tours were sold out for same-day purchase. So waiting means you may not get in.

You should order your tickets as soon as you are confident in your tour dates. Two weeks prior to our visit there were a lot of tours available, but by the week of our trip, the selection was limited.

How Many Mammoth Cave Tours Should You Plan to Take?

If you can fit it into your schedule, I’d recommend you take at least 2 tours that explore a different section of Mammoth Cave. We scheduled one each morning and then left our afternoon free to explore outside the caves. 

How to Mix and Match Your Cave Tours

There are over a dozen different cave tours. Most tours are not completely unique, many overlap with the ground covered by other tours to capture the highlights of Mammoth Cave. For example, the Gothic Avenue Tour is primarily a subset of the Historic Tour. And the Frozen Niagara Tour is a short tour of the ending point for the Domes and Dripstones Tour.

Is There an Accessible Tour of Mammoth Cave?

Currently, the accessible tour is unavailable due to elevator issues and there is no clear date on when it will be reopened. 

What’s the Best Time of Day to Take a Cave Tour?

The biggest consideration in planning your family trip into the caves is that you and your kids will be a captive audience for the length of the tour. There are no bathrooms and there is no exit mid-tour. Once you start, you have to finish along with the rest of the group.

So the best time to take your tour will be different for every family. Consider when your kids are most able to focus. For example, your 4-year-old that takes afternoon naps is probably better on a morning tour. While a 15-year-old who sleeps in during the summer months might be more engaged right after lunch.

Pets in Mammoth Cave National Park

We were excited to learn that pets are welcome on the outdoor hiking trails in Mammoth Cave National Park. Most National Parks severely restrict pet access. So we originally planned to bring Charlie along on our trip. However, temperatures soared into the high 90s the week of our road trip so we left her with a friend to enjoy the air conditioning. That dog just plain hates hot weather!

While dogs are not allowed on the cave tours, you’ll find shaded outdoor kennels available for your use at the Mammoth Cave Kennels just a short walk from the visitor’s center for a very low fee. There are some restrictions so make sure you read about pets in Mammoth Cave NP before you head out on your road trip.

Where to Stay When Visiting Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave National Park is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. You’ll want a lodging plan before you head that way. Luckily there are great options for both camping and hotels.

Hotels, Motels and More

Inside the park, you can relax at the historic Lodge at Mammoth Cave . It is located directly next to the visitor center and features a mix of modern hotel rooms as well as historic cottages nestled in a woodland setting. All are within walking distance of cave tours and park trails.

Cave City is the nearest town, only about a 15 minute drive. You’ll find a variety of more traditional motels here. You can check Cave City motel availability here.

Campgrounds in Mammoth Cave National Park and Nearby

There are 3 beautiful campgrounds in Mammoth Cave National Park. We camped in the main campground and loved the large well shaded campsite. Make sure you get camping reservations because this park can fill up fast.

Re-capping the Best Mammoth Cave Tour for Families

The best Mammoth Cave tour for families is the Domes and Dripstones tour. We recommend that you combine this tour with one of the historical tours for a fully rounded trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. We’ve also included tips to adjust your tour plans based on your unique family. I hope you have a great time!

Planning to visit all National Parks? Here’s other Trips You Might Want to Read:

• Colorado National Park Road Trip
• Utah Might 5 Road Trip
• West Texas and New Mexico National Park Road Trip

The Authors: Hey, we are Ladona and Brad, avid campers and hikers. We are crazy about getting outdoors at every possible moment and have decades of experience exploring nature. Our current goal is to visit all 63 US National Parks and just completed #42. WooHoo! Our mission is to help you plan your own adventures and create memories beyond your imagination!

Atlas Obsession

Mammoth Cave National Park – Which Tour Should You Do?

“My God… That’s spectacular.” On our final tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, the man directly in front of us said this exact line every single time we turned a corner. No, I’m not exaggerating. While I didn’t share his same enthusiasm, I will say that Mammoth Cave is pretty cool. Some of these rock formations are incredible and it’s worth a visit to tour this cave system.

Table of Contents

About Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave National Park is home to the worlds largest cave system, with over 400 miles of cave discovered and mapped so far (and still many miles of cave that still need to be explored). The cave is massive and until you visit, it can be difficult to really understand how the true scale of these caves.

Mammoth Cave National Park is located in central Kentucky, just outside of Cave City. A visit here is a little different than most of your national park experiences. Rather than just jumping in your car and exploring on your own, you must sign up for guided tours of the cave. There is a self guided tour option for those who don’t like the idea of a group tour. However, a ranger led tour will give you so much more information about the area you’re exploring.

We took three tours: The Star Chamber Tour, The Historic Tour, and the Domes and Dripstones Tour. All three were great and all taught us something new about the cave system. But there are still several others to choose from.

Mammoth Cave Tours

The star chamber tour.

This tour at Mammoth Cave is a bit different than most. The cave is filled with artificial lights which are turned on during most tours so everyone can see where they are going. But during this tour, these artificial lights are turned off. You follow your guide through the cave by oil lantern, just like the early tourists who visited here. Because of the limited light, it can be difficult to truly grasp how big the cave really is. Still, it is a great experience. You’ll travel down through the main entrance and down Gothic Avenue before reaching the Star Chamber, at which point you’ll turn around and retrace your steps.

If you’re going to do this tour, I recommend making this your first tour. It’s a great introduction to the cave. The cave feels big, but the lanterns don’t really let you see the true scale. The next day, when we took the Historic Tour, my mom and I were in awe of how big the cave really was. I don’t think you’ll get that same experience if you do the Star Chamber Tour at the end.

It’s such a unique experience that I have to recommend doing this tour.

Total Distance: 2 miles Length of Tour: 2.5 hours Number of Stairs: 160 Cost: $25 per adult

Historic Tour

This tour is a classic and leads you down into Mammoth Cave. You’ll enter through the main entrance and retrace some of the steps you made on the Star Chamber tour. However, now you have the artificial lights turned on and you can really get a sense for how massive this cave system is. It’s amazing how much different and bigger the cave feels with those artificial lights.

There are two big things to be aware of before signing up for this tour. There can be low ceilings and narrow passage ways. At a few points in the tour, you may need to crouch down and walk along the passage way for an extended period. For reference, I’m 5 feet 4 inches and I occasionally had to crouch down, while my mom at 5 feet 7 inches had to duck more often.

My mom was a little nervous about this, but said that the rangers over exaggerated how bad it was going to be. Still, you know your limits. If you are concerned, talk to rangers before you book your tickets. They will also reiterate all of this information at the safety briefing before starting your tour.

