One of the world’s great natural wonders, Mammoth Cave National Park lies beneath Kentucky hills and hollows. Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park established in 1941 covering an area of 53,012 in Kentucky, encompassing portions of Mammoth Cave, the Earth’s largest cave.
If you hiked through the area’s farms, woods and rivers, you would have little idea that below your feet twist 405 miles’ worth of meandering tunnels etched by water over the past 10 million years. And through this, Earth’s largest cave system, flow subterranean rivers and streams; the longest, the Green River, wends for 16 miles. This vast subterranean world is filled with dank chambers packed with stalactites hanging like vanilla icicles from the ceilings, while tapering stalagmites reach upward, all formed by the slow drip, drip, drip of calcite-rich water.
Throughout the Mammoth Cave National Park’s dark environment live such creatures as eyeless cave fish and transparent Kentucky cave shrimp, along with 15 varieties of bats (though the bat population has dwindled). Spelunkers are welcome on guided tours to make their way into some of the more demanding passages.
Location : Kentucky, United States
ESTABLISHED 1941
53,012 ACRES
ANNUAL VISITORS: 552,000