| Traveler Edge | Mammoth Cave National Park |
| Mammoth Cave National Park | Visits : | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mammoth Cave National Park | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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sorry, this is not a real picture. However, you can probably imagine what
it may look like in a miles-long underground cave. Yes, it is totally, absolutely dark. We visited this park on September 1996. We didn't do usual activity such as hiking. Well, on surface, at least. We participated a couple cave tours. That's what this place is famous for. I could never imagine that the underground passage could be that long. This is the longest recorded cave system in the world with more than 360 miles explored and mapped. We first did the self-guided discovery tour as warm-up and got a taste of what it like in the cave. We then spent 2 hours on the Frozen Niagara tour. We took a bus (which was like an old school bus) to the entrance then down we went. There was nothing much to take picture. It was too dark and even if we tried, it was just cave with rocks after all. It is the place that you have to be there to experience it. The sound (echo of foot steps), the dry or somewhat wet air you breath, the cool temperature, the breeze and the absolute dark after ranger turned off the light and such, can not be described by words or pictures. It was the nuance atmosphere that you got to feel, even by your skin. The next day we participated the Grand Avenue tour. It was longer with a stop for lunch. We carried enough water and walked a long way. The most-wanted tour was the Wild cave tour. However, it was too long (like 6 hours) and challenging. We did not have enough time either for such long tour. One interesting thing, or maybe not-so-interesting thing, was that alcoholic drink was prohibited in that area. Although I am not alcoholic, I usually would like to have local beers during vacation. So I got coke only and the fried-chickens there were not so Kentucky.. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location: Kentucky, USA South East | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 : City  : National Park  : National Monument / MiscellaneousClick icons on the map to see details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cave, Forest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nearby National Park | (Definition of Driving Distance and Time) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National Park Service Website | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| http://www.nps.gov/maca | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This park is everything about underground cave. You can certainly do
hiking above the ground but you will miss all the fun. Plan at least two days if you do visit. Attend two or more cave tours based on your physical condition. Talk to park ranger for recommendation. The longer tours are more physical demanding but more exciting. You have to purchase tickets for the cave tours. Use this link to access the NPS posted tour schedule : http://www.nps.gov/maca/schedule.html. Pay special attention to the time zone (US Central). You don't want to miss your tour.. It is difficult for cave tour if you have baby or very young child with you. Be warned that the activities here might not be suitable for the whole family. The nearest National Park is Great Smokey Mountain with about 5 hours drive. You can "package" these two parks if you have 5+ days vacation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discussion Area - Mammoth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
