Named for James Audubon, this passage houses several artifacts on display.
- A large open passage way with high ceilings. At the end of passage way are several display cases housing artifacts from early prehistoric people.
On the Historic Tour route 149 feet beneath your feet is the intersection of Audubon and Little Bat Avenues. In the mid-1800’s cave owner Dr. John Croghan named Audubon Avenue after his friend, the famous ornithologist and Artist John James Audubon. In 1838 a visitor reported seeing “tens of thousands” of bats in Little Bat Avenue.
- This stop is in the back part of the Lodge parking lot, there are trees and grass. To the left of the signpost is a bench and the Lodge, to the right are historic cabins and tennis courts. The signpost is located on the edge of the grass, place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and visit the intersection of Audubon and Little Bat Avenue. Audubon and Little Bat Avenue are located 149 feet beneath the surface. This is a large trunk canyon passage that is about 60 feet wide and about 30 feet high.
Booth’s Amphitheatre, named after the 19th century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth (brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth). This is a large canyon passage there is a set of stairs that go up into Gothic Avenue, an upper oval shaped passageway; located near the stairs are also a second set of salt petre leaching vats.
- This stop is located just off the sidewalk near the Historic Hercules train, this is an open area with grass and trees. The signpost is located near a tree, place your phone on the barcode on the left upper corner and travel 169 feet beneath your feet to Booth’s Amphitheatre. Booth’s Amphitheatre is 159 feet below the surface. You are standing in a large canyon passage, you’re facing a set of stairs that go up into Gothic Avenue, an upper oval shaped passageway; located near the stairs are also a second set of salt petre leaching vats.
Actor Edwin Booth once gave a recital of Hamlet's soliloquy from the natural stage formed by the rock outcropping.
- A side passage leading off to the right from the main path. A metal staircase connects the main path to the side passage. At the side passage sits a large rock ledge.
Broadway also known as main cave continues for miles undergrounds.
- A large open cave passage way. A paved trail leads down the center. On the right side a large pile of rocks towers to the cave walls. On the left, an old historic dirt trail travels along the cave wall.
Dennison Ferry Day Use area is in Mammoth Cave National Park, it is about a 20 minute drive north east from the Visitor Center. This area provides anglers with concrete steps to carry a small boat down to the water. There are picnic tables, park benches and fire rings for visitors to enjoy a beautiful day in the park. Camping is not permitted in this area. Bank fishing would be difficult with the steep incline to the river. There is not an active ferry at this location.
- Dennison Ferry is nestled in a quaint riverside area inside Mammoth Cave National Park. Turning off the main road onto a gravel drive shaded by a canopy of trees on either side. At the end of the drive there is a gravel parking area to the right with a picnic area within walking distance. There are dense woods surrounding this area of the park. There are a variety of trees and flowers for a multitude of animals to seek food and shelter. Park benches are located on the riverbank overlooking the Green River. There is a cement staircase leading down the riverbank to the river for small boat access. The stairs are steep along the riverbank, please take care when in use. There is no longer a ferry boat at this location.
The Doyel Valley Overlook is the only scenic overlook accessible by vehicle within Mammoth Cave National Park. The overlook consists of two information panels, a picnic table. and access to the Mammoth Cave Hike and Bike trail. Access is along Mammoth Cave Parkway, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) south of the visitor center.
- A pull-off style parking lot with adjacent sidewalk, picnic tables, and information panels overlook the valley view. A stone wall about 3 feet high allows for photos or viewing. The hillside drops off sharply on the other side of the wall, leading down a densely forested valley.
Fat Man’s Misery is a winding keyhole shaped passageway, the lower part of the passageway is about as wide as your hips or a little wider, above your hips the passage widens to about 5 ½ feet or more, at the very end, the floor comes up 2 feet for a 20 foot stoop walk. This is one of the most asked about and popular passages in the cave.
