Ghost Stories from Mammoth Cave…: and other National Parks pt. 1
Let me first say, that I am not a primary source. I’ve never seen a ghost in Mammoth Cave, or the Mammoth Cave area. I think the basement of the house I grew up in is super spooky and technically that’s in Kentucky, but I’m not convinced it’s actually haunted. Am I contradicting myself enough? Do I believe in ghosts, or not? The truth is, I don’t want you to know.
My upcoming novel, set in Mammoth Cave, and finds the Junior Rangers Investigative Club encountering a few specters of their own. The team has a mixed opinion on ghostly phenomena, some believe that they are being haunted, others are decidedly skeptical. I don’t want to make it seem like I’ve picked a side. So, let me restart.
I am not a primary source for ghost stories from Mammoth Cave or the region. I’ve never witnessed a ghost in Mammoth Cave. But I’ve spoken with people who have. I’ve heard tales of eerie voices whispering through the passages alongside Echo River along with the shuffling of clothing and the pattering of shoes on rock. Someone told me about rocks being thrown at them a tour out of the darkness. (I assumed it was their tour, but wonder in retrospect, if this is a story shared amongst different guides.) Several people have let me know about shadows they’ve seen moving in the cave in unfathomable ways. I read online accounts of objects being left in buildings above ground, and moved around when the buildings were unoccupied. There’s also that creepy feeling you get sometimes on the back of your neck which tells you that you are being watched, even when you know no one else is present.
(If we’re counting eerie feelings, those I have had in Mammoth Cave National Park. Once, walking alone at night on Sand Cave trail. And several times on longer hikes in the park, out to Great Onyx Cave, the old Collins residence, and once on the north side of the park, where I heard ethereal music drifting through the trees. (Turns out the music had a logical explanation.) )
So, while I’ve never witnessed a ghost in the area myself. I have secondhand stories. There is also a plethora of material discoverable online. There are books, specifically, about the ghosts stories of mammoth cave. I didn’t write this article to usurp the other ghost stories out there. (seek them out. There is even one written by a park ranger from Mammoth Cave which delves not just into the ghost stories, but the history around them. Scary Stories of Mammoth Cave. - written by a Park Ranger in Mammoth Cave. I highly recommend!!!)
But actually, I didn’t really write this article to talk, specifically, about ghost stories in Mammoth Cave.
I wanted to make note of an interesting phenomena, and hypothesize a plausible explanation. Namely the observation is that there are a lot of ghost stories about nearly every park. The first book in the Junior Rangers Investigative Club series, the kids discuss ghost stories associated with Fort Jefferson and the surrounding islands. In the Mammoth Cave book, they are going to go head to head with even more ghostly occurrences. (Some are made up, some come from personal anecdotes, and some are adapted from the stories people told me.) And writing the 3rd book in the series, I’ve stumbled upon a couple ghostly tales about Biscayne. Even after writing the first and second books, more ghostly articles are still being published about the Dry Tortugas and Mammoth Cave. Which shows that
There’s a plethora of persistent ghost stories about national parks.
Why?
Well, while each park is unique they all share several important factors:
#1 They are preserved apart from regular society. National Parks do not exist within the regular flow of progress. They might get new roads, and revamped visitor centers, and change their rules, equipment, and practices to fit more modern times. (Elevators into caves, interactive exhibits, more trail signs including some which will read themselves to you—great new addition to several trails in Mammoth Cave, for people who need the extra assistance.) They remain apart from development, often isolated as lonely patches of nature and wildlife, or historical structures surrounded by the modern. This means that national parks stand out.
