Best Mammoth Cave Tour for Kids
What’s the best Mammoth Cave tour for kids? It’s hard to pick one of the many cave tours at Mammoth Cave National Park, especially if you’ve got kids along for the experience.
In this article, you’ll learn why the Historic Tour at Mammoth Cave is the best tour for kids, how families can prepare for this experience, and what to expect while you’re underground.
When my kids and I visited Mammoth Cave National Park, we knew that a cave tour HAD to be on our list of things to do there, and we were so excited with what we learned and saw on the Historic Tour.
Let’s see what wonders await us under the rolling hills of Kentucky!
The Camping Kiddos at the Mammoth Cave National Park visitors center
Is Mammoth Cave Kid Friendly?
Some of the original mining equipment in Mammoth Cave National Park
Yes, Mammoth Cave is very kid friendly!
If your children are anything like mine, they’ll be intrigued at the chance to explore one of the largest and longest cave systems in North America.
While there are stairs inside the cave that are utilized by all of the tours, the path leading to the cave entrance and throughout the cave is paved and smooth.
This means that your family won’t be worried about tripping or falling while trying to enjoy your cave tour.
The cave is well lit on the footpaths, further ensuring that your kids stay safe in the cave.
Your kids will love seeing the huge rooms and comparing them to the smaller paths you’ll walk.
There’s a Bottomless Pit, mining equipment, a river, and so much more to discover along the way.
Mammoth Cave truly is an awe-inspiring experience for the entire family.
If this is your first trip to a national park, you’ll want to read through my comprehensive guide to the U.S. National Parks for beginners, which explains in detail everything from how the Junior Rangers program works to how to nab accommodations in the parks.
Why the Historic Tour is the Best Option for Families
When you’re visiting Mammoth Cave National Park, you must do a cave tour, even if that’s the only thing you do while at the park.
(It shouldn’t be though—the entire property, above and below ground, is fascinating!)
PIN ME!
That being said, it can be overwhelming to look at the 19 tours offered throughout the year at Mammoth Cave and try to pick one that would be good for your entire family.
When my family visited this national park, we were traveling with my close friend and her 2 children, so we knew we needed to find something appropriate for our 4 kids.
Our kids were between 4 and 9 at the time of our visit, so the tour needed to be kid friendly, educational, and entertaining.
After much deliberation, we settled on the Historic Tour as it provided access to the huge chambers that the cave is known for as well as access to smaller, less traveled areas.
Plus, the tour promised some family friendly educational content, which was a big selling point for my friend and I, both of whom worked as teachers for years.
Ultimately, the Historic Tour is the best Mammoth Cave tour for kids thanks to the variety of cave areas visited, the engaging ranger guides, and the overall length of the tour.
At 2 hours, the tour is long enough to get families in many nooks and crannies of Mammoth Cave, but not so long as to cause kids to get antsy or bored.
In fact, all 4 of our young children had so much fun climbing stairs, squeezing through passages, and listening to the ranger that not one of them asked when the tour would be over.
Historic Tour vs. Grand Historic Tour vs. Extended Historic Tour
Keep in mind that the Grand Historic Tour and the Historic Tour are 2 different options. You’ll want the Historic Tour, which runs 2 hours and spans 2 miles, instead of the much more in-depth Grand Historic Tour, which runs 4 hours and spans 4 miles.
Confusingly, the national park also offers the Extended Historic Tour, which is the regular Historic Tour with a 1/4 mile add on to the tuberculosis huts in the cave.
If you can’t nab Historic Tour tickets, try for the slightly longer (2.25 miles and 2.25 hours) Extended Historic Tour. This tour is also kid-friendly and covers all of the elements listed below.
What’s the best Mammoth Cave tour for toddlers?
If you think your toddler would enjoy walking through the cave and can be somewhat attentive for the duration of the Historic Tour, take that.
However, I know that little ones can be wiggly, talkative, and not at all interested in cool geological formations.
If you don’t think that your toddler can handle a 2 hour tour, opt for the self-guided Discovery Tour instead.
The Discovery Tour only cover about 3/4 of a mile into the cave, and it’s completely self-led, so you can spend as much or as little time as your toddler allows.
While there is a small fee for this tour, it’s much cheaper than the Historic Tour (which is $12-20 per person).
The Discovery Tour isn’t always offered, but they do sell nearly unlimited tickets each day it is offered. Ask at the front desk of the visitors center about this tour or call the office ahead of time.
How to Get Tickets for the Historic Tour
As this tour is one of the most popular, you’ll want to book up ahead of time.
You can make online reservations for the cave tours, but the reservation system only opens a month or 2 ahead of time.
Start checking the Mammoth Cave National Park website regularly 3 months before your trip so that you’ll have first pick at the time and day of your desired visit.
During the summer months, the Historic Tour will be held 5-6 times a day, while the offerings drop to just twice a day from October to April.
If you don’t secure a ticket online, you can always ask at the front desk of the visitors center if there were any last minute cancellations.
There’s also the chance that the park holds back a few tickets to be sold on a first come, first served basis.
This is how we nabbed the elusive Carlsbad Caverns King’s Palace tour tickets in New Mexico!
However, these in-person scenarios aren’t guaranteed, and it’s highly recommend to have your tour date and time booked before you arrive.
