US National Parks: Mammoth Cave NP (Cave series 4)

This cave truly deserves its name, it is the longest known cave system in the world. There are more than 400 miles (643 km) of cave tunnels explored, a number that continues to grow as more and more is discovered. We visited Mammoth Cave in April of last year (2017) together with another full-time family (@fumminsfamily).

These caves can only be seen as part of a tour, and all tours cost money. We were lucky enough to visit on a national park weekend which meant that tickets to tour the Rotunda were free. We like free! This is a self-guided tour that enters the cave through the natural enterance and lets you explore one of the largest rooms in the entire cave system.

The people in the background will give a sense of scale.

Although it was a self-guided tour there were several rangers available to answer questions and also to give short lessons about the cave. In the above pictures, the kids (and adults too) are learning about the history of the cave and some of the geology behind it.

This short tour left us wanting more and we decided to book a longer tour to do together with our friends. We decided on the Domes and Dripstones tour. It looked like this would be the most appropriate length and difficulty to take with kids, and it also included Frozen Niagara and some other cave formations. In general, Mammoth Cave has very few formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, or our favorite: cave bacon. It is most impressive for its sheer size and also for some rare species that have adapted to living in total darkness. Like most of the tours, this tour entered the cave through a man-made entrance, about a 10-minute bus ride from the visitor center. The Domes and Dripstones tour was just the right length and level of difficulty to be a true adventure for the kids without ever being overwhelming or getting boring. We had a great time!

A cave crickett I managed to catch on camera.

Most of the section of the cave that this tour goes through is no longer being actively formed. It is stable and dry. But as we neared the end of the over 2 hours long tour we got to what has been named frozen Niagara. This is an active part of the cave with impressive stalactites, stalagmites, and other cave formations.

Beautiful cave formations.

The path continues above us.

Snuggled up to Mamma in his wrap Micah decided to sleep most of the time.

Lindstroms On The Road and Fummins Family Roadtrip together deep in the cave.

Doing this cave with friends was really fun and we have met up with this family several times after this. I now consider them a part of our tribe.

Thanks for following the journey of me and my family
as we travel and roadschool our kids around the USA.

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