Total Distance: 2 miles Length of Tour: 2 hours Number of Stairs: 540 Cost: $20 per adult

Domes and Dripstones

This is the tour that I think of when I think of Mammoth Cave. It was on this tour that we heard “My God… That’s incredible!” at least 25 times in the course of the two hour tour.

From the visitor center, you’ll board a bus and travel to another entrance to the cave. At this second entrance, you’ll descend a narrow staircase down into the cave. Once you’re down here, the rangers will lead you to some of the most incredible rock formations of the cave system. The highlight for me was the Frozen Niagra area toward the end of the tour.

This tour had more narrow spaces than the Historic Tour, but I found myself having to duck less on this tour than on the Historic Tour. You will get a safety briefing before your tour that will outline exactly what you’re going to go through.

Total Distance: 1 miles Length of Tour: 2 hours Number of Stairs: 500 Cost: $21 per adult

More Tour Options

The above three tours are the tours that I have first hand experience with. But those aren’t the only tours available at Mammoth Cave.

Accessible Tour – For those with limited mobility, take a look at this tour. This is 2 hours, 0.5 miles, and has no stairs. Cost: $22 per adult.

Cleveland Avenue – This focuses on Cleveland Avenue and the Snowball Room and you’ll see unique passages and gypsum covered walls. This is 2 hours, 1 mile, and 200 stairs. Cost: $22 per adult.

Discovery (Self Guided) – This is the only self-guided option to explore Mammoth Cave. This is 1.25 hours, 0.75 miles, and 125 stairs. Cost: $8 per adult.

Extended Historic – Unsurprisingly, this the Historic Tour with an extension (to the 1840s Cave Experiment). This is 2.25 hours, 2 mile, and 540 stairs. Cost: $23 per adult.

Frozen Niagara – If you only want to see Frozen Niagara and skip the rest of the Domes and Dripstones tour, look at this tour. This is 1.25 hours, 0.25 mile, and 110 stairs (98 are optional). Cost: $18 per adult.

Gothic Avenue – This focuses on more in depth on Gothic Avenue, which is also seen on Star Chamber, Historic Tour, and Violet City Lantern Tour. This is 2 hours, 1 mile, and 160 stairs. Cost: $19 per adult.

Great Onyx Lantern Tour – This is another lantern tour, but it should be noted that this cave is not known to be part of the Mammoth Cave system. Remember that the cave system is still being mapped and explored, so one day, they may be able to connect it with the Mammoth Cave system. This is 2.25 hours, 1 mile, and 40 stairs. Cost: $23 per adult.

Grand Avenue – This is another in depth tour, but it does a deeper dive on the Domes and Dripstones tour. This is 4 hours, 4 mile, and 1313 stairs. Cost: $35 per adult.

Grand Historic – This is one of the most in depth tours and you’ll visit many of the iconic sites that are also seen on the Historic, Extended Historic, Gothic Avenue, Star Chamber, River Styx, Mammoth Passage, and Violet City tours. This is 4 hours, 4 mile, and 640 stairs. Cost: $35 per adult.

Mammoth Passage – This is an introduction to the Historic Tour and is a guided version of the Discovery (Self Guided tour). This is 1.25 hours, 0.75 mile, and 125 stairs. Cost: $11 per adult.

River Styx Lantern Tour – You’ll follow the Historic Tour, but also detour to the underground water level. This is 2.5 hours, 2.5 mile, and 600 stairs. Cost: $22 per adult.

Violet City Lantern Tour – This is another lantern tour option, but is slightly longer than the Star Chamber tour. This is 3 hours, 3 mile, and 160 stairs. Cost: $25 per adult.

Wondering Woods – This is more focusing on the surrounding forests, but does feature a short visit to the cave. This is 1.5 hours, 1 mile, and 194 stairs. Cost: $18 per adult.

Which Tour Should You Do?

The choice of tours is entirely up to you and you should take your own preferences into account, particularly if you love geology. But for the average person, I think the three tours I did (Star Chamber, Historic, and Domes and Dripstones) is a really good combination. Many tours overlap (at least partially) with another tour and I feel like we really got to see a lot of the cave.

On our trip, we arrived into Cave City at around 3:00pm. We got an early dinner in Cave City and then drove to Mammoth Cave National Park We took the Star Chamber Tour at 6:15 that evening. The next day we took the 10:00am Historic Tour and the 2:15 Domes and Dripstones Tour.

If you’re doing both the Historic Tour and Domes and Dripstones on the same day, I think this spacing (10am Historic and 2:15 Domes and Dripstones) works well. The Historic Tour finishes at 12:00, so you have plenty of time for lunch (there’s a Camp Store that serves sandwiches just down the road from the visitor center) and time to relax. If you take an earlier tour, you may be rushed during lunch.

Also note, that tour times change based on the season. We were here in early August when there were numerous tours available, but in winter fewer tours are offered. Always look ahead on the NPS website to see what tours are available for your dates.

It’s a good idea to book your tickets in advance. We booked our tours online approximately six weeks in advance for a visit in August. At that time, there were still plenty of tickets available. However, by the time we arrived in Cave City, nearly everything was sold out. If there’s a tour you really want to do, buy your ticket in advance.

Additional Helpful Tour Information

Each tour at Mammoth Cave (except the Accessible Tour) contains a lot of stairs. Both the Historic Tour and Domes and Dripstones state that you will do over 500 stairs. That said, the stairs are not all at once and are spread out throughout the tour, which is anywhere from .75 to 2 miles in length.

Tour groups can get big. The Star Chamber Tour has limited spots since they have limited lanterns. Our group for this tour had approximately 30 people. However, our groups for the Historic Tour and Domes and Dripstones were at least 100 people. To get the most out of your tour (and to maximize your time for photos), stick to the front of the group. We were at the back of the group for the Star Chamber Tour, but I don’t think we missed much. For the other two tours, had we stayed at the back, we would have gotten the essential information, but we would have missed some more of the “fun facts” and other random tidbits from our ranger. He’d typically give these facts to the front of the group while we waited for the back part of the group to file in.

There are no facilities on your tour. Use the bathroom before you depart and carry anything you might need (although you really shouldn’t need much as food and drinks other than water are not allowed in the cave).

Getting to Mammoth Cave

Look at the map before you go. There is no service and the National Park Service strongly recommends avoiding Google Maps to navigate you to the visitor center. We used Google Maps and had no problems, but it’s something you should be aware of.

When to Visit Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave is 52 degrees all year round, so they can be visited at any point. The biggest thing to note is that tour offerings change throughout the year. Summer will have more tours offered than winter.

