Mammoth Cave National Park

The waterfall seen on the Violet City Lantern Tour

April 29th - May 31st, 2024

Longest cave in the world

Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky is the longest cave in the world. We did 5 different cave tours within the park. There are also a lot of other great commercial caves in the area that we did as well.

Mammoth Cave was an amazing cave for it’s shear size and length. There are spaces in the cave the size of a 15 story building both tall and wide.

Our Airbnb was located in downtown Bowling Green, KY which we surprisingly actually liked a lot. The interior of the Airbnb was modern and industrial which we really enjoyed.

Mammoth Cave NP was the main draw for this stop on our East Coast journey. We loved all the tours we went on in the park (5 in total). The tours covered such far distances (up to 4 miles in one tour) that this cave felt so unique compared to the small cave tours we normally go on.

Cleaveland Avenue on the Grand Avenue Tour.

Grand Avenue Tour

Cave formations at the end of the Grand Avenue tour.

Formations at the end of the Grand Avenue Tour

The natural entrance to Mammoth Cave, as seen on the Historic Tour.

The passage immediately after the historic entrance in Mammoth Cave.

The Historic Tour in Mammoth Cave.

The Tower inside Mammoth Cave on the Historic Tour.

View from The Tower on the Historic Tour.

Looking out from the natural entrance of Mammoth Cave.

Gearing up for the Violet City Lantern Tour in Mammoth Cave.

The Violet City Lantern Tour in Mammoth Cave.

An underground waterfall inside Mammoth Cave on the Violet City Lantern Tour.

Cave formations on the Grand Avenue Tour in Mammoth Cave.

Historic names from the 1800s written on the cave ceiling with candle soot on the Grand Avenue Tour.

Cave formations along the Great Onyx Tour, the most decorated of the Mammoth Cave tours.

Cave formations on the Great Onyx Tour.

Interesting quartz features on the wall along the Great Onyx Cave tour in Mammoth Cave NP.

There are over 80 known cemeteries on the surface of Mammoth Cave NP, which are interesting to look at.

Mammoth Cave also has great hikes above ground.

Lost River Cave

Lost River Cave is a commercial cave tour located right in the city of Bowling Green. It's unique because you board a boat that takes you through the cave tour. There were also a handful of blue pools that we checked out above ground before the cave tour.

The entrance to Lost River Cave.

At the beginning of the Lost River Cave, you have to bend down to avoid hitting your head on the ceiling as the boat maneuvers through the entrance.

Mural at Lost River Cave.

Blue pool at Lost River Cave.

The view looking out from within Lost River Cave.

Diamond Caverns

Diamond Caverns is a commercial cave tour located right next to Mammoth Cave NP. Unfortunately the day we came there was a big storm the night before so our cave tour was abbreviated due to flooding, but it was still really amazing nonetheless.

Cave formations on the Diamond Caverns Tour.

A cross section of a stalactite in Diamond Caverns.

Crystal Onyx

Crystal Onyx is another commercial cave tour in the area, which was different than the rest as it is a vertical cave which makes for very tall formations and narrow passageways.

A vertical shaft inside Crystal Onyx Cave.

Cave formations inside Crystal Onyx Cave.

Narrow passages inside Crystal Onyx Cave.

Nashville

We went to Nashville for a day since Bowling Green is only an hour away. We had a great time, with the main things we did being the Parthenon, L & L Market, Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry.

Nashville made a full-size replica of the original Parthenon in Athens for a world fair.

The columns at the Parthenon.

The Athena status inside the Parthenon.

Eating at Culture + Co at the L&L Market.

We went to the L&L Market in Nashville which includes Culture + Co, which is a really fun charcuterie conveyer belt experience.

Donuts from Five Daughters Bakery at L&L Market.

A Taylor Swift display inside the Country Music Hall of Fame.

We want to the Opryland Resort near the Grand Ole Opry and we were amazed at the huge scale of the resort, which was totally enclosed.

The interior of the Opryland Resort.

Before going to the Grand Ole Opry, we went to a great german restaurant with live music.

The Grand Ole Opry

Highpoints Loop

Trevor went on a long driving loop to get 2 more state highpoints (Mississippi and Alabama) on his quest to summit the tallest mountain in each state. He also stopped at a couple other side destinations on his way.

Woodall Mountain, the Mississippi Highpoint.

Cheaha State Park, Alabama's highpoint.

The view from the tower at Cheaha State Park.

Trevor stopped at Cathedral Caverns in Alabama on his highpoint loop, which turned out to be one of his favorite caves he's been to.

Cave formations inside Cathedral Caverns.

The massive passage inside Cathedral Caverns.

Cave formations inside Cathedral Caverns.

Trevor also stopped at Stephen's Gap Cave on his highpoints loop, which is a really amazing pit style cave.

The entrance and pit of Stephen's Gap Cave in the same shot.

A view of the pit and waterfall at Stephen's Gap Cave.

The entrance to Stephen's Gap Cave.

Bowling Green, KY

We stayed in Bowling Green, KY for it's proximity to Mammoth Cave NP. We actually really enjoyed Bowling Green and we went to a Hot Rod's game, the city's local minor league baseball team.