United States of America

Mammoth Cave

WHS Score 3.25
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Votes 68 Average 3.45
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Votes for Mammoth Cave

2.0

  • Csaba Nováczky
  • Darren013
  • Svein Elias

2.5

  • Allan Berry
  • Cobaltrage
  • DeanS
  • Dorejd
  • Els Slots
  • Gordon Mitchell
  • Kelly Rogers
  • Mike
  • Randi Thomsen
  • Solivagant

3.0

  • Alessandro Votta
  • Ammon Watkins
  • Anthonynice
  • debatecoach
  • Digits
  • Don Irwin
  • Eric Lurio
  • Hanming
  • Jasonfd247
  • Juropa
  • lichia
  • Little Lauren Travels
  • Mstrebl1990
  • Nolan B.
  • Velvetlapis
  • vhuskey29
  • Xiquinho Silva
  • Zoe
  • Zoë Sheng

3.5

  • AT8
  • bigredhunt
  • boppare
  • Eatexplore57
  • Frederik Dawson
  • Gary Arndt
  • Jan Zimmermann
  • JLuth
  • Joyce van Soest
  • JR's HERITAGE SITES
  • Kyle Magnuson
  • Ligocsicnarf
  • MichaelH
  • Philipp Peterer
  • Priyaranjan Mohapatra
  • Tommy W

4.0

  • Dennis Nicklaus
  • Hughes1920
  • I_See_by_the_Web
  • kent
  • Larry F
  • Spike Zou

4.5

  • AGuzzo
  • Alexander Lehmann
  • blake
  • Can SARICA
  • Ligocsicnarf89
  • LuHa
  • ZCTLife

5.0

  • cophbulls
  • Elizabeth Gehrman
  • Frédéric M
  • jacob76
  • Mihai Dascalu
  • Ted Coombs
  • TheShabe

Mammoth Cave National Park covers a karst landscape that holds the longest cave system in the world.

The explored cave passageways inside the park stretch for 458km. They were carved by the Green River and its tributaries. Nearly every cave formation is visible here and the flora and fauna are the richest cave-dwelling wildlife known.

Community Perspective: There are various cave tours to choose from, though the underground scenery will not overwhelm you with natural beauty (the Frozen Niagara section being an exception) and the tour narratives are dumbed down. Do not skip the karst features above the surface, which you can explore via short trails. Els and Kyle have described both ways of access.

Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Mammoth Cave National Park (ID: 150)
Country
United States of America
Status
Inscribed 1981 Site history
History of Mammoth Cave
1981: Inscribed
Inscribed
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • viii
  • x
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources
News Article
  • Sept. 14, 2021 cincinnati.com — Miles of unknown passages discovered at Mammoth Cave National Park

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Karst landscapes and caves
Travel Information
Free entrance
Free entrance
Entry to Mammoth Cave National Park and its surface features is free of charge. …
Not for Acrophobes
Not for Acrophobes
New Entrance Tour
Recent Connections
View all (26) .
Connections of Mammoth Cave
Individual People
  • John Muir
    "The naturalist John Muir (early September 1867)" - Wiki (Mammoth Cave National Park)
Geography
Trivia
  • Fatal Accidents or 'disasters'
    Several over the years, including deaths during cave tours and a helicopter accident. But the most prolific accidental death is that of Floyd Collins (see link).

