Mammoth Cave National Park boasts the longest cave system in the world and spans a whopping 400 miles underground. With over 52,000 acres, Mammoth Cave National Park has lots of things to do whether you’re an avid spelunker or a novice cave explorer, including cave tours, hiking trails, or kayaking in the nearby river.
Getting to the park
If you’re coming from Louisville, KY, the park is located about an hour and a half to the south. If you’re coming from Nashville, TN, the park is about an hour and a half to the north. There is no cell service inside the park, but you will find WiFi at the visitor center. The visitor center also has RV parking. So, if you’re just passing through, you can easily pull your rig in.
History of the caves
You will find no fossils of the wooly mammoth in Mammoth Cave National Park. Contrary to popular belief, the name of the cave has nothing to do with this extinct mammal. Rather, the name “Mammoth” refers to the enormity of the cave system itself.
Mammoth Cave National Park was established as a National Park in 1941. It later became a World Heritage site in 1981, and even an International Biosphere Reserve in 1990. In the mid 1800s, the caves were thought to cure tuberculosis. So, a hospital was built inside of them. You can still see the remnants of these buildings deep in the caves today.
Cave tours
You have many different tours to choose from which vary in duration. Some even can only be explored by lantern light. The tours are led by a tour guide and once you are in you are in! They actually lock the door behind you, so people can’t sneak into the cave and you have to stay with your group throughout the tour. If you take the Star Chamber tour, you can unleash your inner explorer by carrying a torch (re: lantern) through the cave. To make things easily accessible, the entire cave has paved walkways.
The tour guide goes over a lot of neat history, including the writings on the ceiling where people had walked through with torches and used the smoke to write out their names. They looked so fresh but were hundreds of years old. The tour guide we had was a third or fourth generation guide in the caves and it turns out, his great grandfather was a slave who conducted tours. He even showed us where he had written his name on the wall of the cave.
At one point during the tour, the guide lit up a whole section of the cave for photographs, which showed the enormity of the caves and offered an amazing opportunity for photographers. We also learned about how the bat populations have dwindled down to almost nothing. This is due to white nose syndrome which is decimating bat populations all over the world. There used to be so many bats in the caves that the walls looked like they were moving. Unfortunately now you’re lucky if you see even one or two bats. Very sad…
Hiking
There are 84 miles of trails inside the park, some of which are paved and accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. All hiking trails in the park are dog friendly, but they must be kept on a leash at all times. The area around the park visitor center offers 7.2 miles of scenic trails that venture from ridge-top to river, from sinkholes to springs, from old guide’s cemeteries to overlooks, and from historic engines to the Historic Entrance. For an easy 1.8-mile out and back trail, we recommend the Cedar Sink Trail, which is great for beautiful nature views and birding.
Where to stay in your RV
We stayed at Singing Hills RV Park in Cave City, which was only three miles to the entrance of the park. There is definitely no other RV park that has better access to Mammoth Caves. The people running the office are some of the nicest people you will ever meet! They went out of their way to explain where the local grocery stores, laundromats, and tourist locations were. They also offer wood bundles and ice for sale right there in front of the office, so it’s convenient if you need either of those. The campsite itself was fairly flat, consisting of a pull-through site covered in gravel that was easy to get level on. There is access to horseshoe pits, volleyball courts, and a small lake, plus a HUGE grassy field, which was great for the dog to run around in. We would definitely stay here again if we came back through the area.
Ready to explore Mammoth Cave National Park? Go find your dream RV today!
