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Mammoth Cave ranked among worst tourist attractions

Chock Full o Nuts

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Mammoth Cave National Park found itself ranked among the “most disappointing” U.S. tourist attractions, according to their social media. The national park cited a study that found the cave to be “too dark” and have “nothing cool.”
It's a friggin cave! What do you want, a laser light show? Well, that  would be kinda cool.:D

All press is good press, however, and Mammoth Cave has seized the opportunity to turn the negative reviews into promotion.
“Come experience what has disappointed millions of people for over 225 years!” their post reads in part.
The park added, “If you would like to experience the disappointment of Mammoth Cave, visit our website and choose from one of our many activities that will leave you unfulfilled! You can be disappointed by a ‘dry hole with very few stalagmites and stalactites’ or discover nothing ‘other than trees’ on over 80+ miles of hiking, biking, horseback riding and water trails. (Fair warning - There are bugs in the outdoors, cellular phone service is spotty and there are stairs on some of our cave tours.”
“A world of regret awaits you at Mammoth Cave! Make your cave tour reservations and find all the information you need to plan your very own ‘not enjoyable’ visit to Mammoth Cave National Park
🤣

I haven't been since I was young, but IIRC, it was awesome. May just have to make it a trip here soon.
 
My long ago trip to Mammoth Cave Park was a wonderful experience, long ago. It was in the late 70's that I was there with my girlfriend. We went in the off season. We stayed at the Park Hotel. We did the full underground hike. We hung out in the park and drove around the area on all the backroads we could find. One of my best loved trips.
 
My long ago trip to Mammoth Cave Park was a wonderful experience, long ago. It was in the late 70's that I was there with my girlfriend. We went in the off season. We stayed at the Park Hotel. We did the full underground hike. We hung out in the park and drove around the area on all the backroads we could find. One of my best loved trips.
My trip was as a kid, about mid 80s. It was cool.

I couldn't do the cave hike today, but I would recommend it to anyone that doesn't have some jaded idea of what a cave hike should be.
Yeah, in later years I did a few 'private caves'. Belly crawl/squeeze through and such. Was cool as well. But the tourist parts of Mammoth IIRC were wide open, easily walkable routes. Certainly a different world down there. Love it.
 
My trip was as a kid, about mid 80s. It was cool.


Yeah, in later years I did a few 'private caves'. Belly crawl/squeeze through and such. Was cool as well. But the tourist parts of Mammoth IIRC were wide open, easily walkable routes. Certainly a different world down there. Love it.
At the time I went I had been in the process of applying to be a coal miner at a new coal mine near where I lived in Southern Illinois. The hike through Mammoth Cave changed my mind. I wanted nothing to do with working underground. The spot down in Mammoth Cave where they had benches and sat the tour group then turned out the lights, yeah, no. No coal mining for me. I would never have tried spelunking, even at my fittest, no how, no way! Or cave diving...aieeeeeeee!!!!!
 
At the time I went I had been in the process of applying to be a coal miner at a new coal mine near where I lived in Southern Illinois. The hike through Mammoth Cave changed my mind. I wanted nothing to do with working underground. The spot down in Mammoth Cave where they had benches and sat the tour group then turned out the lights, yeah, no. No coal mining for me. I would never have tried spelunking, even at my fittest, no how, no way! Or cave diving...aieeeeeeee!!!!!
No underground work for me either. But yeah, the private caves, have several back-up light sources, including candles. Inform people you are going in and mark your way if need be with rocks.

I'm not one to be claustrophobic, but there were a couple tight quarter places that would get to you for a minute realizing where you are.
 
At the time I went I had been in the process of applying to be a coal miner at a new coal mine near where I lived in Southern Illinois. The hike through Mammoth Cave changed my mind. I wanted nothing to do with working underground. The spot down in Mammoth Cave where they had benches and sat the tour group then turned out the lights, yeah, no. No coal mining for me. I would never have tried spelunking, even at my fittest, no how, no way! Or cave diving...aieeeeeeee!!!!!
Yes we went to a cave here. Daughter was about 1 in the backpack (that was fun for me-yowsa). They did that lights off thing and she blurts out "NIGHT NIGHT!" and everyone laughed their heads off..
 


It's a friggin cave! What do you want, a laser light show? Well, that  would be kinda cool.:D




🤣

I haven't been since I was young, but IIRC, it was awesome. May just have to make it a trip here soon.
Surely people have the right to expect a real live mammoth? I know I would.
 
Yes we went to a cave here. Daughter was about 1 in the backpack (that was fun for me-yowsa). They did that lights off thing and she blurts out "NIGHT NIGHT!" and everyone laughed their heads off..
:ROFLMAO:👏(y) How sweet!

I did a wolf howl.

Folks were not amused.

I thought I was going to be voted off the island.

Or at the least put in cave jail.
 


It's a friggin cave! What do you want, a laser light show? Well, that  would be kinda cool.:D




🤣

I haven't been since I was young, but IIRC, it was awesome. May just have to make it a trip here soon.
I have not been to the caves, but I have travelled to world a bit; I have to say that without a doubt, the most disappointing place I ever visited was the pyramids in Cairo.
 
I have not been to the caves, but I have travelled to world a bit; I have to say that without a doubt, the most disappointing place I ever visited was the pyramids in Cairo.
What was it? Did they look better on the TV? 🤣
 
What was it? Did they look better on the TV? 🤣
It was shabby, dirty, and you get chased and harassed by locals trying to sell you souvenirs and camel rides; the insides of the pyramids smell strongly of urine ( no bathrooms inside) and the outside it littered with human poop.

It was a very unpleasant experience...the Cairo museum Tut exhibit was a much nicer place to visit' but people still tried to hit you up for money....the guards would let you take pictures inside for a "donation".
 
It was shabby, dirty, and you get chased and harassed by locals trying to sell you souvenirs and camel rides; the insides of the pyramids smell strongly of urine ( no bathrooms inside) and the outside it littered with human poop.

It was a very unpleasant experience...the Cairo museum Tut exhibit was a much nicer place to visit' but people still tried to hit you up for money....the guards would let you take pictures inside for a "donation".
Its my understanding the Nile is pretty smelly too.
 
Been there twice and enjoyed both times. First time was in’74 with kids. The last time we were on a back road, came around a bend and stopped dead staring at the Green River!. No bridge😵‍💫 We had to be ferried across. It was one of the oldest continuous ferrys in the U.S.. Been to Carlsbad caverns too in ‘69. That time just one kid. When you stop to think about how and why they exist is amazing. I’m guessing the author of that article is stuck in the world of instant gratification and anything outside of that is boring and unexciting. Typical of today’s journalists.
 
Its my understanding the Nile is pretty smelly too.
Wasn't as bad as you might think; the Kabul River on the other hand....foul; its mostly dried up and the locals just dump their garbage and sewage into it.
 


It's a friggin cave! What do you want, a laser light show? Well, that  would be kinda cool.:D




🤣

I haven't been since I was young, but IIRC, it was awesome. May just have to make it a trip here soon.
I too haven't been there since I was a child. I thought it was cool then, tho.
 
My trip was as a kid, about mid 80s. It was cool.


Yeah, in later years I did a few 'private caves'. Belly crawl/squeeze through and such. Was cool as well. But the tourist parts of Mammoth IIRC were wide open, easily walkable routes. Certainly a different world down there. Love it.
I was there in 1983 as part of the HS geology club. We did the historic cave hike and the 4 hour cave hike. I went back a few years and did some caving that is not on any tourist plan. It was spooky and we almost got stuck in a few places.
 
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