Mammoth Cave National Park
This park lies mainly beneath the rolling hills of central Kentucky where the world’s largest cave system can be found. There are currently around 400 miles of explored cave passageways, but more miles are constantly being discovered. Outside of the caves, there are actually some trails and activities above ground to consider as well, though the main focus of any visit is almost certainly going to be the various cave tours.
Most Recent Visit
June 2012
When to Go
Cave tours run year round, but they can be limited in the winter months. We recommend visiting in the Spring through Fall, though if you want to avoid the largest crowds, you should consider skipping the summer months. The temperature of the cave doesn’t change and is a constant 54 degrees regardless of the season in which you visit.
How to Get Here
It depends on where you are coming from, but there are a number of major airports within a reasonable driving distance. Louisville and Nashville are about 1.5 hours away from the park while Indianapolis is a little longer drive of about 3 hours. Given Kentucky’s central location, a lot of the country’s population should be able to drive to this park though and avoid the airports if desired.
Trip Length
We recommend 2-3 days for this park which makes it a perfect candidate for a weekend getaway. In 2025, there are 13 different cave tour options. Combined with some hiking or other activities above ground, you can easily fill up a weekend.
Where to Stay
While there are many lodging options in the surrounding area, we’d actually recommend staying at Mammoth Cave Lodge which has some standard hotels rooms and quite a few cottages / cabins which are reasonably priced. In 2025, the cottages will run you $127/night for 2-3 people while the lodge rooms will run you $142/night. That’s not bad at all for its close proximity to all the action in the park.
What to Do
The first thing you should do is head to the Visitor Center to confirm all of the various cave tours you booked in advance, walk through the various exhibits, and talk to a park ranger about good hiking options while you are not touring the cave.
Cave Tours
If you are visiting this park, you are almost certainly going on one or more cave tours. You should book your cave tour of choice in advance, especially in the busy summer months. In 2025, there are 13 different cave tours to choose from, and these are the tours we’d recommend to get the most out of your visit:
River Styx Tour ($26pp in 2025 – 2.5 hours)
If you are interested in geology of the cave, this is the tour for you. This tour also covers the entire “Historic Tour” route, but is a little longer. If you are looking for more about the history of the cave and the area and want a slightly shorter tour, go with the Historic Tour instead. The River Styx Tour will last about 2.5 hours and cover about 2.5 miles of walking and ~600 stairs, so keep that in mind when booking based on your physical capabilities. You’ll get to travel next to some bodies of water in the cave as well which is pretty cool. In addition to covering the entire Historic Tour route, you’ll also get portions of the Star Chamber, Violet City Lantern, Mammoth Passage, and Mammoth Cave Discovery Tour routes.
Gothic Avenue Tour ($23pp in 2025 – 2 hours)
This is a less strenuous tour at 2 hours to cover only 1 mile and 160 stairs. The focus of this tour is 19th century tourism and you’ll get a chance to see signatures and artifacts that these visitors left behind at that time. If you have an interest in history – this is a good tour to take.
Domes & Dripstones Tour ($30pp in 2025 – 2 hours)
This is another fairly strenuous tour with 638 stairs over 0.75 miles which will take about 2 hours to complete. You’ll actually board a bus at the visitor center to take you to a different cave entrance for this one. You’ll also get to view a sinkhole at the beginning of the tour and then enter the cave seeing many stalactites and stalagmites before ending in the Frozen Niagara which is one of the coolest parts of Mammoth Cave. If you only want to visit Frozen Niagara, there is a short tour for that as well which is much less strenuous.
Great Onyx Lantern Tour ($31pp in 2025 – 2.25 hours)
If you have some extra time and want to tour a different cave, you can head on a lantern tour of Great Onyx Cave. This tour covers about 1 mile and 82 stairs. It will give you something different to look at as this cave is known for its unusual rock formations.
Hiking
There are a surprising number of trails to hike in this park, but here are a couple of options that rise to the top for us:
Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail (4.4 miles RT, 557 feet of elevation)
This is actually a loop trail which combines several of the main hiking trails around the visitor center area. If you are staying in the lodge or cabins, this is very easily accessible and is a moderate walk. You’ll get several scenic viewpoints along the way and great views of the Green River. If you have a break between cave tours or some time in the evening before sunset, this is a solid option to fill the time.
Turnhole Bend Nature Trail (0.5 miles RT, 127 feet of elevation)
If you have an interest in sinkholes, this extremely short walk is for you. You’ll also get Green River views here and get some cave entrance views as well. You will have to drive a few minutes over to this trailhead as it is not located in the main area, so you might consider this on the way into or out of the park. You should only need 15-30 minutes to complete it.
