With around 400 miles of surveyed passageways, the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the longest cave system in the world. The entire Mammoth Cave National Park is 52,830 acres. The Green River runs through it. This tourist destination was visited by 533,206 people in 2018.
History
The Mammoth Cave has a rich and really interesting history spanning over 5,000 years, starting with the settlement of the different Native American groups. Some of the historical stories were gathered from the mummies or remains of the natives discovered in the area.
The explorers and owners of the cave were even more interesting, starting with the debate over which European brother discovered it first: John or Francis Houchin in 1797. But the first person ever recorded to enter the cave was Valentin Simons, who was also reported as the first owner of the cave, along with some other partners. Simons used the cave to mine potassium nitrate.
In 1812, Simons and his partners sold the cave to Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz, who allowed the mining in the cave for calcium nitrate with the help of 70 slaves. One of those slaves was Stephen Bishop, who was one of the earliest people to extensively explore and document the cave. Ownership of the cave changed hands but, Bishop was sold alongside the cave and he became a famed tour guide between the 1840s and 1850s, as Mammoth Cave became a popular tourist spot for the mummies and the natural cave elements.
The cave’s popularity reached its peak with the death of Floyd Collins, who had been exploring the cave for over 10 years when his leg was caught on a dislodged rock. He couldn’t free himself and he eventually died of starvation.
Despite its growing popularity then, the law creating the Mammoth Cave National Park didn’t pass until July 1, 1941. It became a World Heritage Site on Oct. 27, 1981, and an international biosphere reserve on Sept. 26, 1990.
Things to do
Exploration
It’s a cave, so of course, visitors should explore it! Mammoth Cave has welcomed explorers since the 1700s. There are at least nine guided tours available, ranging from one hour to five hours, depending on how extensive it is. Here are some of the places one will visit during the tours (there are different stops for different tours):
Frozen Niagara – This is one of the most famous places in the cave and is often the last stop for most tours. The naturally decorated Frozen Niagara formation is breathtaking.
Cedar Sink – This 300-feet depression features a small river on one side. This marks the start of the Domes and Dripstones Tour that passes through, as the name suggests, huge domes and dripstones. It ends at the Frozen Niagara.
Snowball Room – a historic underground cafeteria.
Cleveland Avenue – This part of the cave is decorated with historic signatures and geological formations.
Great Onyx Cave – This is a separate cave from the Mammoth Cave but just as beautiful. Visitors can marvel at the cave’s gypsum crystals, helictites, stalactites, and stalagmites. This cave is also rich in history.
Gothic Avenue – It is known as such because of the rock formations that resemble gothic architecture. Visitors can see some of the signatures left behind by tourists in the 1800s.
River Styx – one of the cave’s waterways.
Surface Walks
Other activities in the park include the brief walks outside the caves. There is the hour-long Heritage Walk that transpires in some parts of the Heritage Trail. Part of the walk is the Old Guide’s Cemetery where Stephen Bishop’s remains rest. There is also the Porch Talk where visitors can talk to a park ranger about everything related to the Mammoth Cave National Park. During winter, the Porch Talk becomes an Exhibit Talk.
Canoeing/kayaking
Visitors can canoe and kayak along the Green River and Nolin River and also check out the rich freshwater life. Among the fishes in the rivers are bass, bluegill, catfish, crappie, muskellunge, and perch.
Camping
The park offers at least three campgrounds and various campsites with different environments: along the Green and Nolin rivers, on primitive sites, and in the backcountry.
Animals
The cave is, of course, the home of the bats. So visitors will have an exciting time watching some of these bat species in the park’s caves: big brown bat, eastern small-footed bat, eastern pipistrelle, gray bat, Indiana bat, and little brown bat.
Other animals found in the Mammoth Cave are the endangered Kentucky cave shrimp (albino shrimp), cave salamander, eyeless cavefish, and cave crayfish.
Photo by: Jacob Lips