Mammoth Cave National Park 2011
In Mammoth Cave NP, there are surface and below-the-surface features the latter of which is the draw, of course, for the park. Above ground, there are rivers, trails, campgrounds, wild animals, trees, ferries, etc. Below ground there is, of course, the cave and many other caves in the vicinity. I never knew that part of Kentucky had so many sink holes which means that surface rivers have a tough go of it which means as a result that caves are abundant .
On the tours: It was daunting to choose from 17 (yes, 17) tours all with different times, lengths, challenges, sources and destinations. As far as physical challenges, some were easy or moderate while others were rated difficult or strenuous. I no sooner was interested in one tour when I found out that a previously picked tour would cover part or some of the tour of current interest. There are many choices which allows for youngters, seniors or those who could spend only a few hours in the park. So here is what we did based on our stay of 48 hours in the park:
The first day we got there about 1:00 pm so we did the Discovery Tour which does not pre-sell tickets (cannot buy on-line) and the tour was easy - this was to get an intro to the cave system just in case the idiot federal government shut down on the upcoming Tuesday where we were to take a long tour. We just walked up to the window (the visitor center is a zoo but an expansion is on the way) to purchase the tour tickets. We got 50% discounts with our senior passes - are you tired of me saying this? We had tickets (purchased on-line) for the next day for the River Styx Tour (2.5 hrs, 2 mi) which only has one time: 3:30 pm daily. For the succeeding day, we had tickets(on-line) for the 10:00 am Grand Avenue Tour( 4.5 hrs, 4 mi) - there was also an 11:00 am tour for the Grand Ave which was the only other one for the day. In other words, we decided to go with the longer tours to try to see as much as possible but were concerned with the strenuous rating. After telling a ranger what we had scheduled, she said that if we did the Violet City Lantern Tour (that part of the cave is not electrified, as they said) as well as the two that we booked, that we would see most everything the tours had to offer short of things like the Wild Cave Tour for youngsters where some openings were only 9" high (chest or hip measurements cannot exceed 42") - how many seniors could gracefully or in any other way get through that? Any takers? From what I saw at the 50th reunion I think very few and for sure not me. When I asked a ranger about it, he looked at me to size me up and said that I really didn't want to try that tour - is there a size discriminaton case there! Also, the trip is 6.5 hrs, 5mi). The timing was such that we didn't get to do the Violet City Lantern Tour the first day - missed it by about 30 minutes. Since the cave is 392 miles in length (still growing), I need not tell you that we didn't see it all. It should be noted that taking the longer tours blocked out many of the other choices but many of the other choices were a part of the longer tours.
Now something I learned on the trip: Caves are classified as wet or dry at a given point in time. One must have a wet cave with seeping water to have stalactites and stalagmites to exist along with other cave formations. These are called dripstone formations that occur in a 'living' cave which means the formations are continuing to be formed. A dry cave will most likely not have dripstone formations. Also, water actions in the caves are classified as vertical or horizontal. Vertical water is necessary for dripstone and the horizontal water is where an underground stream or such has dissolved the limestone making a "horizontal" cave which may or may not have dripstone formations. And does Mammoth Cave have some big, big horizontal caves!! Most are currently dry because of the sandstone cap above them! Also, do not expect bats on the tours. Man has scared the liver out of most of the ones that once frequented the caves.
The Discovery Tour was an easy tour starting at the Historical Entrance. Having just been rained on as we descended to the opening, we just about froze going into the 54-degree cave even though we had jackets albeit wet. After the tour, we went to Cave City for supper, stopping at the Sand Cave on the way. I should mention that we had accomodations in the park for two nights. We did not know that there was no internet connection nor cell phone coverage for us there. So if you want to stay connected while there then book a room at Cave City off I65.
