Mammoth Cave National Park is considered the longest cave system in the world. With over 420 miles of passages, you will have an adventure if you spend one day at Mammoth Cave National Park. Overall, the park sits on 52,830 acres of land in western-central Kentucky. A trip to Mammoth Cave is the perfect option to pair with a trip to Louisville when hitting up the Bourbon Trail or to add on a Kentucky and Tennessee road trip.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no cost to you!
Table of Contents
History of Mammoth Cave National Park
Visitors to Mammoth Cave date back to 5000 years ago as there have been Native American remains found in the caves. It is believed the first visitors after that date back to 1797 when the Houchin family hunted in the area.
Throughout the years, the land was passed from family to family. In the mid-1800s, Mammoth Cave became a tourist attraction with slaves acting as guides. Its fame continued to grow during this time.
In the 1900s, the cave continued to be passed around and explored. Some people began a more in-depth exploration of the cave and started to map out the passages. In 1924, a group of citizens formed the Mammoth Cave National Park Association to help preserve the cave and start the process of it becoming a National Park. Mammoth Cave officially became a National Park in 1941.
Best Time to Visit Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park is a great park to visit most times of the year. The cave stays the same temperature all year long. Although it is most popular in the summertime, we opted to visit in the wintertime when it was less busy and still enjoyed it.
How to Get to Mammoth Cave National Park
Mammoth Cave National Park is located south of Louisville, Kentucky. To get there, you will want to fly to Louisville National Airport. There are a ton of flights from all over the United States. Then, you will take the I-65 South for about 80 miles. After that, you get on the 55 west until you get to the park. It will take about an hour and 15 minutes to get there from Louisville.
Transportation Around Mammoth Cave National Park
To get around the park, you will need a car as there is no shuttle. However, if you park at the visitor’s center, it has easy access to most trails from there. Some tours require you to be bussed to the entrance, so the park does provide that to you.
Hours and Admission
Mammoth Cave National Park is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Tours of the cave are offered at select times every day of the week. In the summertime, you will find more tours than in the wintertime. You can find the schedule here on the Mammoth Cave National Park website. The Visitor’s Center is usually open from 8am-5pm.
It is free to get into the National Park, but the cave tours range in price, starting at $8 for adults and $6 for children. Unfortunately, you cannot use the America the Beautiful Pass to book a cave tour during your one day at Mammoth Cave National Park.
Where to Stay at Mammoth Cave National Park
There are several options on where you can stay for one day at Mammoth Cave National Park. We opted to stay right outside the park in Cave City at the Hampton Inn. This was a pretty affordable option at $115/night and it included breakfast. It is about a 15-minute drive to the visitor’s center from Cave City.
You can also opt to stay at the Mammoth Cave Lodge inside the park for a little bit more. Prices start at around $150. This is a convenient option as the hotel is located right next to the visitor’s center.
Camping options are also available. Another option is to visit Mammoth National Park as a day trip from Louisville.
What to See During One Day at Mammoth Cave National Park
Day 1
Take a Cave Tour
Mammoth Cave has a ton of different cave tours you can book here. There are so many choices, that it can be hard to choose just one tour, especially when you only have one day at Mammoth Cave. Make sure to book as soon as you can as the tours do sell out quickly, especially in the summertime. I waited one day and was not able to book the tour I wanted! Popular tours include Grand Avenue, Frozen Niagara, and the Historic Tour.
Since we visited in the wintertime, we had fewer tours available to us. I had wanted to do the Historic Tour, but it was sold out by the time we booked. Instead, we opted for the Frozen Niagara Tour. You can check what is available when you visit here.
Frozen Niagara
Length: 1.25 hours (75 minutes)
Distance: 0.25 mile
Cost: $18
The Frozen Niagara Tour is great for people with mobility issues, families, and people interested in a shorter cave tour. Frozen Niagara is one of the infamous rock features in the cave that is also a frequently visited spot. To get to this entrance, you will have to ride on a bus. This tour is the perfect tour for one day in Mammoth Cave National Park. I felt it gave a nice sample of the cave and leaves you wanting more.
