For Above And Underground Adventures, Head To This Kentucky Park
By Mina Elwell
VACATIONS
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky hosts 365 miles of caves below the surface of a beautiful 80-square-mile landscape of hilly forest cut by springs and rivers.
The thrilling cave tours may be the draw of Mammoth Cave National Park, but there's plenty to do above ground, including hiking, biking, kayaking, and camping under the stars.
The landscape includes some old-growth forest, alive with wildlife like wild turkeys and white-tailed deer. At night, the park has incredible stargazing.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of visitors arrive to explore the first 10 miles of caves, accompanied by park rangers who share the scientific details of the caverns.
While many caverns include artificial lights, you can experience the true level of darkness inside the earth at Mammoth Cave. On some tours, oil lanterns are the only illumination.