June 20, 21, 22,  2016.
This is mine and David’s third trip to Mammoth Cave National Park.  When we were planning the trip with Ricky, I asked him if in between, the Tennessee and Ohio drag races would he like to go to Great Smoky Mountain National Park and bike the 11 mile Cade’s Cove Loop at sunrise or Mammoth Caves NP and explore the caves.  Without hesitation he chose the caves.  That was easy!

If you’re planning a trip to Mammoth Cave, here’s a few tips. The website is very deceiving.  The majority of camp sites at the Mammoth Cave Campground are on a first come basis.  The web site lists them all as “reserved” not “reservable”.  If you call Reserve America the operators will tell you there are none available.  When we arrived on Monday, there were dozens of sites available.  We got site #90, in my opinion, one of their best RV sites.  It is a large pull through, very shaded, very private and a short walk to the Visitors Center and amphitheater.  With A Senior or Access pass $10 a night, otherwise $20 a night (no hookups).  There are pay showers, laundry, water and dump station available.

This tip is for reserving cave tours.  Again the website may say a tour is full and may not be.  Call the Visitors Center to reserve.  Don’t wait until you arrive.  Popular tours do fill up.
Most important is read the tour descriptions carefully before booking.  There are degrees of difficulty listed for the tours … easy, moderate and strenuous … based on things like number of stairs, hills, tight passages, number of miles, on the lantern tours, kerosene smell.   David likes the lantern tours, so I booked him and Ricky two,  The Violet City  and the Star Chamber.   I had been on the Violet City and the Star Chamber was new so I passed on the Violet City.   Phew!  Lucky for me!  The Violet City had been upgraded to Strenuous.  The Star Chamber took it’s place in the Moderate category.  When David and Ricky came back from the Violet City Tour they thought I had set them up!  I had NOT.  I just booked without reading.  Sorry Guys!  They both have stories to tell about the “strenuous” parts and their tour guide that thought he was “Kentucky Jones”!  There was a lot of laughing and teasing about the experience.  But, I don’t think Davids calve muscles will ever forgive me.
Besides the two lantern tours we took the Historic and the Domes and Dripstone Tours.  All four tours are very diverse. 

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Other than the caves there are many hiking, biking and “tourist attractions’ in the area.  We have put kayaking on the Green River on our list of “next times”.   We were only here for two days and it was HOT (mid 90’s) and Humid.   The 54 degree temps in the caves were VERY welcoming 🙂

Next Stop … Norwalk,  Ohio