#2 They all come with, well documented, history. National Parks were set apart and preserved for a reason. Many were established to protect natural resources, and preserve wonderous sights for the future. Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Arches. Some were set aside to preserve important ecosystems: Biscayne National Park, the Everglades, Redwood. And many were set aside to preserve history: Dry Tortugas, Mammoth Cave, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island. And… do you see the problem yet? All of these parks have history and nature. Some have more of one than the other, but the two always exist side by side. Bryce Canyon has historical ties to the Paiute, Navajo, and several Puebloan people, and other historical peoples before them. Mammoth Cave has a lot of history, but it also preserves unique habitats both in the cave and without. And every park has a story in it’s founding. The story of how Biscayne became a national park is fascinating. And National Parks keep records. Many of these places had records of the comings and goings of people even before the places became National Parks. And National Parks help to preserve, recover, and restore those records. Meaning, that unlike the basement of my old house, we can source a lot of information which might allow us to connect to any potential ghostly phenomena.
#3. They allow for the spooky. Where else can you wander the arches of a 150 year old, mostly abandoned, fort. Where else can you hike for hours through the woods only to come across the collapsing remains of a homestead long abandoned, where any trace of the roads which once carried people there are now buried under years of Autumn leaves, rot and new forest growth. Where else can you tour an old church which creaks with every footstep, and hasn’t been used in a century, but sits, preserved and empty, except for the coins scattered by other guests across the altar? Where else can you take a cave tour and have the guide turn the lights out, so that you can experience total darkness. Lots of places. National Parks aren’t alone in preserving, or inviting people people in to tour spooky abandoned buildings, hike the wilderness, or experience total darkness underground. But every park has multiple opportunities like these.
#4 They are home to story tellers. - ok. Before I am accused of partiality towards one side or the other in the ghost/no ghost debate, I need to clarify that “story teller,” simply means someone versed in the ability to convey a story, fiction or truth, in an entertaining and engaging way. Every park has experts, every park has guides. Every park has enthusiasts only too happy to talk about the history, nature, geology, and everything else about the park. It’s their job. It’s their hobby. It’s why they are there on the weekends volunteering or talking to people along the trail. In the Case of ghosts stories. This means that any ghostly incident is more likely to be encountered by someone able to effectively convey what they witnessed. So the stories have an extra chance of being told, and then, because there are other interested parties around, shared, and passed down. I heard three different versions of one of the haunting tales from Mammoth Cave. One directly from the person who saw it, but has moved on from the park, I head another version from someone currently working in Mammoth Cave who passed it on as a story they had heard, and I encountered the story online, from someone who probably heard the same secondhand account as I on the same tour where I heard it. So any ghosts which appear have a better chance of having the story of their appearance told. Or worded across the aisle: any strange occurrence has an increased opportunity to become part of the park’s lore.
So, I’m not going to develop a distinct, singular, testable hypothetical variable. I’m going to offer all 4 of these as my explaination.
I’ve found so much information out there about every national park. And I’ve found so many ghosts.
Why?
Because National Parks stand apart, but alongside us. They have histories of grandeur, endurance, and tragedy, and the people who expereinced these all. They are a little weird, and in that weirdness there is opportunity to step out, and percieve outside of our comfort zone, and when we do, we might come away with stories to tell.
I haven’t seen any ghosts in Mammoth Cave, but I’ve had the opportunity to speak with people who have, and to search out the places they tell stories about, and the chance to find some of those places to get spooked on my own. Were my adventures the same as the Junior Rangers Investigative Club’s will be? I hope not. (Their encounter with The Specter of Mammoth Cave would creep me way out.) But I had wonderful opportunities to explore Mammoth Cave National Park and talk to people who know more about it than me. And when the book comes out, you will see part of what draws people, spook enthusiasts, nature appreciators, and others to the park. I hope that it is a fun adventure, and that it inspires you to find your own, spooky or otherwise.
Or, if you find it too creepy. I want you to know, that I always felt perfectly safe on my tours inside the cave. Even when I felt an Icy drip, and a chilly liquid running down the back of my neck. (what’s that about? check out the book. Soon!!!)
Oops. I guess this is a 2 parter.
Not really a cover reveal, but isn’t it an awesome Cover!!!!
Next time:
Why ghosts, specifically in Mammoth Cave. A completly speculative guide with no ghost stories. (I’m saving those for the book!)