A Long Drive & Mammoth Cave National Park

We got up early in anticipation of this being our longest day of driving - almost 9 hours to get to Mammoth Cave National Park. We weren't sure what to expect as far as how busy the campground would be, since we didn't have reservations.

We packed up, had a quick breakfast and hit the road. The day went by relatively quickly. Coming down the western side of Shenandoah the scenery was rolling hills through small towns and farms. This gradually gave way to a highway cutting straight into the steep mountains. No time to stop, no time for photos, lots of up and down and dodging semi trucks. It was really beautiful as we approached the New River Gorge area. I would actually consider spending more time exploring Wild, Wonderful West Virginia. We blew through Charleston, WV, the only town of noticeable size. It looked like a neat place, but we pushed on and finally stopped at a rest stop about half an hour from the Kentucky border for a quick lunch.

Our route

Not much to report about Kentucky as we drove through. It was pretty and green and devoid of horses. We finally made it to the turn off towards Mammoth Cave, off Highway 65. You first go through Cave City...which is the cave-themed town that time forgot (apparently also the zip line capital of Kentucky?! Self appointed?). You could tell that at some point in maybe the 50's - '70's it had its heyday. Places like  Dinosaur World, Jellystone Park Camp Resort, Kentucky Action Park, Singing Hills RV Park & Campground, Alvey's Olde General Store, Big Mike's Rock & Gift Shop - mini golf on every corner, kitschy shops selling rock related items and diners and RV resorts that had seen better days. The only thing that looked open was Dinosaur World. Long and short, it didn't give us a good vibe of what to expect from the park.

And yet, we kept driving down what seemed like a neighborhood street and suddenly there was a sign, very unceremoniously telling us that we were entering Mammoth Cave National Park. No entrance station to hand us a map and pay a fee, no line of cars, we kept driving (we did finally see the traditional National Park welcome sign further into the park). We saw signs for the Visitor Center, Cave Tours and Campgrounds and turned toward the campground. Again, no ranger to be seen, just a closed up self-check station with instructions that if you didn't have a reservation you could choose a site from Loops C or D. We drove into the campground and it was virtually empty! Nice spacious sites too, compared to Lewis Mountain. We found a nice flat site with some shade, easy walking distance to the bathrooms and called it a day. By that time, the full day of driving had really gotten to us and we were exhausted.

We set up camp, had sandwiches for dinner and chilled out. We saw some wild turkeys and heard lots of new birds, plus a fawn just a few feet away from us. Excited to see what the cave tours are all about, and what else we can do during our time in Kentucky. Only a couple photos of camp for today.

Mammoth is by far the smallest and most understated National Park we have been to, but it's not on the surface that matters so much around here...

Hammering stakes

Daddy's helper