Our pick for the best family tour in Mammoth Cave
Caves are an odd thing but people have been fascinated by these holes in the ground for a very long time. I suppose early on it was for shelter, but more recently the fascination has been the mystery of where they may go, how big they may be, and what is down that next passage.
Mammoth Cave has all of those hallmarks and the superlatives to go with a name like Mammoth. Thankfully Mammoth Cave lives up to its name as it is part of the longest cave system in the world since it is connected to the broader Mammoth-Flint Ridge Cave System of central Kentucky. Imagine 400 miles of known and surveyed passageways – more than two times the size of the next largest cave!
Obviously, no tour we would want to go on ourselves, much less with kids, would scratch the surface of a 400 mile cave system. Instead, the best family tour in Mammoth Cave crossed a whopping 2 miles off the list and even that took 2 hours to complete 🙂 There are a number of tours to choose from but we chose the Historic Tour as the best family tour in Mammoth. It hit the sweet spot of family-friendly while still being an adventure. It wasn’t crawling or wild caving and yet had many memorable areas.
The Best Family Tour in Mammoth Cave: The Historic Tour
We *loved* the historic tour. So much so, that “Tots” has said that Mammoth Cave is his favorite national park. Quite an impression for a 2 hour tour, especially when you look at the other parks we’ve visited like Glacier, Zion, Yosemite, Great Smoky Mountain, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and more! Mammoth Cave the best of that bunch? Really?
Yes, in 2 hours of tour time, Mammoth Cave made an impression on all of us. Part of that I’m sure had to do with the great naming of the areas – Fat Man’s Misery, Tall Man’s Agony, Bottomless Pit, and Sidesaddle Pit are all great names for a 6-year-old boy to remember!
The cave experience begins when you start the descent down 3 sets of stairs and into the historic entrance to the cave. This alone is an experience – one you can also have at Carlsbad Caverns but Mammoth Cave’s opening stands alone for its quick descent down the stairs and the lush surroundings, as well as Mammoth’s entrance feeling more natural against Carlsbad’s seating area for seasonal bat watching. You immediately enter the Rotunda, with 70 feet of air above your head before hitting the ceiling, despite being just 140 feet below the surface.
From here, your Ranger will lead you through a series of named areas like those mentioned above and will share the history of the cave. Stick close to them – the group sizes can get big but if you stick close to the Ranger you will learn a lot and get a chance to ask more questions of them. Our Ranger was super sweet and eventually swore in the kids as Junior Rangers.
The Ranger will also shut off the lights at some point — they always do — and make some bad jokes. Both add to the charm, and fun, of the tour. For those worried about it, the lights are off just briefly, and the overall tour area is fairly well lit (for a cave at least!)
Yes, Fat Man’s Misery will be uncomfortable if you are heavy, as the bottom is about 12″ wide and at chest height it’s about 3 feet wide. Yes, Tall Man’s Agony will be uncomfortable if you are tall as the lowest section is less than 4 feet tall. Yes, the cave will be cold and damp at all times of the year (about 55 F) and you will want to dress for it. You will have time to rest, time to relax, and the overall pace of the tour is purposeful but not hurried.
After that resting, you do have 1 big climb ahead of you. As you approach Mammoth Dome you will climb about 190 feet up a series of stairs and while there are some small platforms to catch your breath on you will also have a procession of people ahead and behind you. It is tempting to snap pictures and look back down and you should — it’s neat! After the huffing and puffing you pop back out into the Rotunda that you first arrived in and from there you get to choose to either walk back out the Historic Entrance or you can simply hitch a ride on an elevator.
We found that once we returned to the Rotunda it was easier to capture photos without the crowds and is also an area you can explore on your own when the self guided tours are open.
Tips:
Some tips – book your tour ahead of time. There were so many people who showed up while we were waiting for our tour and were disappointed when either the time slot or tour they wanted was gone. Booking online is super easy at Recreation.gov. Buy them early – we made our reservations when we booked our lodging so we knew we would have the opportunity to do the tour when we wanted. Overall the tours are inexpensive, so it pays to buy ahead and you can cancel if needed.
There are also a number of things to do above ground, which we did not have an opportunity to do as we were on our way into Nashville and then on to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so we ate our lunch at some picnic tables and off we went!
Would your family recommend a different tour as the best family tour in Mammoth Cave? Let us know in the comments.
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