Venture to a world below at Mammoth Cave

1 day itinerary

While not one of the more famous or popular parks, Mammoth Cave is still extremely impressive in its own right, and well worth a trip for any visit to the state of Kentucky! It's a park that has more than just a famous cave, as you'll find out!

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Naturally you do have to start your day with the cave itself! Thought to be the longest cave network in the world - hence its name - 400 miles of Mammoth Cave has been explored throughout the past 200 years. The National Park Service offers guided tours of a small snippet of this cave system, which is more than enough to give you an idea of the harsh isolation that bats, cave fish and salamanders call their home.

A variety of tours are available daily, with the exception of Christmas Day. Tours range in length and price, and unless there is a particular specific area you wish to focus on, the Historic Tour is the classic, main tour on offer and will do the job perfectly for nearly all visitors to Mammoth Cave NP!

An accessibility tour is also available on select days for those who are unable to navigate stairs, which most of the tours have a couple of hundred of! Cave tickets often sell out during summer and early fall, and you can't access the network without one. While it is possible to purchase tickets as walk ups on the day, purchasing your tickets beforehand will guarantee your experience and minimise the stress! Also, as there are only one or two accessibility tours per day, booking in advance is particularly recommended if this is something your or your adventurous partners require.

Following on from the tour, it's time to enjoy what Mammoth Cave National Park holds on its surface. There's a couple of ways to explore the park which you might find more exciting than just walking - and require as much energy as you'd like to put in! Venture along the Green River which flows through the park on a kayak or canoe which you can hire. Or you can follow the disused and now converted railroad track, which is an expansive cycle and footpath that extends for 9 miles. A mountain e-bike might just be perfect way for you to explore!

After one, or even both, of these activities, you'll have almost completed Mammoth Cave National Park! The final recommendation we have is to finish the day with a small trail or two near the main historic cave entrance close to the visitor centre. The Heritage Trail takes you to Sunset Point, or Cedar Point Trail guides you to a sinkhole through the forest, which can be a nice little break from the larger crowds around the historic entrance. And that concludes a busy day seeing all the best of Kentucky's only national park, both above and below the surface! Nashville is only a 1.5 hour drive away, so consider travelling south through the state and into Tennessee after your day to grab a meal and enjoy a show at the historic Grand Ole Opry!

If you want to visit Mammoth Cave and Nashville on a longer adventure, consider all (or even just a segment) of our amazing Great 48 itinerary! Or feel free to investigate a little of what the other parks of the Midwest can offer!