Thoughts of Indigo

A quick trip to Mammoth Cave National Park

written December 31, 2023 in mammoth cave, national park, nps, kentucky, usa, travel

So it's that time in between christmas and new years of 2023 so what so you do? Go visit Mammoth Cave National Park (with a required stop over at some of our favorite places in Nashville and Chattanooga!)

So mammoth cave is about a 5 hour drive from Atlanta GA and in the days in between the holidays we decided to trek off and see what this national park was all about. Mammoth Cave National Park was established on July 1, 1941 though Congress authorized the park in 1926 making it the 26th national park!

Day 0:

We snaked up the road from Atlanta to Nashville TN and stopped at our favorite Nashville coffee shop DOSE coffee and tea for their amazing London fog and then popped over to Smiling Elephant for their curry of the day before hopping back on the road to Kentucky! There was a line at the national park sign so we went on to the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center and checked in to our accommodations at Sunset Terrace Rooms. Since we arrived pretty late we went ahead and tucked into our rooms for the night when it started to snow! Now the rooms we stayed in are motel style rooms. Nothing fancy but clean, warm, and comfortable.

Day 1: Mammoth Cave National Park

The next morning we got up, made coffee and headed off the Extended Historic Tour of Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world where over 426 miles of passageways have been found and it was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1981! This ranger led tour was great and focused on the history of the cave from the indigenous population, the mummies that were found in the cave, to the african americans who worked to produce saltpeter from the cave during the War of 1812. Some of the early guides were enslaved men such as Stephen Bishop, Mat Bransford, Nick Bransford, and Alfred Croghan. Each enslaved guide was eventually freed and now are legends in the history of the cave. There is also a lot of history about the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) and was so interesting to learn. We got to see candle writings and hear about the tuberculosis camps were set up. There was a huge Christmas tree in the cave and stories about how Yo-yo Ma had had concerts in the cave. I truly loved getting to see this wonder

After a nap we took a hike on the heritage trail, down to sunset point, and past the river Styx springs! Before heading to the visitors center to grab a bite to eat!!

Day 2:

The next day we took the Domes and Dripstones Tour. This tour required riding a buss to the entrance. This section was opened by a sink hole about a hundred years ago and requires going down 734 stairs. If you have a fear of heights or suffer from claustrophobia, this tour is not for you cause it gets tight in places. The ranger leading the tour had so much info.