Mammoth Cave National Park

EXPLORATION OF MAMMOTH CAVE

This past summer I had the opportunity to take a course that has been on my bucket list for sometime. Exploration of Mammoth Cave is a Karst Field Studies course offered through Western Kentucky University. This five day course covers the history, explorers, cave wars and discoveries of the World’s Longest Cave. Participants spend 6-8 hours a day underground exploring undeveloped passages and tourist trails that have been closed or never opened after construction.

Mammoth Cave is known for its sheer size, over 400 miles of mapped passages, borehole passages and huge rooms. Exploration of Mammoth Cave takes you off the beaten path to some of the most beautiful sections of the cave including Echo River, Mammoth Dome, Bottomless Pit, Solitary Cave, Bleeding Heart Spring, Hanson’s Lost River, Great Onyx Cave, New Discovery,  Fossil Avenue, Big and Little Paradise, and Crystal Cave, to name a few. During this unique experience Mammoth Cave’s beauty is revealed: spectacular speleothems that defy gravity, unique formations, strong flowing waterfalls (my tour happened to be over days of large storms above ground), deep pits, massive domes. All this and unique animal life such as blind cave fish and crawfish that can be found hidden deep in the cave.

Great Onyx Cave Columns

Massive Columns

New Discovery Section: 4 Foot High Rimstone Dam

Gypsum Needles

Gypsum Flowers

Gypsum Flowers decorated both side of Little Paradise

in the New Discovery Area

Delicate Speleothem

Bleeding Heart Spring

Old Grandad Column     Austin Entrance

This trip requires that participants are in good physical shape, with great balance, because there are difficult climbs, uneven passages, prolonged crawling, ledge walking and slippery surfaces. You may also find yourself in narrow passageways, making this trip one that is not recommended for those who are claustrophobic.

If you have always been one who marveled at the Mammoth Cave Tours and wondered what lay beyond the publicly seen areas, then this might be the adventure for you.

ADVENTURE ON  

Special Thanks to Jim Ammon for the use of the awesome photos.To see more of this adventure checkout Jim’s Videos.

RECOMMENDED READINGS (Links to Amazon Provided)

    The Longest Cave     By: Roger Brucker

    Beyond Mammoth Cave    By:Roger Brucker and James Borden

    Trapped! The Story of Floyd Collins   By: Roger Brucker

    The Kentucky Cave Wars    By: David Randolph Kem