We visited in early August, so while it was hot and humid outside (with temperatures in the upper 80s), the inside of the cave was cool. I wore leggings and had a light sweatshirt (I only used my sweatshirt on two of the three tours).

Where to Stay

The nearest town to Mammoth Cave is Cave City. It’s a small town with not a lot of options, but you will find a few choices for hotels and restaurants.

Final Thoughts

I’ve visited other caves, but nothing was quite like Mammoth Cave. The sheer scale is hard to imagine and when you’re standing in the cave, you can really feel small. It’s definitely worth a visit to Mammoth Cave National Park just to experience it.

Continue Your Adventure

Similar National Parks : For a similar, but also different, cave experience, check out New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns National Park .

Nearby National Parks : Nearby is relative, but if you’re chasing national parks, there’s a few to look into. You have Indiana Dunes National Park to the north, Gateway Arch National Park to the west, and New River Gorge National Park to the east. All are between a five to six hour drive from Mammoth Cave.

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10 Best Mammoth Cave Tours Worth Your Time

This post is all about the best Mammoth Cave tours in Mammoth Cave National Park! You’ll find an overview of the different tours, travel tips, effort level listings, and estimated times based on our personal experiences hiking Mammoth Cave National Park.

In the beginning of autumn, I went on my first Mammoth Cave tour. I sat – legs pressed tight against a bench, feet clacking the ground – under the wide awning of Shelter A, waiting for a ranger to herd me (and a hundred or so other tourists) into the belly of the longest cave in the world. We walked and walked and walked some more. We climbed up and down thin, platformed stairs. We paused and gasped as the cave curved and snarled and dropped and twisted. Mammoth Cave’s pathways are serpentine; its walls are textured. And I was enamored by it all.

I returned to Mammoth Cave National Park often after, each time with the intention of taking one guided trip (sometimes two, much to the misery of my calves) through the cave itself. On those ranger-led tours, I chatted with travelers and staff, die-hard cave lovers and new-to-the-cave-scene visitors. Tour-by-tour, I fell deeper and deeper in love with Kentucky’s karst landscape.

Now, having been on almost all the Mammoth Cave tours (with the exception of their crawling tours), I feel ready to share my favorites.

Here are Passport To Eden’s top picks for the best cave tours at Mammoth Cave National Park!

Editor’s Note: Mammoth Cave tours are seasonal and not necessarily offered year-round. Sometimes tours close for construction (one of my favorite mammoth cave tours was closed in 2023 for this very reason. The goal was to make paths to be more accessible in the future). The best place to check what tours are available right now is the National Park website ( I’ll link it here ). I also tried to include a list of phobia warnings based on my own personal experiences on each of the cave tours. If you experience any cave-triggered phobias, I highly recommend talking with one of the rangers at Mammoth Cave National Park (you can reach them at 270-758-2180) before booking a tour. They can help you decide which tour (if any) might suit you best!

Table of Contents

Historic Tour

Mammoth Cave has long been a place for the curious. Even before it became integrated into the National Park system in 1941, tours were being led down and through its hidden alleys and layered passageways. The Historic Tour is the oldest, continually operated tour at Mammoth Cave . It’s also the most popular .

Go for the atmosphere: the gaping, moss-laden Historic Entrance; the vaulted, limestone ceilings; the remnants of 19th century century saltpetre vats . Go for the route too. You’ll stroll through wide and thin areas of Mammoth Cave. You’ll pass a coffin-shaped rock that looks like it’s been plucked from the pages of an old vampire novel. You’ll duck and twist and shimmy through Fat Man’s Misery (though I’d personally call this portion of the cave Anybody’s Misery). And by the end of your tour, you’ll be left with no doubts as to how Mammoth Cave got its name.

General Info

ESTIMATED TIME: 2 Hours (Allot 2.5 hours) STAIRS: 540 EFFORT: Moderately Strenuous COST: $20.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Nyctophobia, Agoraphobia

Frozen Niagara Tour

Quick, short, and low-in-effort , The Frozen Niagara tour is hands-down the easiest tour offered at Mammoth Cave National Park. Don’t be fooled by the sketchy looking entryway: this is one of the most beautiful sections of Mammoth Cave . Within a small, dark, fourth-of-a-mile stretch, you’ll see wrangled beards of limestone, spirals of stalactites, and ice-like distortions of flowstone. Your tour guide will brief you on the geology of Mammoth Cave , the story behind the Frozen Niagara entrance, and some of the keystone species you might see at Mammoth Cave National Park (this part of the cavern is usually crawling with cave crickets).

ESTIMATED TIME: 1.25 Hours (Allot 1.5 hours) STAIRS: 12 With Optional 98 Stairs To The Drapery Room EFFORT: Easy COST: $18.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Arachnophobia, Nyctophobia, Agoraphobia

Cleaveland Avenue Tour

The Cleaveland Avenue Tour is one of the most underrated Mammoth Cave tours. If you’re visiting Mammoth Cave for the first time and want to get a feel for the length of Mammoth Cave without the stress of a large group size, this is the tour I’d recommend the most! Be warned: there are lots of steps up front and towards the end. But the path in-between is nice and gentle and compact . It’s a hike that’s strenuous in bursts, more tiring than difficult . And the reward is floral gypsum , white petals of calcium sulfate that choke cracks and crevices. You’ll amble and ramble and snap photos. And as you stroll through Cleaveland Avenue, your tour guide will introduce you to Mammoth Cave’s geology, topology, and history .

ESTIMATED TIME: 2 Hours STAIRS: 400 EFFORT: Moderate COST: $22.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Nyctophobia, Claustrophobia, Agoraphobia

Grand Avenue Tour

The Grand Avenue Tour is intense. It’s stair after stair, incline after incline. You’ll trek through sparkling passageways and squeeze into slot canyons and amble past rich tapestries of flowstone. You’ll experience Mammoth Cave to the fullest – its highs and lows, its dimness and darkness, its emptiness and too-muchness. Grand Avenue’s variation alone it makes it one of the best mammoth cave tours, but it’s also one of the most difficult . The pace tends to be slow and unhurried ( there are even restroom breaks) to accommodate, but the length will absolutely test your legs. This tour is long. You’ll spend half-a-day in a cool, dark, seemingly endless underground . At times, the landscape will feel (and look) hellish. But if you love caves and enjoy Stairmaster challenges, you’ll feel right at home in this tour.

