Mammoth Cave National Park offers over 20 Ranger-led tours, most underground and a few above ground. Selecting which tour to go on can be a bit tricky. Since tours get booked pretty fast and early during the summer months, you’ll want to do some planning before your arrival and make the most of your visit to this fantastic park.

Underground Tours

The hardest part about visiting Mammoth Cave National Park is selecting which tours to go on. Caving can be a wonderful experience, but it’s not suited to everyone. I don’t want to frighten anyone off from cave touring, but I’ve seen women break down in tears because she couldn’t stand the enclosed spaces, children endlessly screaming from fear the dark, and a man come out bleeding because he hit his head on a low cave passage. So before we go into selecting tours, let’s go over whether or not you should go at all.

Should You Go on a Cave Tour?

• Are you afraid of enclosed spaces? How about darkness? If the answer is yes to one or both, you should probably not go into the cave.
• Are you afraid of heights? Some tours go over bridges or up towers, be sure to ask before spending your money.
• Do you have difficulty walking? Many of the tours require the use of steps, some go up and down steep inclines. The only wheelchair accessible tour is the Mammoth Accessible Tour.
• Do you have back issues? Portions of the cave require you to stoop, crouch, or even crawl. If your answer is yes, call or check with a Ranger before booking a tour.
• Do you have health related issues with your breathing, heart, or metabolism? If the answer is yes, you might not want to go on a longer cave tour. If an accident occurs, it will take hours to get you out. Call or talk with a ranger to make sure.
• Do you have vision problems, especially in darkness? If the answer is yes, you probably want to skip the lantern light tours. Many of the tours also forbid the use of flashlights or headlamps. Again ask before going.
• What about pets? No pets are permitted in any cave. The Lodge at Mammoth Cave, which is near the Visitor Center, supposedly has a kennel where you can temporarily house your dog.

Houtchens Narrows – some passages are narrow, while others are quite roomy.

Selecting Your Cave Tours

Now that’s over, we can get on the main part. Picking out your tours! Although the tours are underground, they go to different parts of the cave and the ranger will discuss different topics. In general here’s what you have to keep in mind when picking your tours:

• Time: Tours can last anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours, sometimes longer if the tour is slow going.
• Cost: Every underground tour cost something, the highest being $55 for the Wild Cave tour, and the lowest at $5.
• Difficulty: Tours range from easy to extremely strenuous. Be sure to see how many miles and steps (up and down) there are. Know your own strength and endurance.
• Starting Point: Tours start at a specific location where a Ranger will give you an orientation lecture before either walking or taking a bus to cave entrance. Be sure to ask and make note as to where your tour’s starting point is located, as this can change without warning.
• Entrance: There are several entrances into Mammoth Cave, which one you will enter will depend upon the tour you take.
• Overlapping Tours: Some tours will overlap onto others. In general, the longer tours will either in part or in total overlap (meaning repeat) onto the shorter tours. For example, the shortest tour is the Mammoth Passage Tour, which parts of it will be also seen on the Historic Tour (long) and Violet City Lantern Tour (longest).

Our ranger gives us some info before going into the cave

Know Your Seasons

To complicate matters even more, each season the National Park will select which tours to give, what day they will occur, and what time. So at the beginning of each season check the website for what tours are available and when. Keep in mind, if a tour happens in one season, it may not happen in the next. So keep tabs on the NPS website. Here’s a rough of seasons dates (with a margin of error of day or so):

• Spring: March 11 – May 26
• Summer: May 27 – August 19
• Fall: August 20 – October 28
• Winter: October 29 – March 10

If you want to make the most of your cave time, plan for a visit that falls within a week of the changeover. We went during the week between Spring and Summer change over and got to include Violet City Lantern Tour, which wasn’t included in the Spring Tour lineup.

As always, you can check the current and next seasonal tour offerings here: Official NPS Mammoth Cave Tours

Lantern Tours – visit Mammoth Cave from a unique prespective

Book Early

I can’t stress this enough: Book early. Make your reservations a 3 to 4 weeks early if you’re planning for a summer or holiday visit. You can probably get away with one to two weeks early for spring or fall. Winter is pretty much wide open, but they don’t run as many tours.

Not many people know that they can book their tours online at Recreation.gov. You can also call (877) 444-6777 to make reservations. If you have questions about conditions and tour details, call the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center directly at (270) 758-2180.

Table of Mammoth Cave Tours

Here is a table of Mammoth Cave tours offered by the National Park Service. I put this together because I wanted to examine tours by distance, time, location, and difficulty. You can sort by each category by clicking on the column header. Remember, when and what time they offer tours depends on the season so visit the Official NPS Mammoth Cave Tours page for exact times and days.

Map of Mammoth Cave Tours

When I was at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center, there was a lovely map of with colored paths indicating where the tours went. I’ve recreated this map in both JPG or PDF format.

Mammoth Cave Tour Map: JPG or PDF

Quick Links for Mammoth Cave Tours

• Official National Park Services Mammoth Cave Tours
• Online Reservations for Mammoth Cave National Park
• Mammoth Cave Tour Map: JPG or PDF