Hiking, biking, horseback riding — there’s a lot offered in the United States’ many national parks. But there’s only one that’s home to the world’s longest cave. That 400-mile wonder can be found under the rolling Southern hills of Kentucky.
So, explorers, pack those walking boots. Mammoth Cave, one of America’s greatest natural wonders, is beckoning you for that next big family adventure.
Just outside Cave City, a Kentucky trail town turned tourist destination, Mammoth Cave National Park features an underground system of natural passages that humans have been exploring for thousands of years. Even today, scientists believe there could still be up to 600 miles of undiscovered passageways winding through the Kentucky dirt.
“Mammoth Cave played an important role at the very start of American tourism,” according to the National Park Service. “As an attraction, the cave predates all national parks. Publicized in the War of 1812, the ‘mammoth’ cave of Kentucky became an attraction by 1816. With the early scenic national parks, Mammoth Cave helped define our national identity in the 1800s, when a young United States sought status among world powers. Despite industrial and military might, we lacked the ancient places and cultural antiquities that Europe offered. Wonders of nature were our great treasures. Big was beautiful: Mammoth Cave, Grand Canyon, and Giant Sequoia.”
The national park spans nearly 53,000 acres, so there’s plenty of adventure on offer. Rangers lead programs for children. Fishing and kayaking are commonplace, as are hiking and other standard park fair. But to experience the park’s big draw at its best, you’ll want to sign up for a guided cave tour.
From River Styx to Violet City, the tours cover a vast range of subterranean experiences. For the Star Chamber, visitors will travel by lantern light to experience the cave’s winding passages as the earliest adventurers would have. History buffs may want to check out the Gothic Avenue, which offers an extended look at unusual rock formations resembling Gothic architecture — a tourism hot spot in the early 19th century.
And when it comes to history, Mammoth Cave has nearly four millennia worth on hand.
“Over 10,000 years ago Paleo-Indians hunted animals in the Green River valley near Mammoth Cave,” according to the park service. “From 4,000 to 2,000 years ago, Late Archaic and Early Woodland Indians explored and mined minerals from Mammoth and other caves. Artifacts these earliest explorers left — including cane reed torches they used to light their way into distant parts of the cave — are preserved in drier passageways.”
“European American settlers came to the Green River valley in the late 1790s,” NPS continued. “Like native people before them, the newcomers found uses for Mammoth Cave. The cave served as a mine for saltpeter, key to the manufacture of gunpowder. Before the War of 1812 enslaved workers mined large quantities of this mineral. By war’s end Mammoth Cave’s notoriety had grown. Around 1816 people started to visit the cave.”
Caught an itch for adventure? Visit nps.gov/maca/planyourvisit/ to get started.
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