Solo Trip to Mammoth Cave National Park, a 3-4 day Itinerary

brobison135
Mar 24
6 min read

Mammoth National Park Visitor Center Sign

Day 1 - Getting there

Join me on my solo vacation to Mammoth Cave National Park. I live about an hour drive from our home airport which can be a bit inconvenient, especially when you add in the hassle of parking. So I started my day taking the train, from its start about 10 minutes from my house, straight through Philadelphia and to the airport's front door.

I flew from Philly to Nashville International Airport, where I started the real adventure. Given the short two hour flight I went for affordability over comfort and chose a budget airline. I was also able to fit all my stuff into a “personal item” backpack. Keeping costs down helps me travel more, and that’s really what it’s all about isn’t it?

I picked my car up at the rental counter and drove straight up I-65 to Mammoth Cave National Park. The drive was an easy hour and a half and I was quickly able to check-in to my safe but (again) affordable hotel room at around 3:00pm.

I decided I wanted to see a smaller cave on this trip so I opted to go to a commercial one in town. I also love to explore and support local businesses. The National Parks are of course amazing, but the local towns also have things to offer, things often overlooked. I arrived at the Crystal Onyx Cave Tour in Cave City, KY in plenty of time before their last tour at 6:00pm. The walk down to the cave entrance showed off some of the eccentricities of the owner, with large statues dotted among the grass, including aliens, dinosaurs, and various animals. The cave was a bit smaller than I expected but I got over my claustrophobia fast after seeing the amazing rock formations it had to offer. Our guide Gary was super knowledgeable and seemed genuinely excited to be showing us around. This was a great introduction to caving, and after a long day of traveling it was time to rest up for the next two days.

Day 2 - Grand Avenue

I slept well and got up for a quick hotel breakfast. After making sure my route to the park wouldn’t be deterred by GPS difficulty, and that I had the time zone and DST correct, I headed off to Mammoth Cave.

If you’re planning to visit Mammoth Cave, make sure to plan out your tours and get tickets well ahead of time. You cannot get into the cave without a tour ticket (there is one tour that is self-guided, but you still need a reservation). My trip was somewhat last minute but thankfully I was able to get the Grand Avenue Tour ticket for Friday. This tour encompasses a few of the other tours as well, so pay attention to those details so you don’t end up repeating the same sections over again. The tours offered also change with the seasons.

The Grand Avenue Cave Tour is touted as a strenuous 4 hour and 4 mile hike with plenty of stairs. It includes the Cleaveland Avenue, Domes and Dripstones, and Frozen Niagara tours. I searched extensively to evaluate how claustrophobic this tour would be, because 4 hours is a long time. I have some anxiety in small places, but usually what activity I’m doing helps me keep my mind off of it. However, I ended up taking a small dose of an anxiety med before going in. Because 4 hours is a LONG time. It turns out I really had nothing to work about.

We started this tour at 10:15 in the morning and it was nothing short of incredible. You can see at the start where Mammoth gets its name with soaring ceilings and wide expanses. The middle section turns into more of a slot canyon type area. Again the ceilings are tall, but the walls are much closer together. We did have to move through the canyon single file, but the brisk pace left my mind only the space to enjoy the scenery. The last section was of course the hardest with the majority of the touted 1400 steps, both up and down. I’m not in particularly good shape, but I finished without having to break away from the group. Overall the Grand Avenue tour was a bit of a brisk pace, but well worth the trip.

Afterwards, the tour was over at about 2:15pm, I headed over to the visitor’s center to find a few more smaller hikes around the area. I ended up doing the Cedar Sink trail which is a mile and leads you to a vast sink hole with a maze of boardwalk overlook points. I stopped quickly by the Sand Cave trail, boasting a wheelchair accessible walkway, and learned some history of the Sand Cave. It was a nice short walk, however not much of the cave entrance was visible.

Another long but rewarding day came to a close and I slept really well that night.

Day 3 - The Zoo and Discovery

Researching Mammoth Cave for this trip I found a local zoo in the area called Kentucky Down Under Zoo. The pun was more than enough to get me there, the experience was more than enough to make me stay. It’s a quirky little zoo with a lot of the basic animals you can find in other zoos, but the main attraction is the kangaroos. You can go into their field, hang with the kangaroos and give them snacks. I sat with a group for a while, chatting (one-sided) and petting the amazing animals. Families might want to consider renting one of their golf carts, the trails are paved but very hilly. This stop was unique and well worth the trip down the road, just try not to scare the little ones!

I headed back over to Mammoth Cave National Park for my 2:30pm Self-guided Discovery Tour. I spent about forty-five minutes exploring the historic entrance part of the cave and got to see areas not covered on the Grand Avenue Tour. The area did appear pretty similar but you had the opportunity to stop and take pictures that you didn’t really have on the guided tour. There were areas that appeared to have been a continuation of the trails but were blocked off, it's possible they open at a different time of year.

With that done I was able to squeeze in a loop including Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole, and Heritage Trail. This hike encountered many wonderful views along the way and it was a nice hike for a slower pace.

One more stop heading back was to look for a letterbox in the area. Letterboxing is a hobby probably most popular in the 2000’s, but is similar to geo-caching but uses word clues instead of coordinates. I was happy to find the box still there after all these years and collected the stamp in my logbook.

Day 4 - Back to Reality

The last day was purely travel for me. An hour and a half ride back to Nashville. (If you have extra time on your trip Nashville is an amazing place to explore, listen to live music, and eat famous BBQ.) A 2 hour plane ride to Philadelphia. And an hour and a half train ride back home. Not too bad for a quick trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. National Park vacations are always my favorite, and I’ve got one more park checked off the list.