A Mammoth Cave

Did you know Mammoth Cave is the largest cave in the world?

It has 400 miles of underground passages.

The 2nd longest cave is in Mexico and has 308 miles underground,

so Mammoth Cave really is a mammoth.

This is the historic entrance to the cave.

You can hike to it if you are interested.  

There is a gate preventing you from entering without a guide and getting lost.

We opted for the "New Entrance Tour" and accessed the cave from this metal door.

Mammoth is a large dry cave formed by an underground river rather than by seepage,

 so it doesn't have lots of formations like Cub Run Cave had.

This is one of the few formations, known as the Frozen Niagra.

 There is also a new visitor's center with lots of info about caves.

 And there are many hiking trails.

These steps are on one of the more popular trails, descending down into Cedar Sink.

On the Cedar Sink Trail, you can see where an underground stream 

comes to the surface and then returns below ground.

You never know what you'll see out in the woods.

 

The Turnhole Bend Trail offers views of the Green River.

 There are also several ferries crossing the local rivers.

I'm not sure why they have ferries instead of bridges, 

but they are kinda fun.

 And of course, there is a camping.

We shared our campsite with this big bug!

Hello!

Cave Country

Kentucky is known for karst topography, 

where the earth consists of soluble limestone that is 

easily dissolved by the slightly acidic underground water.

This forms sinkholes and caves and Kentucky has lots of both.

On our way to Mammoth Cave, the world's longest cave,

we checked out Cub Run Cave.

Cub Run Cave was discovered in 1950, toured for a year

 and then sealed in a legal dispute for 55 years.

Consequently, it did not suffer from commercial vandalism

 where patrons were allowed to carve their names

 or break off a piece of the cave for a souvenir.

 The unassuming entrance.

 Inside is a wonderland of cave formations.

The ceiling is covered with stalagtites.

And there are huge stalagmites.

 rippling pools

 cave bacon,

and intricate flowstone.

We also saw many of the cave creatures, such as cave crickets

salamanders,

 bats,

and even the elusive blind crayfish.

Cub Run is a fantastic cave.

Don't miss it when in the Mammoth Cave area!