- This location is on a tree lined sidewalk near the Historic Hercules train. The signpost is at the edge of the grass, place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner and travel to Fat Man’s Misery. Fat Man’s Misery is 264 feet below the surface. It is a winding keyhole shaped passageway, the lower part of the passageway is about as wide as your hips or a little wider, above your hips the passage widens to about 5 ½ feet or more, at the very end, the floor comes up 2 feet for a 20 foot stoop walk. The passageway is a little over 100 feet long.
The Floyd Collins Homestead is the location of several important aspects of the Mammoth Cave story. It is the location of the entrance to Crystal Cave, a popular show cave run by the Collins Family in the early 20th century, but also served as the early headquarters of the Cave Research Foundation, who led the efforts in exploring Mammoth Cave and eventually found the connection that made Mammoth Cave the longest cave in the world.
- The Floyd Collins Homestead is reached by walking on a gravel roadbed, roughly one and a half miles long, through a heavily wooded area. The wooded area opens up at the end of the gravel road to a loop, where there are two light green buildings situated roughly 50 feet beyond the gravel road, and are roughly 75 feet from each other, with the building on the left being a one-story house and the building in the right being a single story structure. The building on the left has two deciduous trees in front of the house. The one-story house has a gray corrugated metal roof, slanting forwards and backwards over the house. The house is constructed with slat boards, all painted light green, and has a window and a door, complete with a screen on the left side, with the window trim and doorframe painted white. Mirroring the left-hand side of the house, there is an identical door and window. In between the two doors, roughly 6 feet high, there is a white painted board nailed to the slat boards, with black block lettering which reads, “Floyd Collins Home.” The second building is larger than the house, with a wraparound covered patio, with wooden floors and wooden support beams roughly every ten feet. This building is also constructed with slat boards painted light green, and there is a corridor diving the building in two. The left portion of the building is just the light green painted slat board, but on the right-side portion of the building there is a ten-foot-long rectangular window, exposing the inside of the building. Behind both of the buildings, there is a wooded area, with a small pathway making its way down a hill.
Frequently asked questions during the self-guided Extended Historic Tour of Mammoth Cave.
- These frequently asked questions can be read at any place in the cave. The location tagged with this place is the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave, a large depression in the ground surrounded by trees. The long staircase leads down into the dark cave opening.
In the early 1800s cave visitors called the huge, rectangular boulder 175 feet beneath your feet the “steamboat”; by the 1840s, guides and visitors decided the boulder looked more like a Giant’s coffin, the name is still used on the Historic Tour route today.
- This stop is in a grassy area under a canopy of trees located between the Railroad Hike and Bike trail and Loop A in the campground. There is a signpost located just off the trail, scan the barcode on the upper left corner and travel to the Giant’s Coffin. The Giant’s Coffin is 175 feet beneath your feet. This rock formation is a large rectangular boulder, forty feet in length, twenty feet in height, eight feet in width, it is so large guides and visitors alike thought it looked like a Giant’s Coffin.
Good Spring Baptist Church had the largest membership of any church in the Green River Association from 1896 to 1900.
- In a clearing among the trees there lies a small church off to one side. To the other side of the clearing there are picnic benches and a cemetery. Simplistic in its build it was once built of logs and heated with a fireplace. Good Spring Baptist Church was built by its parishioners. Painted white with two doors for entering and/or exiting the church, one of which has a ramp leading up to it. Inside it's still set up as if church services had occurred yesterday.
Accessed along the 1.3 mile (2.1 km) Green River Bluffs Trail, the overlook provides views looking northeast along the Green River Valley. The site is also home to a long term air quality monitoring webcam.
- The dirt hiking trail leading to this point varies in steepness to arrive at a stunning vantage point. A bench faces the view as well at the information panel which sits next to a wooden fence about 4 feet high. On the other side of that fence a drop-off leads down towards the river itself. Forest extends beside the trail, covered by a blanket of browning leaves.