ESTIMATED TIME: 4 Hours (Allot 4.5) STAIRS: 1313 EFFORT: Strenuous COST: $35.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Acrophobia, Arachnophobia, Nyctophobia, Agoraphobia

Violet City Lantern Tour

Whilst at Mammoth Cave National Park, I tried asking as many park rangers as I could find what their favorite tour was. The overwhelming response? The Violet City Lantern Tour . This is one the most dramatic Mammoth Cave tours. Here’s what I love about it: Violet City swoops you back in time to an era of early exploration , an era where your eyes depended on the soft, intimate glow of lantern-light . So as you hold up your lantern to Mammoth Cave’s water-cut nooks and crannies, you’ll tap into the past. But you’ll also focus on the little details – the here-and-now, the what-was and what-could-be.

ESTIMATED TIME: 3 Hours STAIRS: 160 EFFORT: Moderate COST: $25.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Acrophobia, Nyctophobia, Agoraphobia

Gothic Avenue Tour

One of my favorite Mammoth Cave tours was the Gothic Avenue Tour (which to me felt a lot like The Historic Tour without the severe claustrophobia moments). The Gothic Avenue tour is dark and moody . It’s theatrical in its form and shape. Spheres of light are cast onto historic graffiti burned into Mammoth Cave’s walls. Monuments (old Jenga-ed stacks of rocks) are strewn along the edge of the trails. You’ll see broody stalactites and stalagmites droop down below blackened shadows. You’ll crescent moon around a dramatic ring of formations (known as The Bridal Altar), which devilishly drips down to hard, compact ground. The atmosphere of Gothic Avenue is gloomy and eerie. Go in October if you can (this is the perfect tour to take during spooky season).

ESTIMATED TIME: 2 Hours STAIRS: 160 EFFORT: Easy COST: $19.00 Per adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Nyctophobia, Agoraphobia

River Styx Tour

I was told by a park ranger that the River Styx Tour is often touted as one of the most underwhelming tours at Mammoth Cave. “It’s because people expect to go down to the water,” he said. And while you do see water on the River Styx tour , you see it from above . You catch a small glimpse of it (just a glimpse). Know that this is less of a river tour, and mostly a mashup of many other Mammoth Cave tours . The River Styx trek (which is slick and muddy and wet in some areas) covers the entire Historic Route (truth be told, I was not looking forward to walking through Fat Man’s Misery again). It also injects some elements of the Violet City Lantern Tour and the Mammoth Passage Tour.

ESTIMATED TIME: 2.5 Hours (Allot 3) STAIRS: 600 EFFORT: Moderately strenuous COST: $22.00 Per adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Nyctophobia, Acrophobia, Agoraphobia

Domes & Dripstones Tour

Like Frozen Niagara, Domes & Dripstones walks you through some of the prettiest sections of Mammoth Cave. It’s a lot more strenuous than Frozen Niagara though (according to the ranger who led our tour, this is the hike he’s seen the most people end up in need of medical evacuation – eeeep ). And after negotiating the steps past the entrance, I could see why. On the Domes & Dripstones tour, you knock out 280 stairs in the initial descent . The steps get smaller and smaller as you go farther and farther down. At the choke points, my feet were barely covered by the stairs. But wow, oh wow, once the stairs taper off, you’ll see one of the most beautiful sides to Mammoth Cave. This portion of Mammoth Cave isn’t dry and clean-cut. It’s moist and layered and filled with formations .

Side Note: I definitely felt like I gained the most knowledge from this tour. There were two ranger-led “Ask Me Anything” moments where our group got an opportunity to sit down on a handful of benches (arranged classroom-style right in the cave) and shoot questions. Y’all, I learned so much from the open-ended style of these portions, so if you’re looking to grasp more of the history and geology of Mammoth Cave, I highly recommend this tour!

ESTIMATED TIME: 2 Hours (Allot 2.5) STAIRS: 500 EFFORT: Strenuous COST: $21.00 Per Adult PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Nyctophobia, Acrophobia, Agoraphobia

Self-Guided Tour

For a quick in-then-out jaunt into Mammoth Cave, opt for the self-guided tour . You still need a ticket (first come, first served), but once you’ve strode down past the Historic Entrance, you can walk around and read the placards at your own pace . This is a popular option for those planning a last-minute stopover at Mammoth Cave.

The self-guided tour showcases a large , wide open, level snapshot of Mammoth Cave, making it more accessible to people who might experience claustrophobia, acrophobia, and agoraphobia. There is a guided version of this tour too ( The Mammoth Passage Tour ), but if you get a chance, try booking one of the other Mammoth Cave tours on this list instead (for a more in-depth Mammoth Cave experience)!

ESTIMATED TIME: 20-30 Minutes STAIRS: 130 COST: $8.00 Per Adult EFFORT: Easy

Wild Cave Tour

While I do not intend on going on any of the crawling tours at Mammoth Cave (I looked at one of the holes you have to squeeze whilst on another tour and no, just no), I do still want to mention one crawling tour in this guide. Here’s why: everyone I spoke to who has done the Wild Cave Tour in the past has absolutely loved it. Apparently, you crawl on your hands and knees and push your body through small gaps in the ground. You don’t just get to see Mammoth Cave, you get to feel it. The Wild Cave tour offers a tactile way to experience Mammoth Cave. It’s supposed to be fun and challenging and adventurous .

ESTIMATED TIME: 4 Hours EFFORT: Very Strenuous PHOBIA WARNINGS: Claustrophobia, Nyctophobia, ACROPHOBIA, Agoraphobia COST: $46.00 Per adult

Did you find this guide to the best Mammoth Cave tours helpful? Do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments below! As always, I love hearing from you.

Pack With Me (WHAT I BROUGHT TO MAMMOTH CAVE)

• 🥾 Merrell Moab 2 : these shoes got me through every tour in Mammoth Cave
• 💧 Hydroflask : I brought this stainless steel water bottle (keep in mind, only clear water bottles are allowed on Mammoth Cave tours, but I didn’t feel like buying a new one and no one commented on my bottle being opaque ☺️).
• 🥜 Sahale : since no food was allowed in the cave, I kept this nut mix in my car and snacked on it after each tour (Sahale’s pomegranate vanilla cashews have my heart and soul 😋)
• 🧣 Light Sweater : Mammoth Cave tends to be a bit cold (in the mid 50s) so I opted for a light, long-sleeved, breathable sweater
• 📷 Sony Alpha a6400 : this is the mirrorless camera I personally used to take photos and film videos (I love that it has a flip-out screen)
• 🎒 Sling Backpack : this comfy little crossbody canvas rucksack was (and still is) my go-to day hiking bag

Editor-In-Chief

Anshula grew up with a love of stories and places. Thirty-five states and 100 bookstores later, she's made her hobbit home in Middle Tennessee. Her Tookish side still takes over and leaves her chasing window seats, literary destinations, adventure books, sunrise coffee, and indie bookshops. She's appeared as a travel source on HuffPost, Reader's Digest, and MSN.

