Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world and tells a story that spans millions of years across numerous disciplines. The Park preserves and interprets the internationally recognized geology of the cave and surface, biology of endangered cave species, and one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the country. Humans have explored the cave for 4,000 years and it has inspired art, poetry, essay, movies, music, and musicals. This program will feature ticketed and personalized, “behind the scenes” cave tours—including at least one “wild cave” experience, surface hikes visiting natural and cultural landscapes, and a canoe trip through the park along the Green River, recently named a National Water Trail. The program will participate in a citizen science project adding data to ongoing research it he park. Guest speakers and leaders may include experts from Interpretation, Science & Resource Management, and park administration.

Tentative Itinerary

Sunday, May 12th

• Students arrive by ground or by air at CVG Airport, transport to hotels. Informal pizza dinner with group.

Monday, May 13th

• Depart Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, drive to Mammoth Cave National Park.
•  Meet students who drove themselves to the park. Investigate the museum at the Visitor Center. Pick up keys, hang tags, helmets, lights, and knee pads, and complete paperwork at NPS Science & Resource Management in the Headquarters area.
• Proceed to the Maple Springs bunkhouse facility and unload and set up. Overview of possible hazards, expectations, and plan for the week. Introduction to Mammoth Cave, maps, and available readings. “Cave in the Box” activity and ice breakers to demonstrate the complexity of 426 miles of cave.
• Optional woods hike

Tuesday, May 14th

• Depart for surface sites that trace both the historic and physical geography of the parkland and karst system including unique ecosystems and pre-park communities. Sites visited were the ruins of Bell’s Tavern and sinkholes in Park City, Sloan’s Pond, the old Mammoth Cave Railroad path (now a biking/walking path), Sand Cave, and Mammoth Cave Baptist Church cemetery. Discussed interpretive signs and the challenges of static interpretation.
• Meet with Johnny Meredith, Supervisory Park Ranger, NPS Interpretation Division, who gives the group an example of an interpretive talk about Green River Mussels (Meredith uses this interpretive talk to start training for any new interpretive ranger in the park), discusses what interpretation is and why is it important, and offers a brief look into what goes into planning a ranger-guided cave tour like the “Historic Tour,” including what is required of all guides and what is planned by individual guides.
• Historic Tour (or Grand Historic Tour)—this is the classic, ticketed, ranger-guided cave tour that millions of people have taken over the years and is a good first experience in Mammoth Cave. The tour route shows a diversity of cave levels and passages while the interpretation focuses on history of the cave, the region, and some of the prominent historic personalities.

Wednesday, May 15th

• Meet Ed Jakatis, Cultural Resources Specialist, NPS Science & Resource Management Division. Kime and Jakatis lead cave trip through the “Main Cave” (or “Violet City” route) with a longer discussion and investigation of cave-preserved artifacts related to thousands of years of indigenous American use of the cave, early tourism, the tuberculosis hospital experiment, enslaved African American cave explorers and guides, early 20th century exploration and mapping of the cave, and the CCC. Kime leads a side trip to the Solitary Cave passage and on to Fairy Grotto to continue discussion of early history of tourism, but also to provide a taste of wild caving and evaluate students’ abilities and willingness to partake in wild caving. Lunch in the cave.
• Jakatis leads group on surface exploration in the Three Springs Area that showcases a rock shelter used by indigenous Americans as a tool making site, a pre-park African American community cemetery, and an example of CCC-built park architecture and infrastructure.
• 8:00 pm: Optional night hike.

Thursday, May 16th

• Canoe the Green River from Dennison Ferry to Green River Ferry. Lunch on an island in the river at about the halfway point.
• Echo River Trail—a ¾ mile accessible trail around the Echo River on the surface showing the river springing out of the cave to the surface and its junction with the Green River. It also provides the opportunity to discuss a variety of accessible trail and interpretation possibilities.

Friday, May 17th

• Meet Dr. Rick Toomey, Cave Resource Specialist and Research Coordinator, NPS Science & Resource Management Division and Dr. Elizabeth Winkler of the Cave Research Foundation (the volunteer organization that explores and maps Mammoth and other caves and helps support a variety of research in caves).
• Central Mammoth Cave (Elevator to Cathedral Domes with side trips) cave trip. This trip consists primarily of a loop from the Elevator entrance (adjacent to the underground Snowball Dining Room) to a classic National Park “visual climax” of Cathedral Domes. The loop begins on modern, paved trail, turns to unpaved semi-wild caving, and then comes back to Snowball via a wild cave passage that contains a variety of caving challenges. Toomey and Kime lead the trip, with Toomey presenting geology, biology, and natural resource evidence discussions (including a beautiful 330-million-year-old shark tooth fossil in the bedrock). Winkler discusses caving and the exploration and survey work she has participated in with the Cave Research Foundation.

Saturday, May 18th

• Morning:
  Option 1: Extended version of the Historic Route cave trip (with the addition of the underground River Styx) focused on geology and the geologic evolution of the cave.
  Option 2: Longer woods hike focusing.
• Lunch: Leftovers at Maple Springs.
• Afternoon: Great Onyx Cave, showcasing protected beautiful cave formations and a unique land rights legal case
• Evening: Final Reflection presentations

Sunday, May 29th

• Thorough cleaning of Maple Springs facilities and packing vans.
• Drop off equipment, keys, hang tags, and recycling off at appropriate locations in the headquarters area. Depart park and drive back to Northern Kentucky.
• Drop students at hotel for the evening.

Monday, May 20th

• Transport participants from hotels to CVG airport for their departing flights as needed.

If you have any questions regarding your trip specifically, please contact your trip facilitators listed below. They will be sending you more information regarding what to pack, and any supplies you may need for your trip.

Trip Facilitators

David Kime, Northern Kentucky University