Green River Ferry is an active ferry that is used to shuttle cars, hikers and bikers from one side of the river to the other. Located less than a 10min drive from the visitor center, there's also picnic tables and hiking trails. Fishing is permitted on the riverbank away from the ferry. This site is also usable by all trailed boats. When launching a trailed boat be sure not to disrupt the operation of the ferry, boats should be launched on the downstream side of the ferry.
- The drive to the ferry is along a tree lined road, as you near the ferry landing there is a large parking area to the right. If you go straight you will come to the ferry. The ferry shuttles cars, hikers and bikers from one side of the river to the other. Before reaching the ferry there is a paved parking area. When entering the parking lot there is a trail to the right for the Accessible Echo River Spring trail. Driving further into the parking area there is a canoe and kayak launch, it is gravel and goes down a hill to the river. To the left of this area is a wood balcony with seats that overlook the river and surrounding woods.
Historic Cottages at Mammoth Cave National Park.
- Several quaint white cottages in a horseshoe shape sit against a bright green forested background. These historic cottages are directly south of the Lodge at Mammoth Cave, across the parking lot. The sidewalk leading from the parking lot follows the horseshoe shape, leading to the front steps of each cottage.
The Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave has welcomed thousands of visitors to the cave for over two hundred years.
- A large depression in the ground where the dark cave opening beckons onlookers. A long stone staircase leads down into the darkness and passes by a cascading waterfall. Tall trees line the hillsides and area surrounding the cave opening.
Houchin Ferry is a lovely area with a heavy canopy of trees, it has 12 campsites with a view of the Green River. Located about a 25 minute drive west from the visitor center, this is an ideal area for primitive camping or just to spend a day fishing and picnicking on the Green River. During the summer months this area is also used for canoe launching and removing. There is no longer an active ferry at this location.
- At the end of a short drive down a tree lined road you will enter the Houchin Ferry Campground. As you enter the Houchin Ferry area, the campground is located to the left. It is a semi-circle of 12 campsites all the sites are provided with a picnic table and fire ring and are covered by a heavy canopy of trees and a beautiful view of the Green River. To the right there is a large picnic area with an open shelter. This is an ideal area for fishing along the riverbank. The road ends in the river, where visitors can begin or end their canoe trip on the Green River. There is no longer an active ferry at this location.
Entering Houchin's Narrows to the cave leave the light of the surface behind and step further into the darkness.
- A long narrow passage way with low ceilings about 7 feet high. One side of the path has a metal hand rail. On the other side of the hand rail is the original dirt trail used two hundred years ago.
The Joppa Missionary Baptist Church offers a glimpse into the early life of the settlers and their social history in the Mammoth Cave/Joppa Ridge/Elko area before becoming a part of the national park. The church is open for you to take a walk back in time and marvel at the workmanship of the early settlers. Located right behind the church is the Joppa Missionary Baptist Cemetery where you can visit some of the historic settlers of the days gone by.
Little Bat Avenue was once home to thousands of bats.
- A small dark passage way leading off of the larger Audubon Avenue. This passage is closed and handrails block access down this path.
Lookout Mountain may have been a entrance to Mammoth Cave thousands of years ago.
- A lighted sign marks the end of the trail at a overlook. From the overlook a large pile of broken rock stands in the distance.
Seventy feet beneath your feet is Lookout Mountain in Rafinesque Hall. The view of the cave from Lookout Mountain is a pile of rocks, known as breakdown. The pile of rocks demonstrates a place where a large trunk cave passage had collapsed. The passage once continued across this area, but when the valley cut downward, erosion cut into the cave itself and sealed it off.
- This stop is located on the Sinkhole trail, you will take a short hike from the Heritage trail on to the Sinkhole trail. This is densely populated with trees and grass, there are bluffs rising above and below you. The signpost is located just off the trail, place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner to visit Lookout Mountain. Lookout Mountain lies 70 feet beneath your feet, it is a pile of rocks, known as breakdown. The pile of rocks demonstrates a place where a large trunk cave passage had collapsed. The passage once continued across this area, but when the valley cut downward, erosion cut into the cave itself and sealed it off.
