Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

The first few days of my month-long road trip through the south I spent with one of my best friends, Tyler, in Nashville, but one of the days I was staying with him- despite the freezing cold- Tyler and I drove up to Kentucky to visit Mammoth Cave National Park.  The park ranger we talked to explained to us that this Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world at over 400 discovered miles of the cave.

We got to the cave and realized that there were several different tours of the cave.  However, since the cave is essentially covered in sandstone and shale most of the cave is waterproof and the Frozen Niagara section is the only area of the cave with the different formations because it isn’t covered and water is able to drip in and make the stalagmites and stalactites!  It’s really incredible!   This portion of the cave is believed to be over 500,000 years old.  So incredible!  The cave’s pathway is tight in places and a lot of people had to duck to get through passage ways.  However, I really loved that the formations were lit, and you could see them really well!

The inside of this cave was really incredible, and I would recommend that a trip to this cave includes a tour that you get to see the Frozen Niagara portion of this beautiful cave.  After the cave tour, we hiked down to the natural opening of the cave where the river flows in.

There is still so much to do and see at this National Park, and I look forward to going back and exploring different areas in this beautiful cave and the forest areas that surround it.  However, the best part was getting to make these memories with one of my best friends!