In the Area: Mammoth Cave pt. 1

Mammoth Cave National Park is full of enough activities to fill days, nay, weeks, worth of adventure. Every time I visit, I learn more about the park, and discover more things to do within the park. There are awesome tours, great hikes, and opportunities for adventures from horseback riding to kayaking.

However, there are many locations in the area which, while not part of the National Park, are inextricably linked to both the history and the place. Also, put more simply: There are lots of fun activities around, and whether they are incorporated into the history of the park, (and may fit into The Specters of Mammoth Cave or simply fun in their own right, I thought I would highlight some of these other attractions.

So here my first 3 suggestions for other activities in the Mammoth Cave Regionn

1: Green River Running: - A Bethany, Lucy, and Justin 5* recommendation.

“Sometimes a lazy day on the river is nice.” - Justin

I wanted a picture with kayaks, but couldn’t find one of my own.

So, I kind of lied, or at least fibbed a bit. The Green River does run through Mammoth Cave National Park. However, vendors in the park do not rent kayaks or offer boat tours. You can bring your own kayaks or canoes and launch them from within the park. You can even camp on several of the islands in the park. However, If you want someone else to take care of the trip, you’ll have to contact one of the outfitters in the area.

Weather and water conditions change all the time, and within the park you have to follow the park rules for boaters.

Find out more information directly from Mammoth Cave’s Website.

2: Dinosaurs - A Bethany, Rudy, and Amelia 5* Recommendation

“Dinosaurs!” - Rudy “Great photo ops! I got a picture where it looks like Rudy is being eaten by a Dilophosaurus.” - Amelia

If you drive north on 1-65 to the Cave City Exit, or if you miss the Cave City Exit on your way to Mammoth Cave (because you want to start your park trip where the Junior Rangers Investigative Club took their first park sign picture- at the Brownsville/Park City entrance further south.) Then you will see a (very anatomically inaccurate) T-Rex advertising a location known as Dinosaur World. This is not part of Mammoth Cave. There are no known dinosaur fossils in Mammoth Cave. there will probably never be because the rocks which compose the entire part are way too old to contain dinosaurs. (meaning that the dinosaur bearing rocks were either never made, or were eroded a long time ago. )

Non-avian dinosaurs are extinct.

However, in this small park just off the Cave City Exit, dinosaurs still roam the woodlands near the highway. There’s no mistaking the location, as Dinosaur World advertises itself at every opportunity. From the entrance gate to the trashcans, everything is dinosaur themed. The gift shop/entrance has more dinosaur memorabilia than my Paleontology Professor kept in his Dinosaur closet. There’s a small museum, a fossil dig, a rocks and mineral sifter, a dinosaur themed playground, mini-golf (for the very mini,) but the highlight is a walk through the ages with many dinosaur (and dinosaur adjacent creatures) sculptures staged around the park.

This is a fun way to spend an afternoon, (especially for any dinosaur heads,) and it’s aimed for a younger crowd and their families. Although I had a lot of fun too! Especially because, while the park caters to the common and known dinosaurs, it also has sculptures of lesser known creatures, and some which I’ve probably only seen before in the pages of Dinosaur Encyclopedias, and which I haven’t thought about since.

What is this guy? Why am I asking you, you don’t have a way to respond. But if you look it up, you’ll know a new dinosaur.

3. Diamond Caverns, - A Bethany, Justin, and Lucy 5* reccomendation.

“Another piece of Mammoth Cave ‘area’ history.” - Bethany

Mammoth Cave isn’t the only cave in town. In fact it’s not even the only cave in the park. (Great Onyx Cave, which one of the ranger’s who helped me get my facts straight said was his favorite tour, is not connected to Mammoth Cave.) There are over a hundred caves within the park. And one of them is still privately owned and operates it’s own tours.

Surrounded almost entirely by the boundary of Mammoth Cave is a Diamond Caverns. Past the park city entrance sign, on the way to the visitor center, there is is a turn to the right. This inholding, surrounded by Mammoth Cave National Park is Diamond Caverns. If you’ve read about the Cave Wars, you would know that there were once several inholdings within Mammoth Cave National Park. This is the last one standing.

The large white central building contains a cave entrance. The tour starts there, and takes guest down a long staircase directly into Diamond Caverns. The diamonds in this cavern are allegorical (actually probably reference to the gypsum crystals which form in many caves in the region.) But they can also be an allegory to the beauty of this cave, as unlike most of the Mammoth Cave tours, the stairs drop tourists almost immediately into rooms full of still living cave formations. I don’t want to spoil the tour, but if you are unable to book the Frozen Niagara Tour in Mammoth Cave National Park, this is probably your best alternative route, due to the prevalence of living cave formations. It’s a good tour in it’s own right, and the guides also offer lots of information about the cave and the history of the area.

In addition, check out the visitor center built around the cave entrance, there are fun exhibits: including one about the Bransfords (early guides in Mammoth Cave) which tells more of their story than I was able to fit into The Specters of Mammoth Cave. There’s also a giftshop, where you can find the book if you haven’t read it yet. (absolutely not why I mention them, but an awesome sidetrack!,) along with fossils, rocks, minerals, and other goods. I want to mention the Bransford exhibit again, it’s only one display of artifacts, but it’s a very nice example of how even the private institutions in the area attempt to preserve and share the history of Mammoth Cave and the region around it.

If you find yourself in the Mammoth Cave Area, all 3 of these are things worth looking into. More Next Week!