Lover’s Leap is one of the cave’s oldest named landmarks – the name goes back to 1827. The route leading you to this section of the cave is lined with historic signatures, monuments and artifacts from early cave visitors. Overlooking the large canyon passageway, there is a slender pointed slab of rock jutting outward, this was named Lover’s Leap.
- This stop is in a grassy area under a canopy of trees located between two campsites in Loop C of the headquarters campground. There is a signpost located just off the edge of the pavement, scan the barcode on the upper left corner and travel to the Lover’s Leap. Lover’s Leap is 175 feet beneath your feet you. Entering this area, you are standing at a knee-high stone wall. This section overlooks a large canyon passage, to the right of you there is a slender pointed slab of rock jutting outward about ten feet from the ground, this slab is called Lover’s Leap.
Explore a local community history and visit the Mammoth Cave Baptist Church. It offers a wonderful glimpse into the early life of the settlers and their social history in the Mammoth Cave/Flint Ridge area before becoming a part of the national park. The church is nestled in a densely wooded area of the park and is open for you to take a walk back in time and marvel at the workmanship of the early settlers.
- The Mammoth Cave Baptist Church is a one-story frame building approximately 42 feet long by 26 feet wide, with white weatherboard siding and a tin gable front roof. The Church sits on a foundation of sandstone blocks. The front of the church has two entrances with three cement steps at each. There is a wooden sign between each door noting, “Mammoth Cave Baptist Church, Established 1827, Meeting Saturday and Sunday”. There is a third door on the side of the building. This entrance has three cement steps to enter. Each sidewall has four two-over-two double-hung sash windows. The church’s interior is unadorned with wood tongue-and groove planked walls and ceiling, and a wood plank floor covered with linoleum in some spots. There are a number of movable hand made pews in the church which are set in rows facing the podium. The Church building is deteriorating slightly from lack of regular use. It is original in design, workmanship and in most materials. The chimney on the west side of the building was removed in the 1970’s when the original metal roof was replaced. The church is wired for electricity. The Mammoth Cave Church property is in good condition with dense woods behind and to the east side of the church. It is a short walk to the west side of the church to the Mammoth Cave Baptist Cemetery.
The Historic Entrance is the largest natural opening into the Mammoth Cave system and the site that has been used as the main entrance into the cave by Native Americans, saltpeter miners, cave explorers and travelers from all over the world.
- Located ¼ mile down the hill from the park visitor center, the Historic Entrance is the largest natural opening into the Mammoth Cave system. A hand build rock wall and cement stairs form a landing above the entrance. A long staircase leads down into the entrance from the landing. The entrance is approximately 30 feet by 30 feet and has a small year-round flowing waterfall on the left side.
On November 8, 1886 the first 8.7-mile excursion by train was made from Glasgow Junction (Park City) to the Mammoth Caves. For 45 years, the colorful rail cars made their way through rough terrain bringing thousands of visitors to the Mammoth Cave. Imagine the anticipation of the visitors as they took their first train ride through the dense woods to reach their destination.
- There is a black iron fence encircling both rail cars. Locomotive “Hercules” appears to look similar to a streetcar. The ceiling of the cab measures 85” from the floor to the center and 72” at the wall. The interior of the cab is eight feet wide. The exterior of “Hercules” is nine feet wide and twenty-three feet long and stands eleven feet high. There is an entrance at each end with five windows along each wall. The exterior is painted black with white lettering above the windows “Mammoth Cave R.R. Co.” and a large number 4 below the window in the center of the car. On the front side of the car is a round emblem with: “Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, Burnham, Perry, Williams & Co. No. 9442, 18 88. Wooden Coach #2 is a combine car (combination coach and baggage). It is of the open platform type common before the days of enclosed cars. It has a clerestory type roof and a baggage door which slides on an exterior track. It measures 35’6” long, 8’8” wide and 11’6” high. The interior height from floor to ceiling is 8’1” and the inside width measures 7’10”. There is a door at each end of the car. There 8 windows on each side, the glass has been replaced with plexiglass and everything from the interior has been removed except for the wooden-framed seats. The car is painted bright red with white lettering “Mammoth Cave Railroad Company”.
