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Cave Spring Caverns |
270-563-5863 |
Enjoy a nature trail that
leads through a bird sanctuary to the cool, refreshing
cave entrance that boasts cathedral size rooms and
passages with constant flowing water cascades. The cave
was used by Native Americans as a rare ceremonial site.
Cave Spring Caverns is a major archeological site
recently seen on PBS Television. This non-commercial
cave nestled in a five acre bird sanctuary is closed to
the general public. The cave tours of Cave Springs
Caverns is educational and free of charge to guests of
the Cave Spring Farm Bed & Breakfast. The unspoiled
primitive and natural beauty of this cave has been
preserved over the years offering guests unique cave
tours and experiences. Today the fragile and rare cave
artifacts and ceremonial drawings are protected by the
longest security cave gate in the United States. The
cave tours offer canyon site passages, waterfalls &
cascades, deep pit rooms, pioneer artifacts, and the
beautiful Blue Hole Lake Room – home to the Blind cave
fish.
www.bbonline.com/ky/cavespring/cave.html
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Crystal Onyx Cave Tours |
270-773-2359 |
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Once connected to the
nearby highlands of the Mammoth Cave Plateau, Prewitt’s
Knob today stands out like an island in the surrounding
farmland of the sinkhole plain. Sheltered beneath the
knob’s resistant cap rock is Crystal Onyx Cave, one of
south-central Kentucky’s most important archeological
sites and a formation rich cave.
Soon after the cave’s
discovery in 1960, prehistoric human remains were found
in the bottom of one of Crystal Onyx Cave’s many
vertical shafts. Archeologists have since determined
that the cave was used as a “mortuary facility” where
native Americans over 3,000 years ago returned the bones
of their deceased to the earth.
The one hour guided cave
tours provide a viewing of the rich assortment of
calcite decorations found throughout the route,
including a room filled with some of the largest
viewable rimstone dams in the area. No reservations
needed.
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Cub Run Cave |
270-524-1444 |
It was August
18, 1950 and due to recent rains, farm work
on his family's homestead was on hold with
the exception of regular chores. With those
done, lunch behind him, Kenneth Childress
and his 16 year old cousin, Rancel Duvall
Logsdon, were off, with a shovel and lantern
in hand, to do what they enjoyed the most,
exploring the Indian artifact rich
countryside. On this particular day they
decided to explore Otter Spring. otter
Spring was a spring that flowed from the
side of a steep hill on the property of
Walker Thompson. On an earlier visit they
had noticed not only water came from the
small opening at the bottom of the rock
outcropping, but just above the spring, cold
air rushed out of a tiny opening with a
force that caused leaves on the trees 15
feet away to rustle! On a hot, humid August
day, it was like standing in front of an air
conditioner blowing 52 degree air. The
bottom portion of the opening was loose
gravel and rocks. The two began digging.
Soon they had created a hole large enough to
crawl about 10 feet into the hillside. The
passage opened to a muddy channel. The two
boys crawled another 60 feet and found
themselves in a large room. With only the
aid of a kerosene lantern, which seemed dim
in the vast cavern, they explored about 150
more feet into the cave and were astounded
by the never before seen magical
formations. They exited full of excitement
to tell others what they had discovered.
Word of the
discovery spread quickly. The cave and it's
spectacular sights opened to the public the
next year, only to be closed as land
disputes ensued, brought by land owners of
acreage above the cavern. These amazing and
remarkable sights of Cub Run Cave were
sealed for over a half century....until now!
www.cubruncave.net
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Onyx Cave Tours
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270-773-3530 |
Located high above the
surrounding limestone sinkhole plain, Onyx Cave is a
system of vertical shafts uncovered during construction
of the Guntown Mountain parking lot on Huckleberry Knob.
The pits and domes of Onyx Cave were protected from
weathering by the knob’s sandstone cap rock and after
their formation slowly became coated by calcite crystal
flowstone. The combination of crystals and seeping water
makes the walls of this most unusual cave shimmer. Enjoy
beautiful coral, onyx, stalagmites and stalactites on
one of the many thirty-minute guided cave tours. No
reservations needed.
www.mammothcave.com/guntown/onyxcave.htm
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Outlaw Cave Tours |
270-773-2560 |
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Outlaw Cave offers
forty-five minute non-strenuous cave tours filled with
beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and other
breathtaking formations. It has been said that famous
outlaws such as Jesse James hid out in area caves.
