Visiting Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park Area -- Ideas?

[Purple Cat]

Hi,
I'm traveling to the Kentucky area for the first time in mid-Sept. We'll be pretty close to Mammoth Cave Nat'l Park. I'm eager to explore it and check out the southern KY and Nashville area. I'm a single mom with 4 year-old twins. Any suggestions?

Thank you.

[philomom]

http://www.mammothcave.com/cavetour.htm


Been there. I wouldn't take little kids. An hours walk in the dark listening to history tidbits... it won't thrill most kids under 8 years.

[jtbuko]

I still fondly remember going there with my family as small child (no idea how old I was), and cannot remember too much of my childhood...

[juju]

I was there about a week ago. I just did a stop through visiting the cave and doing the history tour about 2 hours and 2 miles. there are lots of stairs. I was alone with my three kids 10, 7 and 4. They enjoyed it overall. We definitely want to go back with their dad in the future and do more touring and see more caves. There are several caves in the area. Also, on the history tour we had about a minute of total darkness-- a planned part of the tour.

We also visited dinosaur world or something like that. it was ok, but kind of pricey.

Happy Travels!

[april77]

I took my dd to Mammoth Cave when she was 5 and she loved it. We stayed in the park, there are lots of hiking trails and then all the cave tours. She did great on the historic tour. You can also do short self-guided tours of the historic entrance. I would recommend staying away from the New Entrance tour at that age - tons and tons of steep stairs.

We also did Dinosaur World, which is a little pricey but she still talks about it over a year later.

[Pepper44]

I loved going there as a kid! We usually camped nearby. (They had flushing toilets at the campground.) During the day we did the cave tours, there were enough options that we stayed for several days and did something different each day. I can't remember too much else about it other than the caves being so exciting. The minute of darkness always scared and thrilled me at the same time...

[Maggirayne]

I was scared of heights, so a lot--the stairs--scared the bejeebers out of me. I was 4-5? My brother, 3-4, loooved it!

But, there is Kentucky Down under close by that is really cool. They have an aviary and a petting zoo.

[ebethmom]

My kids *love* Kentucky Down Under! We live about 20 minutes from Horse Cave, so we buy a membership every year. They have a cave tour, two different sites to feed birds, and lots of different educational talks. Scales and Tails is always a favorite - my ds loves reptiles. I like to pet the kangaroos.

Dinosaur World is a big hit with my kids, but it is overpriced.

It has been awhile since we've been to Bowling Green, but I do remember that they have a carousel in the Mall.