You describe places in a way that inspires me to travel and see the world. Thank you very much for that! Greetings from Canada.

Your firsthand info and perspective of each cave tour was very helpful, thanks!

Thank you so much for these reviews and assessments the physical demands of them. So very helpful!!!

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Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided) Mammoth Cave

• January 14, 2021 January 14, 2021

No visit to Mammoth Cave National Park would be complete without a tour of the cave. There are many wonderful things to do at the park, like kayaking or hiking, but the cave is what makes the area so unique and interesting. Of course, when you visit the world’s longest cave system you can expect numerous tours that cover a wide variety of abilities, lengths, and sights. The Extended Historic Tour at Mammoth Cave is a great way to explore the cave while walking where people have explored and worked for thousands of years.

Unfortunately, when I visited Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky, we were in the middle of a global pandemic. So my choices were limited. In fact, we had one choice of cave tour, and it wasn’t as long as it normally is. But I was extremely thankful to still be able to explore this amazing ecosystem below the surface of the earth.

Our tour was called the Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided). This self-guided tour includes the upper portion of the Extended Historic Tour, but because of COVID, the lower potions where spaces can get tight were restricted. The tour begins and ends at the Historic Entrance and takes you to the Tuberculosis Hospital Ruins deep inside the cave. It has a side trip down Audubon Avenue. In total, it’s about 2 miles and takes about an hour and a half. It’s rated easy and has 160 total stairs.

The Extended Historic Tour—Normally at Mammoth Cave

The Extended Historic Tour, one of the most popular tours of the park, takes you along this path but loops deeper underground through the features like the Wooden Bowl Room, Fat Man’s Misery, and the Ruins of Karnak. But because of COVID, this portion was closed.

Mammoth Cave National Park, has two different tours with the name Extended Historic Tour—one called the Extended Historic Tour and the Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided). The Self Guided tour only takes you to the tuberculosis camp and back the way you came, unlike the guided tour which loops via a lower portion.

Historic Entrance, Rotunda, and Audubon Avenue

The Historic Entrance is Mammoth Cave’s largest natural entrance. It’s easy to see how the cave system was not kept secret throughout history. Once you enter the cave, you pass through the Houchins Narrows, which opens up to a large space called the Rotunda.

This room is massive. And you can really get a feel for why the early visitors called the cave, Mammoth Cave. It has a circular breakdown-dome ceiling giving the large room an even larger feel. Here in the Rotunda, you can see one of two niter works where people long ago mined in the area. Niter or saltpeter is potassium nitrate.

During the early 1800s, people mined saltpeter. There are numerous wooden artifacts that are pointed out by placards as well as along the walk. It’s really interesting to view these well-preserved artifacts.

From the Rotunda, swing a right toward Audubon Avenue, named for the famed John James Audubon. On your walk to the end of Audubon Avenue, keep your eyes on the sides of the path for more artifacts.

At the end of Audubon Avenue, you can view ancient artifacts left by those who used Mammoth Cave during prehistoric times. From there, you retrace your steps back to the Rotunda and saltpeter vats.

Broadway to Tuberculosis Huts

From the Rotunda, you make your way further into what is known as the main cave. You pass through an area named Broadway, It was named so because it resembles the urban canyon of Broadway. The cave makes a slight curve to the left as you pass by a nook. The nook is known as The Church, a beautiful cave feature.

After you pass The Church, be on the lookout to your right for more wooden artifacts from the 1800s. Seven saltpeter vats and a pump tower once operated along this stretch of cave.

Just before you get to the end, the cave makes a sharp turn. Acute angles are not often seen in this main trunk of Mammoth Cave, but it’s a great reminder of the river that once carved the world’s longest cave system.

When you reach the end of the tour, you are treated to two stone structures that were built for those suffering from consumption or, tuberculosis. The clinic was a medical experiment in 1842. The cave air was thought to have curative properties for those battling the disease.

To finish this tour, you simply turn around and retrace your steps back out of the cave.

Above the water table

One thing I found interesting about the Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided) at Mammoth Cave was that it does not take you below the water table. It may take you underground quite a ways, but not below the water table.

This is called a dry cave. When I planned my trip to Mammoth Cave National Park, I expected to see stalactites and stalagmites, like in Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas. However, because we did not drop below the water table, these distinct cave features have not formed at this location. However, other tours at Mammoth Cave do go lower underground where you can see those features.

412 miles surveyed so far

The Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided) is only a fraction of Mammoth Cave. To date, there have been 412 miles of cave surveyed, but there is a potential for 1,000 miles within this cave system. Mammoth Cave isn’t called the longest cave system in the world for no reason.

This tour only covers about 1 mile of the cave. In addition to the Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided), Mammoth Cave National Park offers around 20 different cave tours . And believe me, when COVID is over, I will be going back.

Mammoth Cave National Park is dog friendly! Dogs, of course, are not allowed in the cave, but the park offers dog kennels at a low cost so you can feel comfortable leaving your four-legged friend behind.

The Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided) at Mammoth Cave

Even though I only got to visit a small fraction of Mammoth Cave, I was so glad I got to explore the world’s longest cave system. The historical aspect of the Extended Historic Tour is well worth a trip to the national park.

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1 thought on “Extended Historic Tour (Self Guided) Mammoth Cave”

This is one of the places we are hoping to visit when we take a long vacation. We really enjoyed the Kentucky State Park system, pretty sure this will be a great one to visit. You have made Scott want to visit this summer!

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Should You Take Domes and Dripstones Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park?

Of all the cave tours offered by Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, we decided to do the Domes and Dripstones Tour on our visit there during Thanksgiving Break. 

First, the Domes and Dripstones Tour got good reviews and recommendations from the park and previous visitors. Many said it is one of the best Mammoth Cave tours. 

Then, the cave tour ends in the dripstone section known as Frozen Niagara. It is the only section in the park that has stalactites and stalagmites. These formations always amazed me.

Lastly, we didn’t have plenty of time to spend at Mammoth Cave NP. We were on our way to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. 

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission from the discount codes used or when a link/ad is clicked. All purchases made will come at no extra cost to you. Also, Two Worlds Treasures participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Again, there’s no extra cost to you.

After spending a night in Bowling Green, Kentucky , it seemed like the Domes and Dripstones Tour was the right choice before we drove straight to Steel City.

Little did I know that Thanksgiving Break is also one of the Mammoth Cave NP’s busiest times of year. I thought it’s only busy, but not that busy. Well, I was wrong. 

When I visited the park’s website, they strongly recommended visitors book the cave tour ticket online . Popular cave tour tickets like Domes and Dripstones are gone fast.

