Updated on February 15th, 2021
Mammoth Cave Historic Tour
The park ranger who was about to take us on the Mammoth Cave historic tour started his introduction with “I need to make you all aware of a few things before we get started down toward the entrance.” He began listing all the reasons we might not want to go on the tour:
- Claustrophobia
- Fear of Heights (I wasn’t sure how both of these things could be a problem on the same tour)
- Difficulty with Stairs
- Difficulty squatting or duck-walking
- Are you able to walk 2 miles with a slight incline?
- You must be able to climb stairs up 200 feet
- Are you willing to wash your shoes off at the end to prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome in bats?
- You must be in relatively good health, as any sort of rescue could take hours
I already had reservations about taking the Mammoth Cave historic tour and this warning made me really anxious. I had only been discharged from physical therapy the week before.
Six months ago, I went to the doctor after having severe knee pain for several months. An MRI showed I have osteoarthritis. At 30 years old, I already have parts of my knee that are bone-on-bone. Thanks to a great physical therapist and a lot of hard work it is much better. I have gone from no stairs at all and needing hiking poles for any sort of hills to thinking I might be able to handle the 560 stairs and a 2-mile hike that make up the Mammoth Cave historic tour.
This park ranger clearly did not want anyone taking chances. I figured the worst-case scenario was it would hurt, maybe a lot. However, it was really unlikely I’d need to be rescued, so off we went!
The Beginning
After one last round of “are you sure you want to do this?” type warnings, we descended about 3 flights of stairs into the cave via the historic entrance. The first part of the tour starts in a huge cavern called the “Rotunda”. The ceiling loomed 70 feet above our heads and the cave stretched as far as we could see in any direction. The tour guide gave us a lot of information about the mining history of the cave before moving further into its depths.
We stopped again to talk about the early explorers and earliest tourists. The ranger lit a small lamp. He then turned out the lights so we could see what it was like in the cave prior to electric lights being installed. It was beautiful and eerie at the same time. He warned us that he was going to blow out the lamp and he asked that no one move. We were plunged into the blackest darkness I have ever experienced. After a few moments, he turned the electric lights back on and we continued deeper and lower into the cave.
Deeper We Go
We headed down a flight of stairs that are relatively low. I am 5’6” and Andy is 6’ and neither of us was uncomfortable but there was a gentleman behind us that was in the 6’4” range who was struggling a little to duck low enough.
We continued moving downward. The lower we went the more humid the air became. The handrails and footbridges were slippery but not dangerously so. This was the only place in the cave where water was dripping on us. The best parts of this section were the footbridges that crossed sections so deep you could not see the end and aptly named “bottomless pit”. The ranger let us know that it was approximately 100 feet to the bottom.
A Tight Squeeze
A little further along is “Fat Man’s Misery”, a section that is very narrow at the bottom (about 12 inches wide) but at chest height gets wider (about 3 feet). They ask that you try not to touch the cave walls but in this section, it is very difficult to avoid. There were sections that we both needed to turn sideways to squeeze through and the ceiling height was only about 5 feet tall. This video, while poorly lit, gives you a little bit of an idea of what it’s like.
The last part of this section is pretty low, maybe about 3.5 or 4 feet, and is the ”duck crawl” section the ranger referenced. There were railings on either side so I was able to relieve some of the pressure on my knee with my upper body and only need to duck walk for about 5 steps when the ceiling was at its lowest.
Just when you think the passage can’t get any smaller it very suddenly spits you out into a much larger cavern. They call it “the great relief hall”, which is exactly what it feels like after the “Fat Man’s Misery”.
Resting up
We stopped in the large “River Hall” and sat on benches while the Ranger gave us some information about the river Styx and its ecology. It was also an opportunity to catch our breath and get some water. After an informational talk about the eyeless fish that live in the river Styx, we were headed up toward the surface.
Mammoth Dome
After leaving the “River Hall” we began our ascent. The first round was about 5 flights and then it evened out for a short time. The passage opened up to Mammoth Dome, one of the largest vertical shafts in the Mammoth Cave system. It is nearly 200 feet tall, and we climbed 190 feet straight up a tower of stairs to get to the top.
The pace was very slow and there is a small landing after every half flight. I wish there had been more time to stop and enjoy the view. I felt like I was being herded every time the trailing ranger started urging people to move. Understandably, there are a lot of people and they are on a schedule but how many times in a person’s life will they experience something quite like looking down 200 feet in a cave. They really should cut people some slack for stopping to take it all in.
At the top of the stairs, there is a short walk through a relatively large passage that leads back out to the “Rotunda”. We made our way to the historic entrance and out the same way we entered. At the top of the stairs, you are asked to walk through a mixture of Woolite and water on pads to clean your shoes. White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats in North America and the park is doing everything it can to stop the spread of the disease to unaffected areas.
Above Ground
I found the hike back up the hill from the entrance to the visitor center to be the hardest part of the tour. It is about a half mile uphill climb and after all those stairs my knee had had enough. All of it was worth it though, and we can’t wait to go back! We have already been looking at which tour(s) we will do next time!
A Few Additional Recommendations:
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Book your tour ahead of time
The only way to really see Mammoth Cave is with a tour. During high season they sell out regularly and there were several tours sold out the day we went which was far from high season. You can book the Mammoth Cave Historic Tour and all the other tours available on the Mammoth Cave National Park website.
Wear or Bring a Lightweight Jacket
The cave is about 55 degrees year round. During our mid-October trip, it was actually warmer in the cave than outside. We both wore our packable down jackets and were comfortable. These are the versions we travel with and love: Women’s Jacket and Men’s Jacket. They are reasonably priced and have held up through quite a bit of abuse.
Bring Water Bottles
As with most national parks, food and drinks at Mammoth Cave National Park were pretty pricey. I would recommend bringing a water bottle with you! My personal favorite is this stainless steel vacuum bottle because it stays cold all day and never leaks!
Double Check How Your GPS is Getting You There
There are warnings all over the Mammoth Cave National Park website about GPSs taking visitors to the wrong entrance of the park, and people arriving late to for their tours. Make sure that your GPS is not taking you via the Green River ferry. The ferry in the park can only hold 2 cars at a time and is not very fast.
Taking photos of the Mammoth Cave Historic Tour is nearly Impossible
If you do not have a particularly “fast” camera, your photos will look grainy. I would recommend choosing not to take photos and just soak it all in. However if you’d like to ignore me and try, you’re going to need to increase your cameras ISO, use your fastest lens (I used my 50mm f/1.8 ), and you will probably need to shoot in manual or shutter priority so that you can try to get your shutter speed up to a level that you can hand hold. The Mammoth Cave historic tour does not allow tripods.
Do you have additional questions? Comment below and we will do our very best to help!