    See www.nps.gov

History
  • Paleo-Indian
    "Pre-Columbian Indians of four cultural periods occupied the park and its environs. These peoples - Mississippian, Woodland, Archaic, and Paleo-Indian - hunted in the area that is now the park and lived in cave entrances, beneath rock shelters, and near riverbanks." Nomination File
Ecology
  • Gypsum
    "splendid forms of beautiful gypsum flowers, delicate gypsum needles," (OUV)
  • Significant Karst Features
    The karst is developed in Lower Carboniferous(Mississippian) limestone and cave evolution commenced following uplift and exposure 3 to 4 million years ago. (AB ev)
  • Saltpeter
    "Saltpetre deposits were discovered on the cave walls and this valuable nitrate was removed and sent to be processed in gunpowder factories between 1809 and 1819." (AB eval)
  • Notable examples of multiple speciation in one site
    "The geological setting has contributed to the species richness of the area with the cave system being old enough to have stable communities of fauna from three karst regions within an area large enough for speciation to have occurred. Nowhere else do the blind fish Amblyopsis spelaea and 'l'yphlichthus subterraneus and their spring-cave dwelling relative Chologaster agassizi co-exist." - AB Evaluation
  • Dripstone
  • Sandstone Formations
    "One of the sandstones at Mammoth Cave, named the Big Clifty Sandstone, formed about 320 million years ago, when sand was deposited over top of Mammoth Cave's shale and limestone beds by a large river delta. This sandstone is usually the top layer of the park's many ridges, like Flint Ridge, Mammoth Cave Ridge, and Joppa Ridge because it is resistant to erosion."

    See www.nps.gov

  • Underground river
    The River Styx is an underground river flowing through Mammoth Cave that exits the cave system and flows into the Green River.

    See www.recreation.gov

  • Cave-dwelling fauna
    "The flora and fauna of Mammoth Cave is the richest cave-dwelling wildlife known, with more than 130 species within the cave system." (OUV)
World Heritage Process
  • No Buffer Zone
    "4.1.1 - Buffer zone status. There is no buffer zone, and it is not needed" (May 20, 2014 UNESCO Periodic Report - Section II- Mammoth Cave National Park)
  • Perfect Inscriptions
    1981
Human Activity
Constructions
  • Cemeteries
    "There are over 80 known cemeteries within the boundaries of Mammoth Cave National Park. Some are snugged tightly against historic churches, some are along the roadways, while others are scattered within the forest. No matter their location or current state of upkeep, they all have one unifying trait. Each is the final resting place of those who once lived within the park and their presence still matters to not only family descendants but to researchers as well."

    See www.nps.gov

  • Hospitals
    "In 1842, Dr. John Croghan, seeking a cure for tuberculosis, established an unsuccessful treatment center within the Mammoth Cave system. Two of the six patients' huts, erected in the cave, remain today." - Nomination File
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Cretaceous
    Mammoth Cave exhibits 100 million years of cave-forming action and presents nearly every type of cave formation known. (Nom file)
Science and Technology
  • Mines which can be visited underground
    "Thousands of years of occupation by bats who deposited guano in the soil of Mammoth Cave and other area caves made the cave dirt rich with a compound called calcium nitrate. Calcium nitrate is a mineral that can be mixed with other high potassium materials to create potassium nitrate, or saltpetre, as it is more commonly known. Saltpetre is an principal ingredient in black gunpowder."

    See www.nps.gov

  • Recently discovered
    "The integrity of Mammoth Cave has been strengthened as a result of five significant measures that have been taken since Mammoth Cave National Park was inscribed in 1981: (including) the discovery and mapping of 140 additional miles (225 km) of cave passageways over the past 31 years." - UNESCO Description
Visiting conditions
  • Free entrance
    Entry to Mammoth Cave National Park and its surface features is free of charge. There is, however, a charge to tour the cave, stay in campgrounds, or reserve picnic shelters. - NPS *Note: Part of the criteria is based on surface-level features outside the cave itself "Outside the cave, the karst topography is superb, with fascinating landscapes and all of the classic features of a karst drainage system: vast recharge area, complex network of underground conduits, sinkholes, cracks, fissures, and underground rivers and springs." Part of Criterion (viii) for inscription on the world heritage list.
  • Not for Acrophobes
    New Entrance Tour
News
cincinnati.com 09/14/2021
Miles of unknown passages discover…
Recent Visitors
View all (165)
Visitors of Mammoth Cave
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

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First published: 14/11/22.

Blake

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave (Inscribed)

Mammoth Cave by Els Slots

I visited Mammoth Cave in June of 2021, it was a fantastic visit. I did the historic tour which took about two hours. The inside of the cave was the perfect amount of humidity and the perfect temperature. It wasn't too hot nor too cold on a nice summer day. I highly recommend getting reservations for your tour ahead of time. It surpassed my expectations and I will definitely be back for perhaps a longer tour. 