Since I wasn’t sure what time we would arrive there, I didn’t book the ticket right away. I waited until we arrived in Bowling Green the night before we visited. Of course, their online ticket reservation system was down. Great! 

Fortunately, when we got to Mammoth Cave National Park the next morning, they still had room for our family of 3. 

When you go there during the busy season, I strongly recommend you book the tour ticket online. Don’t make the same mistake as us.

What Is a Domes and Dripstones Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park?

Here’s what they said on their website.

The Domes and Dripstones Tour is a classic tour that visits areas of Mammoth Cave that have been used for nearly 100 years.

It begins in a sinkhole, passes through huge domes, and amazing breaks, and ends in the dripstones section known as Frozen Niagara.

The tour involves ascending and descending hundreds of stairs and several steep inclines. If you are not physically fit for this situation, don’t take this tour as there are no alternative routes. You will walk from the moment you enter the sinkhole to the Frozen Niagara section.

Duration: 2 hours

Distance: 0.75 miles (1.2 km)

Total stairs: 640, including 280 on the initial staircase descent and an optional 96.

Difficulty: difficult

Ages: All ages. Youth under the age of 16 years must be accompanied by an adult 18 years or older.

Restroom: no

Tickets available for each tour time: 110

Fees: $30 adults, $25 youth, $15 Senior Pass holder, $15 Access Pass holder.

Our experience on the Domes and Dripstones Tour

When we bought the tickets and learned that it would be a big group – 131 people – we didn’t like it. But we were there already and we didn’t know when we could make a stop at the park in the future.

(Note: The park has changed number of people for this tour to 110. I still think it’s too big for a tour.)

We still had several minutes left before the tour started, so we walked around the exhibits. I encourage you to do this to learn about Mammoth Cave National Park’s fascinating cave system. 

From the visitor center, they bused us to the cave entrance. The drive took around 10 minutes, and the gray, dreary morning made the drive like I was in a movie scene.   

After we arrived at the entrance area, the tour guide explained the physical condition of the tour. Then we followed him down to the door of the sinkhole. The door is surrounded by dirt and trees. 

We decided to follow at the very back because people were already lined up behind the guide. A few people had the same thought as us and they managed to walk behind us. 

Seeing the guide followed by others entering the metal door one by one was like watching an armageddon movie. It’s like a group of people finding a safe place to keep them from disasters without knowing what’s behind the door. And I was part of it. Except in this case, our guide knew well what was behind the door.

Once we got through the door, we started walking on 280 steps and descended to the bottom of the cave. It’s slippery so we watched our steps carefully. 

A family walked in front of us. Their daughter, who appeared to be around 11, was a bit hysterical. She didn’t want to move, she thought she couldn’t make it. It’s dark and humid there. The mother tried to encourage her and the girl finally gained her bravery. 

But I couldn’t take good pictures since the people behind us weren’t patient enough. They just wanted to move fast and I thought, you shouldn’t be at the very end.

Finally, we arrived at the bottom. At the same time, the tour guide was done with his explanation and started to move. Excuse me?

It was like that the whole time. Either the tour guide started to move by the time we entered one room, or we couldn’t hear what he said at every stop. It’s just too crowded for one tour guide. Yes! 1 tour guide for 131 people.

So, we just enjoyed the cave ourselves. I don’t recall seeing stalactites or stalagmites until we got to the Frozen Niagara section. Maybe because it’s too dark inside?

I told my husband that walking in the cave was like underground hiking.

My husband and son weren’t impressed with the stalactites and stalagmites at the Frozen Niagara. They said Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico which we visited a few years back was way better. I think part of it was because they were upset with the tour. We couldn’t hear anything that the tour guide talked about.

As for me, I was impressed with the Frozen Niagara because I hadn’t seen frozen stalactites and stalagmites before.

Once we got to the surface of the earth, buses were waiting for us. In about 10 minutes we arrived back at the Visitor Center.

All participants of the tour walked on bio-security mats immediately after we left the bus. It’s to prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome is a fatal disease in bats caused by the fungus. It kills bats in North America, and we, humans, potentially help the spread of the fungus.    

From here we walked back towards the Visitor Center, passing the Green River Grill and Spelunkers Cafe & Ice Cream Parlor before crossing the footbridge.

Our takes on the Domes & Dripstones Tour

From our experience, we didn’t think the Domes and Dripstones Tour was one of the best cave tours in Mammoth Cave National Park. It was probably a different experience if there weren’t too many people in the group though.

If you want to do this tour, do it during the low season or weekdays.

Or, call ahead of time because schools around the area have field trips here. I don’t think you want to be put in the same group with the school’s field trip.

If it’s a big group, make sure you walk behind the tour guide.

And if you want to see the stalactites and stalagmites only, go with the Frozen Niagara Tour. This tour will take you straight to the section with only 12 stairs. It’s faster, has fewer miles, and easy.

How to get to Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave is huge with a size near 35,000 acres. It is divided by the Green River that flows from east to west through the center of the park.

The visitor center and cave tours are found on the south side of the river, while backcountry camping, hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking opportunities are on the north side of the river.

Here’s a few options on directions to the park:

– By Car

Most visitors to the park arrive by car, just like us. The park is located not too far from I-65, the major highway that connects Nashville in Tennessee to Louisville in Kentucky. It’s around 30 miles to the north (40 minutes drive) from where we stayed in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

– By Air

The closest major airports are in Louisville, Kentucky (89 miles from Park Headquarters) and Nashville, Tennessee (99 miles). You can find car rentals at both airports . 

– By RV, Trailers, or Buses

There are no restrictions on the size of RVs, trailers, or buses in the park. Note that you might find difficulties when crossing the Green River with a ferry or traveling on the park’s secondary road.

– By Ferry

There are no bridges connecting the south and north sides of the park. Visitors can take the Green River Ferry as an alternative to the major highways. Ferry operations are subject to closures due to fluctuating water levels. Call (270) 758-2166 before your visit.

Parking spaces by the Visitor Center are spacious. Besides special parking spots for disabled visitors, Mammoth Cave National Park also provides special spots for visitors driving their alternative fuel vehicles. We felt like a royal when we got out of our Prius. Hehe..

Basic info to know before your trip to Mammoth Cave National Park

– Flash photography is not allowed during tours. No tripods or monopods as well.

– No walking sticks, strollers, firearms, or other weapons.

– Child backpack carriers are not permitted. Use the front packs.

– No metal framed backpacks and backpacks that are higher than the shoulder or that extend below the hips.

– Deep cave temperature is 54⁰F (12⁰C) while temperatures near cave entrances can vary widely, depending on the season.

