This year, for our father/daughter hiking trip, my dad requested that we visit a national park so that he could get his copy of my National Parks Journal stamped for the first time with me – how sweet is that!? So, we looked at which parks were within driving distance from us and decided on Mammoth Cave National Park, mostly because it was a park my dad (and my kids) hadn’t been to yet. My dad and I brought the kids along and rented a sweet little house that was the ultimate jumping off point for exploring this area.
What We Explored in Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave is a national park that doesn’t blow you away like many other parks like Arches or Yosemite, but it is still something worth seeing. I will say, though, that if you don’t take a tour of the cave, you’ll probably be vastly disappointed.
DOMES AND DRIPSTONES TOUR: There are several tours that you can take and all require a ticket. You can purchase those ahead of time online, or you can buy them at the visitor center. I recommend getting them early. We got ours at the visitor center the night before going. This tour was decently long and considered challenging. I managed to do it – even with all the crazy stairs – carrying Liam. He did walk on some of the flat sections, though. Charleigh walked almost all of the entire thing, only being picked up for maybe 10 minutes of the tour. Mammoth Cave is a dry cave, so there was only a small section of the cave that was really stunning. Also, though, I thought our ranger guide was, honestly, terrible. So, I think the experience could be drastically different with any other guide.
HISTORIC CAVE ENTRANCE TRAIL: This is a super short, but a little steep paved trail down to the massive cave entrance that, historically was the entrance to Mammoth Cave. Now this is just one of many entrances to the cave.
HERITAGE TRAIL: This trail is slightly longer, and it mostly paved. There is also a section of boardwalk, which is luckily stroller-friendly so we could take Liam in the stroller. The forest in this section was really beautiful and there is a small section that opens up near the end of the loop, just past the old cemetery that’s on this trail.
ECHO RIVER SPRING TRAIL: I will say, this is the most disappointing trail we did. Yes, the forest was pretty, but the springs along this trail were just disappointing. They were really low and just dirty. We’re very spoiled here in Missouri with the stunning springs of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, so by comparison I was very disappointed.
CHARLEIGH GOT A JUNIOR RANGER BADGE: If you’ve been around here for the last couple of years, you know we’re huge fans of the Junior Ranger Program here at For the Love of Wanderlust. CJ has been collecting them in all the parks we’ve visited since 2023 and I think by next summer, Liam will be able to start working on them too! I love how this program enhances the experience and educates little ones about the park that you’re visiting.
Bernheim Forest and Arboretum
This arboretum is located about an hour north of Mammoth Cave National Park. This arboretum is technically free, but asks for a recommended $15 donation to enter. Bernheim Forest has over 16,000 acres of protected land to explore with some really beautiful trails, art exhibits, an edible garden and, my favorite, three different Thomas Dambo trolls.
This was my first time seeing some of these beautiful pieces of art in real life. Thomas Dambo creates these beautiful trolls or giants out of recycled and up-cycled materials and places them in natural environments all around the world. We did a little over three miles of trails here, and just really enjoyed this space.
As Always, Though….
The very best part of these trips is the time spent with my dad. I am so grateful that I asked him to go somewhere with me on my very last high school spring break back in 2008 because this has become an annual trip that is ever-changing and ever-evolving since then. It has fostered a friendship with my dad, a common bond with my dad and countless funny stories, inside jokes and memories with my dad. And now, my kids have been tagging along every-other-year since 2022.
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