This cave system is simply huge- you can see the pathways the underground rivers took as they moved through the limestone, wearing away the rock. Big ovoid caverns and serpentine pathways. We only ventured into one tour but they also have soooo many touring options. And the above ground region is also very nice!
It is very weird in this cave group that people owned these caves and did their own tours for over 100 years before it became part of the park service. There was an underground (inside the cave – way inside) area called the cafeteria where food was brought in and served on picnic tables (which are still there!). Because there are so many waterways, you had to carry a lantern over your head as you walked across chest high water to get to many areas. Gaaa….nope. We went down the elevator and on big serpentine pathways carved by the underground river over the last 20K years or so. But people, being people, used candle smoke to write their names – 1800s graffiti in the caves. And there are multiple levels of these waterways as they followed the outside rivers dropping down and making a “gorge.” The limestone erodes away but there is a cap of sandstone above that keeps this region from just becoming a valley like many of the other areas of the Smoky Mountains! Quite fascinating geology!
On the surface, it was very pretty and green like much of this mountainous area. This cave is in southwest Kentucky and I swear as you cross the state line, the pastures become just beautiful and you can easily imagine thoroughbreds out there grazing. This weekend is the Kentucky Derby so that helps the imagination. It does not seem as heavily treed as either Virginia or West Virginia but you can still see the effort made to get pastures out of forest!
We were not hugely impressed with the cave – it is gigantic but sort of boring when you’ve been to Carlsbad, Jewel, Wind cave or even the caves in California’s foothills. But it was very pretty along the Green River and you could spend more than the single day we spent there. As per usual, Dave has the great pictures so click the button!