Mammoth Cave National Park
We thought it would be helpful to share our perspective on adventuring to Mammoth Cave with children, particularly for our friends in Atlanta. This would be a fun weekend trip or test run for possible RV or camper van adventure!
Reservations for Cave Tour
Cave reservations book up in advance, so we were glad to get ours a few days before arriving. We saw numerous families expect to purchase tickets day-of but be turned away.
Currently due to COVID-19 the Historic Tour is the only tour available and is now self-guided, but because we camped and were just passing through with younger children, it was probably all we needed. On another visit it would be neat to try some of the other cave tours.
Mammoth Cave National Park Campground
We found these 3 websites helpful for campsite reviews and trip planning:
Campendium (free campsite reviews)
TheDyrt (free reviews, with paid plan for route planning)
RV Trip Wizard (paid route planning tool)
Due to COVID the Mammoth Cave tent camping sites (Loops A/B) were closed, so we ended up reserving an RV campsite for our two-tend setup. There was no difference in price, and many others were car-camping with tents as well. These sites were all pull-through and relatively level. There were no hookups. The specific loop we were on (Loop C) gave plenty of space between sites with good shade and lots of trees. The downside to our specific site, #82, was that it was fairly close to the bathrooms. Every time someone went to the bathroom in the middle of the night the motion sensors would flood our tents with light.
There is another campground in the National Park on the north side of the river called Maple Springs Campground. We found the Mammoth Cave Campground to be more convenient for access to both the park and the cave entrance. If camping or RVing doesn't suit you there’s also a lodge as well as cottages near the cave entrance and visitor center.
We booked our campsite via Recreation.gov but the maps on the reservations page didn’t show the restrooms. Use the actual Mammoth Cave National Park Campground map to pick your campsite location. It would have been helpful in advance to see where the water pump is as well as the bathrooms for convenience.
There’s a fire ring and cement picnic table for each site, and the entire campground is situated in the woods.
Our two-tent setup at Site 82 in the Mammoth Cave Campground, nice and flat but a bit close to the bathrooms!
Tips & Tricks with Children in Mammoth Cave National Park
I absolutely loved our campsite, because of the wildlife we saw without having to go anywhere: turkeys, deer, pileated woodpeckers, and hawks.
Schedule in down time just to explore in the woods and play
Scavenger hunt above the ground around the cave
The Historic Tour has 2 options (either you go left or right or do both) I’d advise just doing one and taking your time with it
Buy a Junior Ranger book and get it stamped!
Pick up a Junior Ranger Activity Book for your child from the Rangers at the Visitor Center and work on the activities together completing a certain number of bat points (based on age) to receive their Mammoth Cave Junior Ranger Badge
I used this shop’s underground bundle to supplement my son’s fascination with caves
Working from Mammoth Cave National Park
While I didn’t NEED to check in for work since we were on vacation during this trip, we didn’t have AT&T cell service on our iPhones in the Mammoth Cave Campgrounds, and only a few bars of service in the Visitor Center parking lot
Getting There
6:48a - Departed Atlanta!
7:30a +37mi - Test run of the TDS Logistics Fuel Card at Love’s (we get to fill up in the big rig lanes now!) saved $0.16/gal off retail, not bad. Also got our Truck+U-Haul rig weighed, coming in at 10,740lbs, using the CAT Scale and Weigh My Truck apps to do it entirely from my phone
7:50a - Back on the road again; we found a sweet spot of 1.5 - 2 hours max between potty breaks for the boys
9:21a +145mi - Stop at Home Depot for more Heavy Duty Medium moving boxes to consolidate loose items
10:21a - All packed up and Daniel feeling better about all the last-minute additions to our pack job, safely tucked into cardboard instead of bouncing around in the trailer
11:44a +68mi - Coffee & Lunch at Barista Parlor in Nashville, where Daniel was able to replace his favorite coffee mug which he’d gotten on our last trip here
12:37p - Bellies full but needing diesel, we head for a truck stop
1:05p +23mi - Yet another Love’s Travel Stop; Daniel still gets a huge kick out of fueling up with the semis
1:14p - Next stop, our first National Park! (and switching to Central time too)
2:37p +69mi - Arrive at Mammoth Cave National Park, go straight to our campground to check in for site #82
Note: We’ve found it helpful to use the Your Timeline feature in Google Maps to automatically log the little details like times, miles, and stops of our travels. You can find it in the sandwich menu on the left side of Google Maps on desktop, or by clicking your profile photo icon on mobile.