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First published: 11/09/10.

Michael Anderson

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave (Inscribed)

Mammoth Cave by Els Slots

The caves were beautiful and the park rangers were nice, funny, informative, and very helpful. I took the historical tour and the tour guide knew very much about the history of the caves and was very willing to answer any and all of my questions (no matter how probing.) The caves themselves were phenomenal and I would very happily go back several times again, because there is always more to see in the park.

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First published: 06/04/10.

Kyle Magnuson

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave (Inscribed)

Mammoth Cave by Kyle Magnuson

As of September 2022, Mammoth Cave includes a total of 426 miles (685 km). In the IUCN evaluation (1981) the total cave system was listed at 190 miles (306 km). Today, 50 years after being designated the longest cave system in the world, Mammoth continues to expand with new discoveries (annually additional mileage of cave explored is published in September). This means the known cave system at Mammoth has more than doubled since inscription.

My first visit was in the Spring of 2009. We camped, we crossed the Green River via ferry, and we took the Historic Cave Tour. This Fall (October 2022), I re-visited the park for a couple reasons. Firstly, I found myself irresistibly close by for a conference in Nashville (1.5 hrs drive). Secondly, my pictures from the first time were not great (some were even lost). Lastly, with so much tours (reserve on recreation.gov), I felt the caves deserved at least one more tour (Domes and Dripstones).

Now Kentucky is considered #1 in America in physical inactivity. Perhaps this is why the park rangers have the stair count memorized for specific caves, for optional sections, and they repeat this information often. A two-hour tour is not especially strenuous, unless you have lung issues, knee issues, or rarely take modest walks or hikes. Anyone between 10 and 50 generally should not have issues and those ages are by no means benchmarks, a reasonably fit retiree should have no issues, but they should be …

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First published: 06/04/09.

Els Slots

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave (Inscribed)

Mammoth Cave by Els Slots

I had stayed overnight in a Bed&Breakfast in nearby Brownsville, so I could have an early start visiting the park. Arriving at 9 am at the visitor center, there still were plenty of tours to choose from. I picked the New Entrance tour, a 2-hour tour that uses a man-made entrance from the 1920s to get into the caves. The fee is 12 US dollars.

Getting in this way is quite strenuous, and not for the faint-hearted or those with a fear of heights. The passages are narrow and of course, it's often dark and slippery. I found much of the talk of the ranger geared to children, of which there were many on the tour, and only mildly interesting.

As I have said in other reviews: I'm not a fan of dripstone, but there a so many sites displaying dripstone on the List that I just have to see them again and again. The most interesting thing I heard or saw on this tour is the story of George Morrison, a local entrepreneur who in the 1920s had blown his own way into the cave system and conducted tours from there. He also built a hotel near this "New Entrance" and posted roadside signs to lure visitors away from the main entrance.

Later that day I did a short hike on the Turnhole Bend Trail. The National Park above ground is a pleasure to be in, certainly on a warm day. This walk took me to …

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First published: 01/05/05.

Anonymous

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave (Inscribed)

Mammoth Cave by Els Slots

Mammoth Cave is long, eerie, musty, and mysterious. It is not going to overwhelm you with natural beauty, as you'll find at Carlsbad Caverns. At Mammoth, you'll be amazed by the sheer length of the twisting hallways, and the human history, including people thousands of years ago who ventured many miles into the cave. Their artifacts remain as ghostly reminders. If you have a chance to take the tour including the old TB sanitarium, you'll be reminded of the nice, easy lives so many of us lead today. In the 1840's, these desparate people actually lived down there for a while, in a huge and ugly hall, blackened by candle smoke. They obviously did not find a cure. About the only truly beautiful place on the tourist routes of Mammoth is the Frozen Niagara section, far from the natural entrance but easily accessible by a tour bus ride. The park is gorgeous eastern hardwood forest with many trails. The campground is excellent, too. Mammoth is a place to marvel at nature's miles and miles and miles of tunnels in limestone, and also at the humans who have given it a fascinating recent history.

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