Mammoth Cave National Park protects the world's longest cave and an incredible history of the people who have explored the cave and thrived on surrounding lands.
The park store is operated by America’s National Parks™, an official non-profit partner of the National Park Service dedicated to supporting the educational mission of Mammoth Cave National Park.
- The park store is located to the right after entering the front doors of the visitor center. The store has shelves and racks with educational materials, souvenirs and other items for purchase.
This is a large canyon room; the ceiling is 50 feet high. Facing the church, you are looking at a breakdown of large rocks. To the left is a prominent ledge 15 feet high called the pulpit. Along the ledge of the pulpit, the walls are blackened with the soot of lanterns used by the preacher to light up the pulpit.
- This spot is located off the sidewalk near the drive going to the lodge. There is a signpost located just off the walkway in the grass. This is a clearing with grass and trees, the Historic Hercules is in the background. Place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and travel to the “Methodist Church.” The Methodist Church is located 180 feet below the surface. This is a large canyon room; the ceiling is 50 feet high. Facing the church, you are looking at a breakdown of large rocks. To the left is a prominent ledge 15 feet high called the pulpit. Along the ledge of the pulpit, the walls are blackened with the soot of lanterns used by the preacher to light up the pulpit.
The Old Guide’s Cemetery is a small, but significant, cemetery located within Mammoth Cave National Park. Buried here is Stephen Bishop, a famous 19th Century African-American cave guide. The Old Guide’s Cemetery also contains the burials of three tuberculosis patients who died during the Mammoth Cave Tuberculosis cave treatment experiment of 1842. It is located off of the beautiful Heritage Trail, a half mile long accessible trail through the woods.
- The Old Guide’s Cemetery is located within a wooded area, with fallen leaves strewn over the grass. There is a concrete pathway that leads to a black painted metal fence, roughly four feet tall, surrounding the cemetery. In front of the black painted metal fence there are two wayside exhibits, approximately 15 feet apart, containing information about the cemetery and the people buried within. The wayside exhibits are located on a broad semicircular cement section. The wayside exhibit on the left-hand side of the concrete platform addresses the strong African-American heritage associated with Mammoth Cave. The wayside exhibit on the right-hand side discusses Stephen Bishop and his impact on Mammoth Cave and his gravestone. The black painted metal fence is roughly 60 by 100 feet, and protects the cemetery. There are two deciduous trees within the Old Guide’s Cemetery, roughly in the center, one larger and one smaller. There are many stone headstones of varying sizes scattered throughout the cemetery. Two box tombs, made of stacked stone, are located within, one towards the front left of the cemetery and the other in the back-right corner, as well as a stone sarcophagus, located in the left portion of the cemetery.
Pensacola Avenue, a once -toured passage off the main trail, lies 253 feet beneath you on the Historic Tour route. A 1940’s tourist guidebook says: “The dry and sandy floor elicited the naming of this avenue after that pleasant city in Florida.”
- This stop is located on the far side of the visitor center just off a walkway leading to the lower section of the building. There is a large parking lot along the front of the building. Rounding the corner of the building heading to the lower area the signpost is located just off the sidewalk in the grass. Place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and visit Pensacola Avenue. Pensacola Avenue lies 253 feet beneath your feet. Pensacola avenue starts as a tubular passage then opens into a tall canyon passage; it is about 2000 feet long. There is a large nodular dripstone formation perched on a ledge that looks like a Pineapple Bush and another large boulder that is called the sea turtle, this boulder has numerous signatures from the 1800’s and also has an inscription from Stephen Bishop to his wife Charlotte. “Charlotte Brown, the flower of Mammoth Cave.”
