Floyd Collins and Mammoth Cave National Park (Part 1)

I do find myself in the Mammoth Cave area a lot these days.

Oddly, this was my first time inside the visitor center since it has been updated!  It looks great by the way.  Here is a link to some more information on the update:

http://www.nps.gov/maca/parknews/vc-open-house-nov27.htm

I liked the way it was, but it now has a better flow in general.  There is also a nice museum area in it that is very impressive.

We arrived pretty much when the park and center opened, and we quickly got our tickets.  ON a nice day during the summer, tours do sell out quick!  It is always a good idea to get your tour tickets ahead of time for Mammoth Cave.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all tours on this day ended up selling out.

We had a great guide on our Domes and Dripstones Tour named Matt.  He covered everything on this tour.  We had fun exploring the cave, and we got a great workout, as 500 steps are involved in this tour.

Its funny, Matt said that on a good summer day, tours sell out (there had to have been over 100 people on our tour).  On a winter day, however, there might be just a few people on a tour.  He said that he has done this same tour with only one person before.

I remembered back in the early 90s.  Me and a pal went to Mammoth Cave on a snowy day.  We did not notice any other visitors there that day.


After our cave tour, we stopped by the Mammoth Cave Hotel for lunch.  This place seems to have improved over the years too.  I had a nice wrap and some potato soup.  This was a nice, fresh meal reasonably priced. 

We stopped by the gift shop at the main visitor center, and at the hotel.  Both have different items.  We found postcards for $.50 at the main center, along with a large selection of books on the cave.  We found cool wooden postcards at the hotel.

Its kind of funny, I am always looking at Amazon, and in other places for new books (or interesting old ones) on Mammoth Cave.  Looking at the available books in the gift shop is part of the fun for me at a park visit.

One thing I don't think people appreciate enough about our National Parks is how readily available rangers are.  There were plenty around on our visit,  and these guys generally know everything.  You can just go up and ask them questions.

AND......  There are a ton of free things to do at the parks.  Mammoth Cave is no exception.  A cave tour does require a ticket (prices are $5 on up) but there are some cool things you can do for free!  So, after lunch, we did a FREE tour focused on Floyd Collins!  See my next post!