– Review the cave tour descriptions to find one that suits you.

– For members of the deaf and hard of hearing community, assisted listening devices and sign language interpreter services are available with advanced arrangements.

– Spring and Fall are popular times for school trips and other parties. Therefore, your tour may include another group (s) of various ages.

Visiting Mammoth Cave with a dog?

Unfortunately, dogs are not permitted in caves or park buildings. Fortunately, there’s a day-boarding facility at the Mammoth Cave Kennels . 

But you must know that Mammoth Cave NP has a presence of ticks and other insects. You are advised to talk with your vet before your trip to the park.

Thank you for sharing this:

Umiko Buhl is a travel blogger and the founder of Two Worlds Treasures. She travels around Texas to neighboring states and around the country with her family and dog from their family home in the south of Dallas/Fort Worth. Originally from Indonesia, she tries to go home every 2-3 years to spend time with her families and friends while exploring Indonesia. Her mission is to share her honest reviews of places she visited.

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33 Comments

I want to take the Domes and Dripstones Tour at Mammoth Cave National Park, as I haven’t this park yet. It’s on my bucket list. I visited Carlsbad Caverns NP in New Mexico, but I want to visit Mammoth Cave as well, as I love caves. And I like to photograph stalactites and stalagmites. Well, I’m not too fond of a massive group of people when visiting, but I think I would choose the offseason for my visit. Great tips about the park!

Yeah. Visit during low season where you can be the only or a few visitors in the tour. It will be wonderful!

I have been wanting to visit Mammoth Caves, so it was nice to get an honest take on the tour. That many people seem like way too much for one tour, especially into caves like this where I’m sure the space isn’t that large. I am the same way as you, I prefer to stay in the back ad actually did this when I toured Howe Caverns in NY. It definitely makes for better photo ops (a must for me) and less crowds. I will keep in mind to visit in the off season for sure!

National Park tours can be a bit hit and miss in my experience so it is good that you have done the hard work for visitors ahead of their visit.

one tour guide for 131 people sounds quite miserable. No wonder the tour wasn’t enjoyable.

I would feel a bit claustrophobic as well with so many people in such close quarters.

That’s too bad that you had a bad experience. I am not afraid of caves, generally, but can’t imagine being in one with so many people. That would freak me out. Carlsbad Caverns is high on my bucket list. I go into caves whenever I can.

I will definitely go in off season or a small group next time we go to Mammoth Cave.

We definitely want to plan a visit to Mammoth Cave National Park. How fun that there are different cave tours. It sounds like the Domes and Dripstones Tour is one of the best with lots of variety in the things to see. Luckily we are fit enough to do the stairs and inclines. Although a really big tour group might not be my favourite so I would visit in off season for sure.

I would think it will be better to do it off season for sure.

I think I would have also skipped the tour if I had known ahead of time that it would be over 100 people, but what are you going to do when you already have the tickets? It’s too bad that you couldn’t hear the guide or was too late to hear the guide by the time you got to a specific spot. They should invest in those audio tours for people who are in the back of the crowd. At least you got to enjoy the views some 🙂

Yes! They should thinking about investing in audio tours for their large group tour.

The tour appeals to me but that many people on a tour is ridiculous. Especially in current climes. 20 in a group maximum and even then I think its too many. Would definitely choose off season. I hope you complained at the end.

I was grateful for your honest review. I’m not sure this is a tour I would enjoy and I appreciate the heads up. Especially if the tours are always this crowded!

I love visiting caves, but as you wrote 130 people in a group is too much! I always try to visit places with limited space, be it museums or caves, not during public holidays. I know that I do not enjoy the sights very much, if it is too crowded. Thanks for your honest review!

I’m normally the one who does like Going on big tours but as you get to know all the ins and outs but maybe skip this one … but definitely add the amazing park to my bucket list

Thanks for your honest take on it. I’m not a fan of large groups so would try and avoid those peak times. The tour with only 12 steps sounds a good option for me.

Thank you for your honesty and candidness on this! I definitely will be skipping this tour when I go!

I loved that you shared the tip about booking online. It’s unfortunate that the group size is so large, i can see how it takes away from the experience. Thanks for sharing your real experience and perspective for others who are interested in going.

I’m not a huge fan of large group tours either. It always takes something away from the experience. It’s shame for such a unique place. Thanks for the review..it’s nice to know these things before buying a ticket.

I still read review from others who went there recently that the number of people in this particular tour was still big.

I appreciate your honest thoughts on the tour. 131 people is a big group and I can imagine it wasn’t easy trying to get good pictures. I never knew about the bats and fungus, that sounds quite scary!

I heard about the bats and fungus the first time we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. We couldn’t wear the same shoes from the last visit to other cave within certain times.

That’s a lot of people in one cave–131! I did caving in Meghalaya and only 20 people are allowed inside at one time as it could potentially harm the place. You are right, caving does need some physical stamina and fitness. Sometimes, I wonder how the men of yore lived in these caves.

The cave is really huge, but still, that’s too many people in one tour.

I know a lot of people who have visited Mammoth Caves, but none have been on this tour! I love seeing stalactites and stalagmites too – it’s such a fascinating process by which they are made.

I find that when there are larger groups it always makes the experience a bit more disappointing which is a shame. These caves look really interesting to visit though!

Agreed. When we go there again, I will choose another tour that is more strenuous, so not too many people interested in it. Hehe..

I really appreciate this honest review! I also find that I don’t enjoy tours when they are too full or busy. It’s impossible to see well, or hear your tour guide. Hopefully this particular tour hears some of this feedback and makes some changes, cause I’m sure the tour would be great with less people!

I hope so, too.

Ugh that is WAY too many people for one tour guide. I don’t even like it when there are 20 people to 1 guide on those free tours, much less a tour you’d paid for.

Agreed! They should at least put 4 or 5 more tour guides in this tour.

I have a national park pass and have been visiting as many as I can this year. Mammoth Cave wasn’t on my radar and I have not spent time in Kentucky so you got my attention right away. ‘Frozen Niagara’ is such a great name, I’m surprised it was a disappointment. Good to know the steps are slippery and good soled shoes are important.

It’s the number of visitors in the group that played a big impact in disappointment. There’s no way you can enjoy a tour with more than 100 people in the group with only 1 tour guide.

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Extended Historic Tour

Mammoth Cave National Park

Location: LAT/LONG: 37.187140, -86.101410

Repeating event, type of event, description.

Enjoy this Historic Tour with a bonus side trip to one of the sites of the famous 1840s Mammoth Cave experiment to treat consumption. This tour is ideal for people who want a Historic Tour and have a little extra time to spend in the cave.