The second day gave us a free morning so we explored some surface features such as the Green River Ferry, Echo River Trail (trailhead near the Green River Ferry) and the general layout of the park where we saw many deer and wild turkeys. Also, I was wowed by the gigantic sycamores thoughout the park and the roads with overhanging trees like the way it used to be on Hwy US84 from near Gum Springs to Winnfield. At 3:30 pm we commenced with the River Styx Tour (does anyone know Greek mythology?) which took us down to the 5th level of the caves to see the underground stream which once was home to a tour where boats floated down the river - since discontinued on environmental issues. The rangers said that when the Green River flooded, it backed up the River Styx as much as 50' vertical which is why the tour is not offered in the wet seasons. It was here that we found out that the caves were above the Green River, not below it! The River Styx water level was at the same level as the Green River. In other words, the caverns were above river level not below it!! This means that while I worried about flooding of the caves from the openings above, I should have been concerned about the flooding of the caves from below. Before retiring we did the River Styx Trail which goes down the "mountain (uh, hill)" to where the river exits the cave. Neat. Once river boats docked in this area off the Green River. Again, neat and it looked just like some movies set in that era.
The last day found us taking the Mammoth Dome Trail near our cabin to see the well-known sink since it feeds the Mammoth Dome which was part of the River Styx Tour. So we saw it from below on the tour and then we saw it above from the trail. Neat. The rain run-off just disappears down the sink hole before getting to the Green River. We then headed down to the Visitor Center to board the bus at 10:00 am to take us to the Carmichael Entrance which is where the Grand Avenue Tour begins. We stopped for lunch in the cave at the Snowball area. Kind of neat to eat in the cave - didn't care for the graffiti though. We then continued where we ended at the Frozen Niagra Entrance which is where we finally saw impressive although limited dripstone formations. There were other formations that were seen in the tour including gypsum, quartz, etc. in the dry part. We left the park around 3:00 pm. I am not saying what we did was the best way to do it. I am saying that this is what we did.
So if you have a limited amount of time, book a short tour into the Historical Entrance (dry cavern) and a Frozen Niagra Tour (wet cavern). That way you will be exposed to the historical part and a dripstone section. We did not find any of the tours to be strenuous, not even the 4.5-hour one. Now if they wanted strenuous, they could have offered a 4.5 hour trail on the surface at 95 degrees. We were thankful that the cave was so (temperature) cool since it was 105 in Ruston the day we left.
As a side note: One day we saw a group of young spelunkers bouncing along in single file heading to the visitor center for a tour sporting matching outfits including, of course, the miners cap with light. It was really great to see a group of youngsters engaging in a 'great' adventure. Later we saw them returning, dragging along noticeably. Bet they didn't feel like anything mischevious that night. Kudos to the skinny adults who were giving up their time for the kids to experience the caves.
As I've said before, I have never regretted going to a national park; however, some are Tier 1 and some are not. I classify this one as not Tier 1. This is #28 in my quest for 29 national parks so I now have one more "notch" for my passport. It should be noted that Mammoth Cave records 2 million visitors per year so it is a big attraction.
I also meant to say that we encounter narrow passageways on our tours that reminded me of slot canyons in the West - sort of slots with a 50+ cap on the top.
Later in our vacation we stopped at Blanchard Springs Caverns in Arkansas. The dripstone formations were outstanding. So, if you want to visit a national park to see a cave and be able to mark off a visit like me, Mammoth Cave is a good choice. If you want to see outstanding dripstone formations and you live near northern Arkansas, Blanchard Springs Caverns is a real good choice - has three tours, we did just the Dripstone one. It should be noted there are many other caves in the Missouri and Arkansas areas that we have not seen so we have no opinion yet. We hope to visit some of them soon.
As a side note: While touring the Lehman Cave in Great Basin NP, I heard some Arizona visitors talk about a cave in Arizona which was "done right" in terms of visitor access. All of the caves that I have visited have had graffiti and broken dripstone formations based on things like private ownership before they became a national park. When the Kartchner Caverns were discovered in southern Arizona in 1974, they were kept secret until the structure was in place to protect them. Only then were visitors allowed to tour the caves. According to the 'Arizona visitors', there are no broken dripstone formations nor graffiti in these caves. Amazing!!! I hope to visit the Kartchner Caverns State Park the next time I go to Arizona - may be the only cave I ever see in such a pristine condition.
