Not only is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) a National Park, but it is also a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve and, more recently, an International Dark Sky Park. Sounds cool right?
We were lucky enough to not only include it as a stop on our 2021 Summer Road Trip, but to secure a guided tour into the depths of the cave. Due to Covid, the tours had only just started running again a week or so before our visit. Bonus! We purchased tickets for the ‘Extended Historic’ tour, a two mile adventure of approx 2 hours and 15 minutes underground.
Mammoth Cave, consists of over 420 miles (680km) of surveyed interconnecting passageways and is rich in history.
It was originally inhabited by Native American Indians, and in the 18th Century, enslaved African Americans worked inside the caves to extract saltpeter (a main ingredient of black gun powder), vital for the 1812 war.
In 1839, the spacious caverns at the start of the cave entrance were used to care for tuberculosis sufferers, with the belief that the constant temperature would help with healing. However, it soon became clear that the dark, damp conditions actually made patients worse.
The cave predates all national parks, becoming a tourist attraction back in 1816. When the caves were fully established as a National Park in 1941, only 40 miles of passage way had been mapped. As surveying techniques and caving equipment improved, investigation continued.
Interesting fact – after the slaves gained freedom, many stayed on as guides. One family have carried on the guiding tradition, with current guide, Jerry Brandford, the great great grandson of an original guide.
The initial areas of the cave consisted of many wide rooms, with high ceilings. But, that didn’t last long. As we descended deeper down stairs and through narrow passage ways, your personal space shrunk and the cave ceiling reduced.
As we got further into the cave depths, things got more interesting. ‘Fat Man’s Misery’ made those of us who have a butt, have to navigate the route sideways to squeeze through. While passing through ‘Tall Man’s Agony’ even required the kids to stoop low as we made our way along the cave system.
At Mammoth Dome we paused to turn out the lights and realise just what ‘pitch black’ means as you wave your hand in front of your face and be unable to see a thing.
What goes down, has to come back up, with 280 stairs (like proper flights of stairs) giving us our step aerobic workout back to the entrance.
I didn’t feel claustrophobic at all, and although the cool air below ground was a relief from the Summer heat, it was still a pleasant experience to make our way back out of the cave, to fresh air and sunlight.
Have you been caving?
We visited Mammoth Cave National Park in June 2021 as part of our 2021 Jandals and Jet Planes Summer Road Trip. Sorry the photography is bad for this blog, but the dark lighting in the cave made it very difficult.
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