Entering Rafinesque Hall you leave the paved trail behind and travel on packed dirt trails lined with rocks.
- A large open cave room, with dirt trails. The trails are lined with rocks. Several wayside signs are along the trail.
River Hall lies 283 feet beneath your feet on the Historic Tour route. Usually dry, this passage fills with water when Mammoth Cave’s River Styx floods into it. Most of the cave stays dry during floods; River Hall is the only toured section of the cave in the floodplain.
- Your first stop is located on a grassy knoll, there are trees providing shade and just a short walk away is the Historic train Hercules. There is a signpost on the edge of the walkway, scan the barcode on the upper left corner and travel to River Hall. River Hall lies 283 feet below the surface. Usually dry, River Hall descends steeply and has a high ceiling. This is the low point on the Historic tour, it’s a large room where benches are available for visitors to take in the expanse of their surroundings. The walls and ceiling are scalloped, giving them a wave like effect.
The Rotunda is one of the largest rooms in the cave and lead to name "Mammoth Cave".
- A large open cave room with a circular ceiling about 40 feet high. The trail splits in a Y in the room and leads down two other passages. In the center of the room are historic artifacts surrounded by hand rails.
The Rotunda is a large circular room. In the center of the room are the leaching vats from the early salt petre operation. To the right are the two Great War Monuments dedicated in 1922 and 1929. It looks as though swirling water created the circular shape ceiling when, it’s where large slabs of limestone have fallen out creating a breakout dome.
- This stop is located on the sidewalk in front of the Lodge at Mammoth Cave. The signpost is just off the sidewalk in the grass under a flowering red bud tree. Place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and you will visit the Rotunda. The Rotunda is 141 feet beneath your feet. This room is a quarter acre in size, it is a large circular room. In the center of the room are the leaching vats from the early salt petre operation. To the right are the two Great War Monuments dedicated in 1922 and 1929. It looks as though swirling water created the circular shape ceiling when, it’s where large slabs of limestone have fallen out creating a breakout dome. Place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and you will visit the Rotunda.
In addition to the Rotunda, Booth's Amphitheater served as a processing site for saltpetre.
During the War of 1812, Mammoth Cave and some of the surrounding caves were the leading producers of the ingredients needed to make gunpowder for the war effort.
- In the center of a large open cave room are three large wooden boxes filled with dirt. Additional wooden materials are stacked in the area. A trail leads off in either direction away from the boxes.
When visiting Mammoth Cave’s Star Chamber, you may feel as though you are above ground gazing at the night sky. Instead, you will be standing 189 feet below this spot. Your eyes will be fooled by light specks on the ceiling where people in the past threw rocks to knock patches of sooted gypsum from the ceiling.
- This stop is in the Headquarter Campground, Loop B. You are standing between two campsites, trees and shrubbery around you. There is a signpost located at the edge of the grass, scan the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and visit the Star Chamber. The Star Chamber is 189 feet beneath the surface. The Star Chamber is a large passage, when looking to the ceiling it resembles a starry night sky. There are benches to sit on while gazing.
Accessed by a short walk along the 1/2 mile (0.8 km) accessible Heritage Trail, the view from Sunset Point gives hikers vistas of the Green River Valley and surrounding hillsides.
- This overlook is along a paved loop trail with sections of boardwalk through dense forest. A stone wall about 3 feet high at the overlook point also supports information panels on the history and geology of the Green River. The scenic view looks out over the river valley to the other side of the park and more rolling hills. A steep dirt switch-back trail descends down from the viewpoint.
Sunset Terrace Lodging is located adjacent to the Lodge at Mammoth Cave in Mammoth Cave National Park.
- Located a short walk or drive southwest of the visitor center and lodge area, these motel style rooms have outdoor entrances. The 4 rows of sand colored stone buildings sit against a forested background.
An experimental hospital deep inside Mammoth Cave built in the 1840s.
