In a few weeks we'll be hitting the road on our first-ever fall camping trip to Mammoth Cave! We're pulling our pup and my Mom and Dad are going to join us with theirs, so it should be fun. We're staying at Jellystone, so it will also be our first experience with that type of (non-park) campground.
Headed for Mammoth Cave!
- Thread starter rdmullins
- Start date
Halford
Super Active Member
That's in KY right? There is a Mammoth Lake in California that had some snow recently
megcabra
Super Active Member
Sounds like it should be a great trip!
jmkay1
2004 Fleetwood/Coleman Utah
Mammoth cave is on my to-do list. Although probably not until next year. I was thinking of taking 8 nights total, four nights in the Smokey's and 4 nights in Mammoth Cave. Although I would probably stay at the park itself. I can't wait to see your follow up post on how it went.
crackerJack
Super Active Member
Welcome. I live about 30 miles from there. We backpack and camp there a lot, frontcountry and backcountry. The NP campground is very nice. Very wooded and usually hear owls at night.
If you are into hiking, there are some good short trails near the visitor center. You can see the mouth of the two rivers that made the caves. The Cedar Sink trail and Sloans Crossing Pond trails are good short trails too.
The Jellystone in Cave City is great too. All October weekends are Halloween themed. People go all out and decorate their sites. There is usually a haunted woods attraction adjacent to the cg. It is always full in October. We go almost every year. They are currently working on a big expansion.
If you are into hiking, there are some good short trails near the visitor center. You can see the mouth of the two rivers that made the caves. The Cedar Sink trail and Sloans Crossing Pond trails are good short trails too.
The Jellystone in Cave City is great too. All October weekends are Halloween themed. People go all out and decorate their sites. There is usually a haunted woods attraction adjacent to the cg. It is always full in October. We go almost every year. They are currently working on a big expansion.
jumpoff
I'm in a camping state of mind
Went to Mammoth Cave last year.... The cave itself was incredible. It is so flippin huge it's scarey ....I think after an hour the guide said we had seen less than 1% of the cave. Great place for Halloween fun. The above ground park is big too. You'll have a great time.
Gunz
Member
That was our first big, out of state expedition. Loved it and can't wait to go back someday.
Halford
Super Active Member
Been there twice. I always enjoy the Mammoth Caverns. I also went to the Lincoln Cabin which was not far away.
silvermickey2002
Morris County, NJ
The DW and I are taking a road trip to Kentucky and Mammoth Caves is on the list. Looking forward to it!!
I'd forgotten I posted this until I went to write a new post just now and the title bar tried to auto-fill itself. 
This trip actually got rescheduled. We were supposed to go back in November but the day before I started feeling really lousy and ended up (after the Wifey dragged me to the after-hours clinic) testing positive for the flu. Then she got it. Anyhow, we had no choice but to pull the plug on the trip. Everyone was great though and the campground and the NP were able to reschedule everything for this coming weekend - today's my last day at work for the week, and this evening I'm going to get everything packed and get the pup hooked up and ready to roll!
This trip actually got rescheduled. We were supposed to go back in November but the day before I started feeling really lousy and ended up (after the Wifey dragged me to the after-hours clinic) testing positive for the flu. Then she got it. Anyhow, we had no choice but to pull the plug on the trip. Everyone was great though and the campground and the NP were able to reschedule everything for this coming weekend - today's my last day at work for the week, and this evening I'm going to get everything packed and get the pup hooked up and ready to roll!And we're back! Despite the snow (!!!!) we had a blast. There was one challenging moment - my porch awning came loose during the night in the wind and had frozen in place up over top of the camper by morning. Going to figure out a better system before our next outing. One of our neighbors had tightened his awning with ratchet straps to a couple of dog tie-outs (the kind that screw into the ground) and I thought that was pretty clever - might try that.
The cave tours were excellent and the campground at Jellystone was a lot of fun for the kiddos (I'll add a campground review in the appropriate forum). If you've never been to Mammoth Cave I would say without hesitation that it's a place everyone should see. Think of it as an underground Grand Canyon. The park rangers were great with the tours and took time to answer questions. It's an amazing place.
The cave tours were excellent and the campground at Jellystone was a lot of fun for the kiddos (I'll add a campground review in the appropriate forum). If you've never been to Mammoth Cave I would say without hesitation that it's a place everyone should see. Think of it as an underground Grand Canyon.
The park rangers were great with the tours and took time to answer questions. It's an amazing place.
Halford
Super Active Member
And we're back! Despite the snow (!!!!) we had a blast. There was one challenging moment - my porch awning came loose during the night in the wind and had frozen in place up over top of the camper by morning. Going to figure out a better system before our next outing. One of our neighbors had tightened his awning with ratchet straps to a couple of dog tie-outs (the kind that screw into the ground) and I thought that was pretty clever - might try that.
The cave tours were excellent and the campground at Jellystone was a lot of fun for the kiddos (I'll add a campground review in the appropriate forum). If you've never been to Mammoth Cave I would say without hesitation that it's a place everyone should see. Think of it as an underground Grand Canyon.
Some campground prohibit stakes or screw tie-downs for pets because of underground irrigation system at ever sites. I am thinking about buying 15 lbs or 20 lbs weights.
Wow, haven't encountered that. Good to know! All I have are stakes anyhow, so if we ever happened across that sort of setup we'd probably just go porchless.
It was pretty funny actually - it still hadn't thawed out when we took the camper down yesterday and rather than fold it up like normal I had to lay it in my truck bed like a piece of plywood.