Caves

Think all caves are alike? After all, a hole in the ground is a hole in the ground? No way! Hart County’s three “show caves” are just like our children — they’re not at all alike, but they’re each special in their own way! Caves have close relationships with water. Sometimes water drips down through the ground to form beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations. You’ll find loads of those at Mammoth Onyx Cave. And sometimes rivers bore through forming passageways. You’ll find that at Hidden River Cave. The rushing river there was once harnessed to generate electricity to the tiny town above, Horse Cave.

It’s great to know the caves are open year-round, and the temperature stays the same – about 58 degrees. If you are looking for a beautiful multi-season adventure, caving fits that bill. All of the caves have tours with professional guides who share the geology of the system, the history of the area, and the biology of the cave’s wildlife — bats, crickets, blind fish and such. If you’re in the mood for something a bit more adventurous, Hidden River Cave also offers a guided off-trail Wild Cave Tour along the banks of the subterranean river. Or try their new zipline across the largest cave entrance in the area, and rappel down to the cave entrance!

  • Mammoth Cave National Park

    Located in Hart, Barren and Edmonson counties, Mammoth Cave National Park is one of Kentucky’s “There’s Only One” attractions.

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  • Hidden River Cave

    Phone: 270-786-1466
    Hidden River Cave Website
    Location: 119 East Main Street, Horse Cave KY 42749

    Featured on The Discovery Channel’s “Dirty jobs” series, Hidden River Cave is an 8-mile labyrinth dissolved by a subterranean river flowing beneath the historic small town of Horse Cave.

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  • Hidden River Cave Wild Cave Tour

    Are you brave enough to try this? The Hidden River Cave Wild Cave Tour takes you off-trail in an extreme option that involves strenuous hiking through muddy and wet cave passages and features an underground stream, domed rooms, and cave-adapted animals.

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  • American Cave Museum

    Phone: 270-786-1466
    Location:I-65, Exit 58 119 East Main Street, Horse Cave KY 42749.

    Adjacent to Hidden River Cave, the American Cave Museum has been honored by the Nature Conservancy Magazine as “a little bit of Smithsonian in rural Kentucky.”

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  • Mammoth Onyx Cave

    Phone: 270-786-1010
    Mammoth Onyx Cave Website
    Location: 3700 L&N Turnpike – I-65, Exit 58, Horse Cave, KY 42749

    One of the most beautiful and easily accessible caves in the US, Mammoth Onyx Cave was discovered in 1799 and opened to public tours in 1922.

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