Do you like a tour that shows you more than what the average tourist will see? Do you like to get up close and personal with your surroundings? Are you interested in a long history of discovery? If you said yes, you might enjoy the “Wild Cave Tour” at Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky.
Mammoth Cave has a long history of exploration that continues to this day. From some of the first maps drawn by slave guide Stephen Bishop, to the current exploration and maping efforts of groups like the CRF, Mammoth Cave continues to grow. More miles of cave are frequently being discovered, and with the “Wild Cave Tour” you can see parts of Mammoth Cave that no other tour can show.
The “Wild Cave Tou”r is aproximatly 6 hours long, with a lunch break. The tour covers about 5 miles of cave. If you are 16 and over and are capable of crawling, climbing, wriggling, and crouching, you might be a good fit for this tour. Your chest or hip measurement must not be larger than 42 inches. If any part of your body is more than 42 inches in diameter you physcially will not be able to fit through the passageways.
Pesky details aside, this tour is a phenomenal, one of a kind trip through the cave. What parts of the cave you see are determined by how you work together as a group and at the discretion of the tour guide. It is likely that if you take the tour twice, it will be different each time.
You will see bugs and other critters up close and personal. You will have cave formations inches from your face as you slide on your stomach through passageways. Depending on the water levels and rain of the season you may get a bit muddy too.
This tour will awaken the adventurer inside of you as you see formations and rooms not seen by your standard tourists. The National Parks Service rates this tour as “Very Strenuous,” so it is not for the feignt of…well…anything!
You will hear about the history of the cave and the various people who have explored it over the years as well as learn some basic caving techniques. You will get to free-climb as well as canyon-walk. If you are not afraid of tight space, you will find that the 6 hours goes by very quickly.
This is the kind of tour that will have you coming back again and again as you find that for only $48 (2011 price) you can have a intimate view of the worlds longest cave. Words can hardly describe the sense of accomplishment you will find when you finish your tour.
Of note, there are certain precautions currently in place due to the spread of the White-Nose Syndrome in Bats. You will be required to sanitize your shoes along with other measures to help prevent the furthur spread of this disease. You can check the National Parks Service website for Mammoth Cave for up to date information on this disease that is afflicting the Bats of Mammoth Cave.