05 November 2008

Mammoth Cave National Park

Last month we went camping with the Noels at Mammoth Cave National Park. We spent two nights there and went on the caving during the first day. Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system known in the world, with more than 365 miles explored. The caves are primarily limestone.

Contrary to some of the myths the name has nothing to do with the extinct pre-historic mammal: "No fossils of the woolly mammoth have ever been found in Mammoth Cave, and the name of the cave has nothing to do with this extinct mammal. Rather, the appellation 'Mammoth' refers to the staggering primacy of its horizontal extent to that of other caves."

Pictures of the camping are below...notice the deer coming up to our campground...











We went on the Grand Avenue Tour which was a 4½ hour tour, 4 miles in distance, traversing 670 stairs over an elevation of 300 feet. Here are the pictures of the cave. Since our camera kind of sucks, the pictures in darkness do not come out very well.




















On the way home we went to Nolin Lake State Park. To get there we had to go across a three car attached ferry. Then the kids got all muddy at the beach!













1 comment:

Jason and Jodee said...

When you say muddy, you mean it! Did you see the spider looking crickets all over the ceiling at Mammoth? When we were there, it was crazy intense!