- Two stone buildings stand along the left hand passage of the cave passage. The passage walls and ceiling are a dark color. The trail is dirt.
In the 1800’s some people believed Mammoth Cave might have healing properties. In 1842 cave owner and physician Dr. John Croghan created a hospital for tuberculosis patients 183 feet beneath your feet. Unfortunately, the cave holds no cure for tuberculosis. In less than a year, the patients left the underground hospital.
- This stop is in a grassy area under a canopy of trees located between the Railroad Hike and Bike trail and Loop B in the campground. There is a signpost located just off the trail, scan the barcode on the upper left corner and travel to The TB Huts. 183 feet beneath your feet, there are two stone cottages (huts) in this section of the cave. The first hut is a square 10 X 10-foot building, about 8 feet high, it does not have a roof, the stone walls are dry laid limestone rock, with a wooden plank floor, there is an opening to enter but no door, and there is one window. The second hut which is about 40 to 50 yards down the trail is a bit larger than the first, not as well built with the back wall collapsed.
The Tailwater Recreation Area provides an access point to the Nolin River before it flows in to Mammoth Cave National Park.
- This site sits at the base of a large dam. Grassy fields and picnic tables provide areas to relax. A paved boat ramp allows access to the river. Large tree covered hills surround the site and the sound of rushing water from the dam fills the air with a roar.
The cave makes a sharp turn here as the path leaves the pavement to travel deeper underground.
- In this area the paved trail ends and turns to a packed dirt trail. The trail and cave passage make a sharp left turn.
In the 1800’s and 1900’s several couples got married 154 feet beneath your feet in Gothic Avenue at the dripstone formation known as “The Bridal Alter”.
- This stop is in the Headquarter Campground Loop A, between two large campsites. There is a beautiful canopy of trees with a signpost located in the grass. Place your phone on the barcode on the upper left corner of the signpost and visit “The Bridal Altar.” The Bridal Altar is 154 feet beneath your feet. You are standing in a large chamber with several dripstone columns, in one area of the chamber there are three very large dripstone columns known as the “Bridal Altar”.
Church services once held in the cave led to the name for this cave room.
- Descending down a small hill, you enter into a large cave room called the Church. On the right hand side are a stack of wooden pipes from saltpetre mining. There are several rock ledges along the walls of the cave in this area.
The Giant's Coffin has been a popular tour stop for over two centuries.
- A large rock bolder that resembles the shape of a coffin sits on the right hand side of the cave. A paved trail leads down the left side. Broken rocks are scattered all around the area.
The Lodge at Mammoth Cave provides food services, giftshops, ADA accessible rooms, and is the prime check in location for other cabin rentals in Mammoth Cave National Park
- This one story building has parking lot access on the south side and a pedestrian bridge on the north side leads directly to the visitor center. The entrance from the south parking lot leads into the foyer with the reservation check in directly on the left, the Kentucky gift shop straight ahead, and the Mammoth Cave gift shop directly on the right. The hallway to the left leads to the ADA accessible lodge rooms, restrooms, and a conference room. The hallway to the right leads to pedestrian bridge access, and the Green River Grille and Spelunker's cafe.
Located on the southern side of the park on Brownsville Road, the 1/2 mile (0.8 km) Turnhole Bend Nature Trail takes hikers past deep sinkholes before leading to the overlook. The overlook consists of two benches and a informational sign, with views of the Green River and the north side of the park.
- The Turnhole Bend hiking trail is a hilly dirt loop-path which leads to this boardwalk platform overlook. 2-3 stairs lead up to the platform which is enclosed with a about 3 foot high wooden railing overlooking the steep hillside. A few built-in wooden benches sit along the railing and an attached information panel stands at the outermost edge of the platform.
The slow dripping of water in this vertical cave shaft resembles the sound of a ticking clock.
- In the large open passage of Broadway a large pile of rocks sits on the left side. A light shines showing a vertical cave shaft that is being carved in the rock by water. Just beyond this site is a dark passage to the left.
