Horse Cave Travel Guide

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This is something I do not recommend unless you really are a big cave enthusiast. The cave tour while somewhat informative did not take you far into the cave. The tour was somewhat interesting in the extent of information given regarding the dentist who created a system for extracting water from this underground river for sale to the cities residence. He also had several cases of burbon stored here and sold it in his underground club during prohibition. Oh yeah, this was once one of the most polluted caves. Due to large conservation efforts, it has been cleaned up although I still would not recommend drinking it. The tour also explains why this area has so many wide open spaces without any development,

The museum was small without alot of information aside from an interesting article on Floyd. Not worth the high $ they ask for the museum and tour. The Wild Cave tour also does not venture far into the cave so I would recommend getting reservations in advance at Mammoth and skipping this entirely. The "theatre in a cave" sounded interesting to us as well but the 7:30 theatre in the nearby cave is also low caliber and something I would expect from middle schoolers. I would skip this tour and horse cave entirely and wait until they construct the path deep into the cave and into the whisky room used during prohibition and band room.

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Kentucky Down Under! This is an awesome site for the kids, is a dream come true. This site has tons of birds Kangaroo's and even snakes. Fun shows to teach you about all it and the cultures of Australia as well. To top it all off there is even a great cavern tour for those that love the caves. We spent the entire day here from open until close and if had more time would have stayed longer.

Mammoth Cave is the world's largest underground cave. The park that was established to preserve it also includes portions of the green river and areas which were once used for logging but are not abundant forests. Remnants of the old settlement remain here as well, and are interesting aboveground places to explore. Most people don't and instead focus only on touring the cave. If you have a chance to do both, I'd highly recommend it.

For more information, feel free to browse my Mammoth Cave National Park page.

The American Cave Museum was an interesting stop to see yet another cave. The museum itself is a tiny collection of exhibits offering little information. Its mostly a waiting room for the main attraction of sorts, which is Hidden Cave. A short tour leads you belowground and into the small portion of the cave open to the public. Since most of the cave is located beneath the railroad tracks and the ground and cave underneath is owned by the city or state, no one is permitted to enter that portion of the cave. But a guided tour is offered and does show you some interesting formations and give some background on the caves in the area and efforts to preserve them. This was once one of the most polluted caves. Due to large conservation efforts, it has been cleaned up a great deal. Tour guides take great pains to explain how the water was once far more polluted than at the present time. Impressive, but I still would not recommend drinking it. The tour also explains why this area has so many wide open spaces without any development. Since most of the land is built above sinkholes, it is not used for building.

I'm not sure that most will find this place worth the $10 entry fee (as of 2005). That may have been why the tour group was so small. But caves are the main attraction in the area, and this place is another alternative to the national park. Its also worth checking out if you're interested in doing a Wild Cave Tour. Since Mammoth Cave is the most popular and most likely to be sold out, Hidden Cave may be your only opportunity to take such an in depth tour.

This place is geared more towards the kiddie crowd, but if you've ever wanted to pet a kangaroo (like my buddy Murph is doing here) Kentucky Down Under is the place for you. Visitors can also take a brief cave tour, observe bison and view exhibits that are supposed to give you a taste of Australia.