Mammoth Cave National Park is located in west-central Kentucky. There is lodging, camp sites, restaurants, and a variety of things to do while visiting the park. There is not an entrance fee for this national park.
Accommodations
Mammoth Cave offers lodging inside the park. They have hotel rooms and cottages. Check out the website here to see what amenities the hotel and different cottages have to see which will best fit your needs.
If you enjoy camping, they do have a campground in the park and it is not far from the visitor center and lodge.
Dining
Mammoth Cave offers two restaurants in the park, Green River Grill and Spelunkers Cafe. We ate dinner at the Green River Grill and enjoyed the meal we had. It does appear that both restaurants are currently closed due to renovations. Check the website prior to your visit to see if they have reopened.
The Cave
Mammoth Cave does require tour ticket reservations to enter the cave. There are different tour options, you can choose a guided or self guided tour. We reserved a self guided tour while we were there, so we walked around at our own pace. There are rangers located at different spots throughout the cave that will tell you all about what you want to know. They are very knowledgeable about the park and love to tell stories. Walking through the cave was such a cool experience. Reserve your own tickets here.
Hiking
Mammoth Cave has several hiking trails of different distances. Some of the trails can be hiked from around the visitor center, others are along the park road prior to getting to the visitor center. We started out our morning at the park walking the beneath your feet self guided tour. The National Park System app provides a map for the self guided tour and guides you to each number letting you know the history beneath your feet. This is a fun way to learn about the park.
After hiking the beneath your feet tour, we pretty much hiked every trail we could right around the visitor center which is around 7.2 miles. The best part was the ridge top walk to sunset point- this was a great view!
Check out the NPS website to see all the different trails Mammoth Cave has to offer.
Other Things to Do
We only hiked the trails and toured the cave during our visit, however Mammoth Cave does offer biking, fishing, ranger led programs, kayaking, horse back riding and stargazing. You are sure to find an activity you enjoy while visiting Mammoth Cave National Park!
This is now on my bucket list!
Yes! You definitely need to check it out!