Grand Avenue
Length: 4 hours
Distance: 4 miles
Cost: $35
The Grand Avenue tour is perfect for people interested in Geology. This tour takes visitors through tons of passages, slot canyons, tunnels, and tubular passageways. It has a ton of steps and hills, so this is another tour that you will want to be a bit more fit for. A bus will take you to the entrance and it will take almost a half-day to go on this tour.
Historic Tour
Length: 2 hours
Distance: 2 miles
Cost: $20
The Historic Tour is the traditional tour of Mammoth Cave. If you only have one day at Mammoth Cave National Park, I would take this tour. This explores the most well-known part of the cave and explores huge rooms and tight places. This tour also has lots of stairs and inclines so you will need to be in decent shape to go on this tour.
Go for a Hike
Mammoth Cave National Park has over 60 miles of hiking trails. The majority of them start in and around the visitors center. None of the hikes are too strenuous and are mostly flat. Here are some of the fun trails I enjoyed in the area. You can see a complete list of trails here. We opted to take the following hikes and they all connect to each other.
River Styx Spring Trail
Distance: 0.4 miles
Start your hike on the River Styx trail. This trail takes visitors to one of the natural entrances to the cave. The River Styx flows out of the cave at this entrance. You cannot legally access the cave from here and you also cannot walk right up to the mouth of it. However, it is a pretty cool view from the viewing platform.
Green River Bluffs Trail
Distance: 1.3 miles
Next, head along the Green River Bluffs Trail. This trail follows along the Green River and offers gorgeous views of it along the way. The Green River Bluffs Trail does head up and downhill a bit, so keep that in mind when hiking.
Dixon Cave Trail
Distance: 0.4 miles
Next, stop at Dixon Cave and then head along the Dixon Cave Trail. The Dixon Cave is known as the place where all of the bats sleep during the wintertime. During the summer months, you can sometimes see the bats fly out of the cave at dusk. Although it is considered part of Mammoth Cave, it is not connected to the cave and it is its own separate unit.
Historic Entrance
The Dixon Cave Trail then passes by the Historic Entrance to the cave. This is where many of the tours begin and it provides access to the largest portion of the cave. From here, you can walk a short way back to the Visitor’s Center or head out on one more short hike to Sunset Point.
Sunset Point Trail
Distance: 0.3 miles
Another trail worth completing is Sunset Point. This takes you to the top of a hill where there are gorgeous views of the park. It is the perfect way to end your one day at Mammoth Cave National Park.
Tips for Spending One Day at Mammoth Cave National Park
- Make sure to bring a warmer jacket as the cave stays in the 50s all year long.
- Wear closed toed shoes so you have good traction and do not slip in the cave.
- Note that this cave has lots of bugs such as crickets and spiders inside of it. If you have fear of those things, this cave tour is not for you (or my husband).
- This cave also has a lot of small passages, so if you are claustrophobic, visiting this cave is probably not for you.
- If you plan on being in the park all day, bring some food with you as there are limited options nearby.
Mammoth Cave is definitely one of the lesser-known and less visited National Parks, but it is well worth a visit. Spending one day in Mammoth Cave National Park should be part of any Kentucky road trip. If you have more time, head to Tennessee afterward or head west to St. Louis and Gateway Arch National Park.
This makes me want to put Kentucky at the top of our vacation list! We love going through caves in different places we travel
You would really like this one then.
I remember going to Mammoth Caves the summer before I went into the 4th grade. I was so excited to tell my whole class about it when school started! I need to plan a trip to take my kids here this year. Thank you for such a detailed post as some of this info I didn’t know.
That is so cool that you got that experience in 4th graders.
It’s amazing how many natural parks are spread out all over the country. We would never have considered Kentucky as a place to explore caves. So cool! Thank you for sharing this hidden (but definately not small) treasure!
There are so many National Park sites and all of them are awesome and unqiue! I did not realize how many caves were in Kentucky as well.
I love exploring caves and these look great. Awesome that you could take photos too as often it isn’t allowed. Thanks for all the info and tips.
This was a very interesting cave that is for sure.