What to Expect on the Tour
In 2 hours, your family will discover so much about this unique cave system!
The tour meets at the covered pavilion behind the visitors center, and this is where you’ll be introduced to your ranger guide.
You’ll also get safety tips for the cave tour, and a final reminder to nab that sweatshirt from the car.
This is a great time to let your ranger guide know if your kids are completing their Junior Ranger program as the ranger will help tailor the walk to be even more kid-friendly.
All kids aiming for a Junior Ranger badge have to complete at least one ranger-led program, and the Historic Tour is a great option!
One thing to keep in mind about Mammoth Cave is that it is a dry cave, so you won’t see any waterfalls or many of the formations that you find in an actively wet cave.
The way that Mammoth Cave was formed is much different than the way that Carlsbad Caverns was formed, so each caving experience will be unique.
>> Check out this comparison of Carlsbad Caverns vs. Mammoth Cave for a breakdown on what to expect at each national park. <<
Entering the Cave
Our tour group heads down into the cave
Once the group is ready to go, you’ll walk roughly 1/4 of a mile down a paved path to the cave entrance.
While the entrance isn’t quite as dramatic as the one we experienced on our Carlsbad Caverns itinerary—the other famous cave system in the National Parks service—Mammoth Cave still offers up a bit of eerie drama.
While that first part of the tour is stroller friendly, you can’t take any strollers into the cave.
You’ll instead need to baby wear (using a front carrier only) or carry young children in the cave.
Because of this, I think that the tour is best for kids who are already mobile and can walk most of the 2 mile loop on their own.
First Stops
As you head into the cave, your first stop will be in the Rotunda, where you’ll see why Mammoth Cave has its name.
The Camping Kiddos marvel at the vast Rotunda
It seems impossible that such a large space could exist underneath the surface!
My kids were amazed to be standing in an area of a cave that is bigger than several houses put together.
You’ll also hear about the beginnings of the human usage of this cave, which dates back to prehistoric times.
The cave was used in the years leading up to the Civil War as a saltpeter mine, which meant that enslaved people worked long hours in near darkness as they excavated pits of this material.
The cave turned into a tourist attraction in the post-Civil War years, and several brave locals began mapping out the cave.
One of the most fun parts of the tour is when the ranger guide turns off the electric lights and uses a small oil lamp to illustrate what it looked like in those early days of exploration.
Your ranger might even “accidentally” drop the lantern, causing you to be plunged into total darkness!
If your kids are afraid of the dark, this part only lasts a few moments, and it is telegraphed well in advance so you can prepare your children.
Fat Man’s Misery
Another high point of the tour is Fat Man’s Misery, which is also the tightest squeeze of the entire cave tour.
I’m hideously claustrophobic, and I was dreading this part of the tour, but I didn’t want to miss out on the overall experience.
Fat Man’s Misery wasn’t a problem for our 4-year-old!
I’m 5’7” and I had to bend nearly in half to get through this short, tight space.
My kids, however, had the best time, as they were so short that they walked right through!
If you’re like me and don’t like small spaces, I’m here to tell you that you can do it!
The tour guide told us to hang back so we could take our time getting through the squeeze, and that was helpful.
We were also moving slowly because my friend had just broken her toe before the trip, but even she managed to navigate the area.
After you get through this area—which is only a couple of hundred feet—you’ll get to rest for a bit at the underground ampitheatre.
Here, the guide will tell you about the underground river in the cave called the River Styx.
Heading Back to the Surface
How far down does the Bottomless Pit go?
As you get to the end of the tour, you’ll get to walk over a metal grated bridge for a glimpse at the Bottomless Pit.
It truly does look as if it keeps on going forever into the darkness!
Save a burst of energy for the last part of the tour as you’ll need to ascend 300 steps to get back to the surface.
Again, I suggest waiting to go at the end of the tour group so your kids won’t be rushed up the stairs.
While the staircase was a lot for my then 4 year old, he was a champ—slowly but surely, we made it to the top.
How to Dress Your Kids for the Tour
Regardless of the surface temperature, the cave stays at a steady 55 degrees year round.
My older child and her friend insisted on wearing all of their layers from the start of the tour!
We’re from coastal South Carolina, where 55 degrees is practically the dead of winter for us, so we bundled the kids up in t-shirts, long pants, jackets, and beanies.
We didn’t end up needing the extra sweatshirts that we’d packed, and the kids stayed comfortable throughout the hike with their 2 layers on.
Layers were helpful as we visited in late summer, so the surface temperatures were around 30 degrees warmer than what we found in the cave!
Most of the tour group had on similar attire, though some people also opted to wear gloves.
Since the cave tour is active, you’ll want to ensure that everyone has on closed toe shoes with good traction, too.
Final Thoughts on the Historic Tour
Plan ahead to ensure that you get those tickets, and the historic tour will be the cornerstone of your experience in the park.
Keep in mind that the cave can be cool, and wear layers.
Opt for the ranger-led Historic Tour over the self-guided Discovery Tour (which is offered at fewer times than the Historic Tour).
Finally, be prepared for your kids to be amazed at this natural wonder and World Heritage Site!
If you’re looking for a unique place to stay near Mammoth Cave, read our full review of the Historic Wigwam Village in Cave City, Kentucky!