Reservation or Registration: Yes

DIAMOND CAVERNS

Discovered 1859 – rediscovered daily, cave – gift & rock shoppe – gem mining, 1900 mammoth cave parkway, park city, ky, 270-749-2233.

For over 160 years Historic Diamond Caverns has offered tours of Kentucky’s most beautiful cave. Intricate drapery deposits line the halls with thousands of stalactites, stalagmites and flowstone deposits throughout the entire tour. Knowledgeable guides explain the unique geology and fascinating history of the cave during the one hour long guided tour. The cave is presented by a state-of-the-art lighting system with modern concrete trails and safety hand railings throughout. Browse the caverns gift shop featuring Kentucky Collection crafts, rocks, minerals, fossils, souvenirs, books and more.

Open year-round. I-65 at Exit 48

http://diamondcaverns.com

ONYX CAVE & ROCK SHOP

93 huckleberry knob road, 270-773-2323, seasonal hours: march through december.

Onyx Cave offers 30-minute cave tours, your underground experience includes views of beautiful cave coral, a wall of cave bacon, and a 40′ tall column. Cave tours are led by experienced, knowledgeable guides that will point out the many cave formations. There are few stairs and the cave stays at a cool 60 degrees year-round! Photography is allowed and encouraged. Browse the Onyx Cave Rock Shop for a variety of minerals, rocks, fossils, jewelry, home décor and paintings by local artists. Don’t forget to purchase bag of gems for gem mining in our unique sluice.

www.onyxcave.com

OUTLAW CAVE

Jesse james riding stables & outlaw cave, 3057 mammoth cave rd, 270-773-2560.

OUTLAW CAVE offers a 35-minute non-strenuous, guided tour filled with beautiful stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones and other breath taking formations. Area legend has it that famous outlaws such as Jesse James, hid out in OUTLAW CAVE and as well as other area caves. A tour in OUTLAW CAVE is perfect for the whole family, where its short length, few stairs, and affordability makes it easily accessible to all. OUTLAW CAVE offers a lantern tour daily as well as normal tours. Outlaw Cave is part of  Jesse James Riding Stables and Mini-Golf. Open Seasonally – For rates or reservations please call 270-773-2560.

CRYSTAL ONYX Cave

Show cave, gift/rock shop, gem panning, picnic area, 425 prewitt’s knob rd, 270-773-3377.

Crystal Onyx offers 2 separate 1 hour, 1/2 mile, unscripted guided tours of one of the regions most beautiful formation filled caves. Focusing on family, fun, education & entertainment. Crystal Onyx is family owned and operated with a unique ‘route 66’ above ground theme. Many photo ops are available with statues & oddities nestled in a secluded woodland setting, high atop the knob. The caves meandering trails have recently been renovated with groomed crushed limestone, new stairs, bridges, handrails and are exceptionally well lit. Reservations are available but not necessary. Crystal Onyx Cave is a seasonal attraction, Trip Advisor calls us Cave City’s #1 Tourist Attraction several years in a row!  I-65 exit 53, 3 miles east, come see us at CRYSTAL ONYX Cave, established in 1960. Open Seasonally –  call 270-773-3377.

www.crystalonyxcaveky.com

HIDDEN RIVER CAVE

Cave – american cave museum – gift shop – gem mining, 119 e main st, horse cave, ky, 270-786-1466.

Guided tours descend 150′ underground. View the remains of a turn of the century hydroelectric system, walk above the Hidden River and witness awe-inspiring chambers. Walk across the longest swinging bridge to see Sunset Dome!

Cave tours last 45-60 minutes and are scheduled upon visitation; roughly 45 minutes apart. Reservations not required. Visitors descend and climb 230 stairs and navigate an outside trail. Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more. The American Cave Museum is a self-guided museum with two floors of exhibits dealing with caves, groundwater and pollution. OPEN YEAR-ROUND

www.hiddenrivercave.com

MAMMOTH CAVE

World’s longest cave – over 400 miles, 270-758-2180.

Mammoth Cave National Park was established to preserve the cave system, including Mammoth Cave, the scenic river valleys of the Green and Nolin rivers, and and hilly karst terrain typical of south central Kentucky. Beneath the sandstone-capped ridges of Mammoth Cave National Park lies the most extensive cave system on earth, with over 400 miles of passageway mapped and surveyed. And yet after 5,000 years of intermittent exploration, the full extent of this water-formed labyrinth remains a mystery. Join us on this journey. You do need advance reservations for Cave Tours. Exit 48 off I-65. Open Year-Round.

http://www.nps.gov/maca

LOST RIVER CAVE

Kentucky’s only underground boat tour, 2818 nashville rd, bowling green, ky, 270-393-0077.

Lost River Cave has one of the largest cave openings in the Eastern United States. The cave has a long rich history including Native American Indians, Civil War encampment, power generation, milling and an “Underground Nite Club”.

A Tour of the Cave and Valley includes a 20-minute Historical River Walk to the Cave opening emphasizing history, geology/hydrology, and folklore; followed by a 20-to-25 minute Boat Tour into the cave. The boat tour enables the visitor to view the large rooms of the cave and its other interesting features. Open Year-Round – I-65 at Exit 22

www.lostrivercave.org

Gothic Avenue Tour

Mammoth Cave National Park Tours

Gothic Avenue was named because of its unusual rock formations resembling Gothic architecture, and was the site of some of the earliest 19th century tourism. Early visitors left behind signatures, artifacts, and monuments in this area of the cave, which also features stalactites and stalagmites. This tour focuses on 1800s tourism and uses of Mammoth Cave, and is ideal for people with a high interest in history. 

Select a date to see a list of times

Need to Know

All tours begin at the Visitor Center. Tickets must be picked up 30 minutes prior to tour time. No refunds for no shows or late arrivals.

Includes a steep outdoor hillside trail to and from the cave’s Historic Entrance. If you fear heights or close places and/or cannot climb steps, this tour is not recommended.

Mammoth Cave National Park is located in the central time zone and observes daylight savings time.

Note: Do not rely exclusively on your mobile GPS, Google Maps, or similar automated navigation systems to get to the park Visitor Center in time for your cave tour. Routes can be misleading and incorrect. Directions from the North: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway to the Visitor Center. Directions from the South: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway to the Visitor Center.

Children 5 and under do not require a reservation or ticket. Youth under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult 18 years or older on all tours. Interagency Senior and Interagency Access ticket pricing applies to Interagency Senior and Interagency Access Pass holders only. The Interagency Annual Pass is NOT accepted for tours or camping.

Mammoth Cave may not offer the Gothic Avenue Tour year-round. Please check the current program schedule.

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