The third leg of my road trip journey to Florida was a stopover at Mammoth Cave National Park. I have always wanted to go to Mammoth Cave, but oddly enough, being from Kentucky, I never did go. I guess I thought it would always be in my backyard so I could see it anytime. Guess my backyard just kept growing as I traveled everywhere but the cave.
This road trip, I was determined to see it, especially since it was on the way. I had two routes really to choose on my way from Wisconsin to Florida, and when I realized one path would lead me right to Mammoth Cave, I was sold. I was finally going to see the largest surveyed cave in the world. In fact, over 400 miles of cave was waiting, but twelve of that was open to the public. During the pandemic, only 2 miles were open, but man, those two miles were amazing. Well worth the ticket.
I started at the Historic Entrance, walked down about 200 steps into the mouth of the cave, and soon into the Rotunda. The Rotunda was a massive open area where the cave ceiling gave way and collapsed so many feet below. What I learned was amazing from the cave having five different levels to the elevation change of about 400 feet to the natives who used this cave many thousands of years before for shelter and mining to patients residing within as part of a tuberculosis colony in hopes of healing to the rehearsals performed by Edwin Booth to many, many more fascinating facts. Yep, you will need to visit this cave to get all the history as it is way too much to ever type up here.
Once at the cave area, I realized that I could stay inside the park at a cottage, go trail running any time of the day or night (as the park is open 24/7 – the cave is not, but the rest of the park is) and eat at the Spelunker for breakfast and lunch. Perfect!!! What was going to be a 2-day stopover turned into a 4-day adventure so I could take it all in (because, well, it’s mammoth you know). I wanted to make sure I ran the trails and took in all I could from the cave and enjoy a moment to just be!
The entire trip was less about extreme adventure and more about refreshing and recharging in nature. Thank you Mammoth Cave for a wonderfully relaxing experience.
Go where you want, when you want, for as long as you want:
Alli L
For all the photos, go to @TheSoloTraveler50 on Facebook