This tour will take 2.5 hours and is 2.5 miles long.  It is considered to be a strenuous hike with over 250 steps to climb.  There are heights, close places, and the hard-packed dirt trails may be wet and slippery with steep inclines.  Discover the geologic beginnings of Mammoth Cave and learn why it is unique throughout the world.  This trip will investigate the caves ancient origins 325 million years ago all the way to its ongoing formation today.  This exploration of the caves diversity will descend to the very bottom of the cave the water table.  Learn about the rich human history that made Mammoth Cave famous.  View artifacts left by Native Americans, discover the ruins of mining operations, and see evidence of early visitors, explorers, and workers.  Use remote sensing probes to monitor the caves temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure.

 Turnhole Bend Hike

Before a dam was built at Brownsville in 1906 (downstream to the left), steamboats traveling to Mammoth Cave had to back downstream to the Turnhole to turn around.  Turnhole Bend Blue Hole is 50 feet deep.  It is the largest spring in the park, and is hydrologically integrated with the other large springs draining Mammoth Cave Ridge and Flint Ridge.  Water from far beyond the park boundaries, south and west of Cave City and Park City, has been traced to this resurgence.  (Guide to the Surface Trails of Mammoth Cave National Park by Stanley D. Sides, 1996, p. 44).

Green River Excursion

Miss Green River II is a 63-foot twin diesel powered riverboat, 122 passenger capacity.  Restrooms and refreshments on board.  The Green River winds through high limestone cliffs, past cave entrances, and Sand Cave Island.  Boat turns around at Turnhole Bend.

Echo River Spring

Echo River Spring is one of the outstanding karst features of the park.  The drainage basin feeding the spring extends far to the southeast of the park.  Much of the water of the springs drainage basin is now being pirated to the west to resurge at Turnhole Spring.  The walk to the spring is nearly level, through a forest of tall sycamore, elm, and tulip poplar.  The cave spring emerges from the St. Louis Limestone of Mississippian Age. (Guide to the Surface Trails of Mammoth Cave National Park by Stanley D. Sides, 1996, p. 44).

Hidden River Cave Adventure, Horse Cave, Kentucky

A wild cave adventure investigating ecology and conservation.  Safe caving practices emphasized.  Discuss environmental issues related to the story of Hidden River Cave.  Explore a rushing subterranean river flowing 150 feet below the city of Horse Cave!  Investigate undeveloped portions of the cave off the beaten path!  350 million year old limestone (Mississippian Age).  174 steps down!  View cave formations.  Discover unique and elusive cave wildlife, and learn about cave ecosystems.  Strenuous hiking through muddy and wet cave passages, crawling and climbing over rocks.

Explore the American Cave Museum and Gift Shop

An environmental education center operated by the American Cave Conservation Association.  Exhibits include Prehistoric Cave Explorers, Modern Cave Explorers, Cave Lighting, History of Horse Cave, Kentucky Cave Wars, The Story of Floyd Collins, Groundwater Science and Conservation, Saltpetre Mining in Kentucky Caves, and Gallery of American Caves.

Hike Cedar Sink Trail, Mammoth Cave National Park (1.6 miles)

Disappearing Stream!  Sinkhole!  Botany!  Remote Sensing Probes!  Trail Mix! Walk through dense cedar thickets which occupy old farm fields which existed before the park was established.  Cedar Sink is a magnificent example of the varied effects of acidic water dissolving limestone.  The hydrology of the sink is very complex.  At least four groundwater basins outside the park drain their water via Cedar Sink streams to the springs at Turnhole Bend.  The visible stream and water-filled sinkholes are high-level overflows of the deeper cave streams.  The sink bottom was used for farming in days past.  Flooding of the sink floor must have been a common occurrence, however, making crop failure common (Guide to the Surface Trails of Mammoth Cave National Park by Stanley D. Sides, 1996, p. 17-18).

Big  Bone Lick Park

During the Pleistocene Epoch (12,000-20,000 years ago in the Quaternary Period), prehistoric animals were driven southward by the advancing glaciers just north of the Ohio River.  Michigan was covered with glacial ice at this time.  Creatures such as wooly mammoths, mastodons, giant ground sloths, and bison wandered through varied grassland, wetland, and savannah environments.  They were attracted to the salt and mineral springs found in the swamp area now known as Big Bone Lick.  Many of these large animals became trapped in the soft, water-soaked ground.  The fossilized remains of these past inhabitants provide clues about life in Kentucky thousands of years ago.  Native Americans knew about the bones long before the Europeans entered the area.  The discovery of the bones in the 1700s inspired a new field of study.  The scientific world recognizes Big Bone Lick as the Birthplace of American Vertebrate Paleontology. Early settlers used this location as a salt making site.