Mammoth Cave Safety

Cave City KY- As the tourism season begins to ramp up at Mammoth Cave National Park, cave experts want you to be aware of a few safety measures before exploring caves.

Rick Toomey, Mammoth Cave National Park Specialist, provides these following tips:

-go in with a team, not alone (minimum of 3 to 4 people)

-make sure someone knows where you are, where you’re headed, when to expect you back, and what to do if you don’t show up when you’re supposed to

-go in properly equipped: extra lights (3 or more), extra warm clothes

These reminders follow the injury of an experienced cave climber who fell during an exploration this past Saturday.

The caver safely returned 8 hours after her expected return time.

The Mammoth Cave National Park Information Officer, Molly Schroer, wants the public to be rest assured that the area the caver fell in will not be where the general public will tour.

Toomey also says, “Fortunately our law enforcement, our emergency response people, and our guides, are all trained for making sure we can get people proper response. We have the equipment.”

To learn more about general cave safety, visit www.nps.gov/maca