The ShoreXplorers: Mammoth Cave is (Well) Just Mammoth

Part of Frozen Niagara - Domes and Dripstones Tour

280 Stairs Down - Domes and Dripstones Tour

Leaving a Large Dome Area - Domes and Dripstones Tour

Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system in the world at over 400 miles, with what some believe over 600 more miles not yet discovered. Don’t think of those miles as linear miles. Think of them as a plate of spaghetti with tunnels above and below and crossing each other.

Rugged Passageway - Domes and Dripstones Tour

Some of the cave tunnels are huge, smooth sided passageways the size of a large subway station. Others are many-stories-tall, rounded chambers like inside a monument. Still others are narrow, jagged passageways that you bend and stoop to pass through. In the areas that are not open to the public, there are passageways you can only crawl through.

Much of the cave is dry where the river that carved it out of the stone has been gone for millennia. Others are damp and drippy and filled with artistic stalactites and stalagmites. There is an underground river with eyeless fish and crustaceans that have never seen the sun.

Domes and Dripstones Tour

How was this cave and others like it in the area formed? Millennia ago Kentucky was covered by a shallow sea. The creatures living there died and settled to the bottom, and the calcium in their bones or carapaces created what would become 600 feet of limestone. Then as the continents drifted, Kentucky was under the delta of a rich river that laid down a sediment that became sandstone and shale. When the continents drifted some more and Kentucky moved inland, rain water would seep through cracks in the sandstone and shale cap rock and erode the softer limestone forming tunnels for rivers of water trying to flow downhill to the Green River. The sandstone and shale cap rock forms a hard roof over the caves and keeps them from collapsing in on themselves.

Domes and Dripstones Tour

Curtain of Limestone - Domes and Dripstones Tour

We went on 2 cave tours led by wonderfully informative and engaging National Park Rangers. For the Domes and Dripstones Tour, you take a bus to an entrance to the cave in the middle of an old sink hole. You descend a narrow tube that was carved by water long ago to drain water out of a sinkhole. The Park Service has installed a winding staircase with 280 stairs down through the channel. Then you walk through narrow tunnels to reach large domed open areas. The tour ends at the Frozen Niagara area, which are gorgeous formations still growing from dripping water. The walking is a little uneven at times, and there are many, many stairs. There are areas with benches where you can rest and learn about the cave. The trip takes 2 hours and is definitely worth it..

Interesting Stalactite Formations - Domes and Dripstones Tour

The Mammoth Passage Tour starts at the historic opening of the cave and takes you through cavernous, dry tunnels into the Rotunda, one of the largest rooms of the cave. The narrative of this cave focuses on ways the cave was used in history. The earliest explorers of the caves, pre-historic Native Americans, explored 12 miles back into the cave from 4,000 to 2,000 years ago. They left behind charred river cane bundles they burned to light their way, grass shoes that wore out walking over rocks, and bowls made from ghourds used for mining minerals in the cave. This part of the cave also has the remains of saltpeter mining from the War of 1812. The wood from the operation has been preserved in the constant 54 degree climate of the cave. Most of the walkways traversed in this tour are lined with paving stones, with gentle inclines. This trip takes 1.5 hours and gave a very different view of the cave than our first trip, though still wonderful.

Limestone Formations - Domes and Dripstones Tour

Carnation on the Ceiling? - Domes and Dripstones Tour

We also took the Heritage Walk above ground where another knowledgeable and helpful Ranger tells you more about the early uses of the cave and focuses on a group of enslaved African Americans who were the first explorers of many parts of the cave and who served as guides to the wealthy guests who came to Kentucky just to see the Mammoth Cave. Stephen Bishop was so well respected that his owner gave him credit for a map that Bishop drew of the cave showing almost 10 miles of tunnels, half of which had been discovered by him. Visitors to the cave in the 1830's to 1850's were so impressed with Stephen Bishop that they would write about him in letters about their trips. During this time the cave was also used as a sanatorium for patients with TB. Another slave family, the Bransfords, served as guides with Stephen Bishop. Their descendents continued guiding in the cave for over 100 years to today with Ranger Bransford who currently gives cave tours.

The Visitors Center is wonderful with great and informative exhibits about the geology of the cave, how it was formed, cave exploration (both pre-historic and present day), the history of how the cave was used, creatures that live in the cave and other topics.

Can a cave look any more dramatic?- Domes and Dripstones Tour

We camped in the park campground and had deer roam through our campsite. Wild turkeys wander through the park seemingly oblivious to visitors. When the land in the area was being bought up to create a National Park in the 1930s, it was farmland. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), part of the New Deal, tore down farm buildings, and planted trees. Later the Park Service re-introduced deer and wild turkeys to the area. They are thriving now is this protected, forested haven.

By the way, kudos to Russ for taking these dramatic photos in very low light!