SUTTON Travels: Mammoth Cave National Park Kentucky USA Part 2 of 2

14 March 2021

Mammoth Cave National Park Kentucky USA Part 2 of 2

Mammoth Cave National Park / Geoff Sutton 2021

Mammoth Cave National Park is located in Kentucky, USA. In addition to the fantastic cave system, which is the longest in the world, there are more than 80 miles of trails. Previously, I posted scenes inside the cave. In this post I look at some of the trails around the park.

As I walked on the trail past the historic entrance to Mammoth Cave, I reached the site of the historic landing by the river. Here's a short video taking with my Google Pixel 4 phone.

Walking along the nearby Styx trail leads to the River Styx Spring, which you can view from the wooden platform. (Video from Sutton Travels on YouTube)

Following the road to the Green River Ferry leads into the water as seen in this video from Sutton Travels on YouTube.

Near the ferry is the Echo River Spring Trail. To the left of the photo sign you see a new picnic table delivered when I was there. There's a car park and portable toilets nearby. The trail begins as a concrete path but leads to other traditional trails.

As I walked along the trail, the results of recent flooding could be seen on the high levels of mud on the tree trunks.

Trail video clip from Sutton Travels on YouTube

The Sand Cave trail includes story boards telling of the Floyd Collins mystery, which captured a great deal of attention in 1925. On Friday 30 January, Collins explored the area of the family-owned Crystal Cave. He became trapped 60 feet below the surface. His family could not rescue him. The news spread. Volunteers worked for 12 days to reach him. Eventually, he was found on 16 February but he had died.

Below is the site of the rescue efforts on the Sand Cave trail.

If you enjoy biking, there's an old railway trail--of course hikers and joggers use it too.

And there's a short trail circumnavigating the pond at Sloan's Crossing.

Mammoth Cave National Park includes lodging and campgrounds. There's a restaurant --check out the 2021 prices on the board.

There are lots of picnic tables. I ate my lunch near the old train exhibit, which is close to the Post Office and store south of the Visitor's Center.