J.R.R. Tolkien wrote of a mythical place called Moria, a series of mines and mansions underneath the Misty Mountains and home to the Dwarven clan the Longbeards. Moria was the Dwarves crowning achievement in their engineering, construction and mining explorations. In the theater adaption of the Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson places special emphasis on the Fellowship entering into the Moria. Gimili Gloin, the Dwarf with the Fellowship, upon entering the gates of Moria brags to his companions “and that they call it (Moria) a mine, a mine!” stressing to the others that the mines of Moria were no ordinary mines. That allegory would be an adequate description of Mammoth Cave. Mammoth Cave is no ordinary cave!
If you want to go to Mammoth Cave, you need to plan ahead. For the majority of the tours, and there are many, you have to purchase a ticket and accompany an escorted tour. If you follow this link you find the National Park Services descriptions of the Mammoth Cave and the different tours that are available. Once you decide on a tour, you want to first call the National Park Services reservation line at 877-444-6777. I waited to the last minute and most of the tours were sold out, however, the Historical Tour was still open and I jumped on it. The Historical Tour was $12.00.
From the visitor center, we followed the tour guide toward the mouth of Moria, I mean Mammoth Cave. There are 25 entrances to this massive cave complex, 15 are natural and 10 are man-made. For the Historical Tour, we descended into the original opening of the cave complex, which is located below the visitor center. As you get closer to the cave mouth, you will be met by the free air conditioning as it rolls upwards from the cave mouth, set on a wonderful 58 degrees. It is a wonderful sensation, and if you’re at all cold natured, you need to take a sleeve (as my mother calls a light jacket).
As I descended downward, I expected something unique. What I found exceeded all my expectations. I honestly felt like Sam Gamgee when he first laid eyes on Moria and decried “Now, there is a sight”. I walked with my mouth agape for 30 minutes. The caverns were enormous. Maybe a hundred feet high, and seventy to a hundred feet wide. You could have driven four lanes of traffic inside these caverns and had room to spare.
I truly did not know that something like this existed in the United States. I was amazed and bewildered, as I walked, and walked some more. These enormous caverns went as far as the eye could see. In fact there are 392 miles of known explored caverns. Of course not all are as big as the main tunnels which are known by different names to include; Gothic Avenue, Audubon Avenue and Main Cave. There were many places I needed to walk backwards, squat, and turn to one side. The caverns are lit; however, it is overall very dark along the tour.
I went on July 2nd, a Sunday, and the tour was packed with 120 people. Many of them kids, who just did not find these caves as interesting as I did, and the group was loud and insistent on using flash photography. I am planning on going back, and the Ranger’s recommended coming on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday when the tours are very small. The tour was described as moderately strenuous and that was an apt description.
I am planning on going back and attending the other tours and if you’re at all interested in caves, you need to make for Mammoth Cave.