Outlaw Cave Tours frequently offer evening Lantern Tours
which make for a great experience. No reservations
needed.
www.kentuckyactionpark.com/outlaw.htm
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Diamond Caverns |
270-749-2233 |
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In 1859 a young slave
discovered a pit in the bottom of one of the region’s
many dry limestone valleys near Mammoth Cave. Lowered on
a rope into the cave, the first visitor thought the
sparkling calcite formations resembled diamonds, and the
name for the cave was born.
Providing cave tours for
over 140 years, Diamond Caverns is the fourth oldest
show cave in the country. The cave is presented by a
state-of-the-art lighting system that brings to life a
profusion of spectacular natural formations throughout.
Delicate deposits of calcite crystals fold in drapery
like formations along the passage walls.
www.diamondcaverns.com
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Hidden River Cave &
American Cave Museum
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270-786-1466 |
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The enormous cave entrance
in the town of Horse Cave leads to a 7-mile labyrinth of
passageways connected by a subterranean river, the
Hidden River. The cave tours begin at the American Cave
Museum where history and science exhibits introduce
visitors to the fascinating world of caves. From the
museum, visitors can descend into Hidden River Cave
where the roar of a rushing cave stream flows through
massive underground chambers.
The story of Hidden River
Cave is both one of nature’s grandeur and of human
impact on cave ecosystems. It tells of how people can
make a positive change in restoring these fragile
places. Closed to cave tours for 50 years due to
groundwater pollution, the cave has made a remarkable
recovery.
Visit the nation’s only
museum dedicated to caves and their protection to learn
about this remarkable conservation success story.
www.cavern.org/hrc/hrchome.php
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Mammoth Cave National Park |
270-758-2180 |
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Located beneath the
protective sandstone of the Mammoth Cave Plateau, the
Mammoth Cave system is best known for being the longest
surveyed cave in the world. Over 365 miles of
passageways have been explored to date, with more being
discovered each year. The cave is a sprawling network of
caves located under five different ridges and at five
different depths. Cave tours at Mammoth Cave National
Park provide access to over ten miles of the system.
Cave tours average one to two miles in length and are
considered moderately strenuous.
Besides its unparalleled
length, Mammoth Cave features very large dry canyon
passages and deep vertical shafts.
Four-thousand-year-old artifacts tell of prehistoric
mineral collection by native Americans, while
19th-century ruins of salt peter mining operations and
candle smoked signatures speak of the beginnings of
modern exploration and touring.
Ranger-led activities
are offered daily, except Christmas Day. Join rangers
for trips in the cave and on the surface, ranging from 1
¼ hours to 6 ½ hours. Designed with all visitors in
mind, you’ll find activities suiting a wide variety of
needs and interests including cave trips, nature walks,
campfire programs, and slide presentations. Most cave
tours are designed for a mixed audience. Some are easy,
others are strenuous, several are designed exclusively
for children, and one is designed for people seeking a
wild cave adventure off the beaten path. All tours begin
and end at the Visitor Center. Children under six are
admitted free.
Purchase Cave Tour
Tickets Online
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Kentucky Caverns /Kentucky Down Under |
270-786-2634 |
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Visitors to Kentucky
Caverns are surprised and delighted by the density and
variety of formations and the extensive range of natural
color to be found in the cave. A stroll through Kentucky
Caverns is truly a visit to a natural wonderland.
Visitors are also amazed to learn that both the
formations themselves and their palette of colors are
part of the important story of the many ways in which
the surface and subsurface are connected.
During the spring, summer
and fall of the year, Kentucky Caverns can be seen as
part of the combined activities of Kentucky Down Under
and Kentucky Caverns. Visitors take a journey that
explores life in the great outback of Australia and the
three dimensional world of caves. Together these two
attractions provide an interactive, family-oriented
experience which helps visitors better understand the
relationships of the natural world and the impact man
can have on those relationships.
www.kycaverns.com
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Lost River Cave Tours
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1-866-274-2283 |
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Formed by the catastrophic
collapse of an underlying cave, the Lost River Cave
Valley winds for over a mile through the city of Bowling
Green before it ends at one of the largest cave
entrances in the eastern United States. Boat tours of
Lost River Cave allow you to follow the valley’s spring
fed river as it disappears underground. The valley, its
“blue hole” springs and the cave have attracted people
for over 10,000 years. Millers, distillers, civil war
soldiers, and possibly outlaws used the cave in the 19
th century. Visitors can still visit the dance floor of
the popular underground nightclub that attracted big
name bands during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Lost River Valley is a
National Archeological Site and a National Historic
Site. While visiting the Historic Lost River visit the
nature trails that meander through the valley to other
blue holes and the Butterfly Gardens.
www.lostrivercave.com
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