Mammoth Cave National Park receives $6.5 million to rehabilitate popular cave trail

MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky. – Mammoth Cave National Park is receiving roughly $6.5 million to rehabilitate parts of a cave trail.

The funds come from the Great American Outdoors Act and will harden the existing cave trail to improve both the visitor experience and emergency personnel access.

The exact date of construction has not been set, but work is expected to begin in November 2022.

New benches will be installed and improvements to the overlooks will also be made. During the project, which is expected to last until summer of 2023, several cave tours will be closed. The closed tours will include Grand Avenue, Domes and Dripstones, Frozen Niagara, Introduction to Caving and Wild Cave Tours.

“The funding we’ve received through GAOA will allow us to fix deteriorated cave trails and greatly improve the visitor experience in this busy section of Mammoth Cave,” said superintendent Barclay Trimble. “The current trail has not seen any major improvements since the 1930’s when the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the path used today. Once this project is complete, we will have a safer and more comfortable tour route and provide even better protection to the cave’s sensitive resources for the next generation of cave visitors.”

In 2021, about 516,000 people visited Mammoth Cave National Park.