14 Aug 2025 - Diamond Caverns and Mammoth Caves

 

Diamond Caverns:
This morning we drove just 4 miles from our campground to Diamond Caverns, one of the many caves/caverns in this area.  We plan to do two of these a day while we are here, that is assuming our knees hold up! 

On July 14, 1859, a slave of landowner Jessie Coats discovered a pit in the floor of a valley near the road to Mammoth Cave. The cave was given its name when the first visitor thought the calcite formations looked like diamonds. They immediately started surveying the cave and transforming it into a tourist attraction.  The Kennedy Bridal Party was the first to experience the freshly opened display cave on August 19, 1859.  The cave was purchased by five cavers and their wives on July 7, 1999, and they remain the current owners today.  

The tour starts and ends adjacent to the gift shop and lobby area which is beautiful.  There are many crystal displays and other historic items in display in there.  

Unlike other caves/caverns, there is only one Diamond Cavern tour which is guided along a paved and lighted trail.  The tour is about 1/2 mile long and about 88 ft down via 350 stairs total.  This is where you enter and exit.  One way in and one way out.  It was explained many years ago they started to build a second entrance but geologists determined this second entrance would provide a huge airflow in and out of the cavern and dry out the formations, so it was never completed.   It is a constant 58 degrees F and very humid.

At 1000 hrs we headed down the first set of stairs with seven in the tour.  Since school has started the numbers have really dropped off.  Here are a few pictures:

The handrails are cold and wet - nasty!

When a stalactite and stalagmite grow together, this is called a Pillar. Alternative terms are column or stalagnate. It will take only a few centuries to form a pillar.

Amazing stalactites (come down from the ceiling) and stalagmites (come up from the floor)!

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Incredible formations!

A stalagmite cut in cross-section and polished.  Almost looks like rings on a tree trunk. 

They used to perform weddings inside here, but they had to stop it due to damage by the attendees.

A cave cricket or camel cricket.  One of only two bugs down here.  They feed on each other.

The stairway to nowhere.  Remains of the non-completed second entrance.

Only one way out, which is UP!

We enjoyed this tour, especially with the small numbers.  After departing we headed back to the campground for a while to have lunch, tend to Liberty and get ready to go on the Mammoth Cave tour later this afternoon.  Liberty is doing exponentially better, so we are relieved about that. 

 

Mammoth Cave:

This afternoon we drove about seven miles to the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center for our 1615 hrs Mammoth Cave Passage Tour.  We arrived about 30 minutes ahead of schedule and had time to visit the informative little museum inside before reporting to the pavilion for the tour.    

Like many places we have visited in all of our travels across the nation, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) played a huge role in creating the park's infrastructure.  Congress authorized the park in 1926 and it would be just the second national park east of the Mississippi.  The CCC was a depression-era public works program founded in 1933.  It provided jobs for men in an era when people had a difficult time putting food on the table.  There were four CCC camps and they razed farm buildings, reclaimed eroded hillsides, replanted forests; built roads, trails and cave walkways.  

Soon our tour time arrived and we gathered along with our tour guides to head down a fairly long road to the cave entrance.

At the cave entrance we were briefed on safety concerns and rules involving the tour.  Our primary tour guide was a former school teacher and very comical but informative.  

The dark spot on the right side of the picture is the cave entrance

And down we go about 80 steps to the floor of the cave

The cave entrance is secured unless park rangers are present.  The slats allow airflow.

This portion of the cavern is different than the one earlier in the day.  Here there is a long, wide, tall passageway opening into large "rooms".  There are no stalactites or stalagmites here but we did see a few bats hanging around from the ceiling.    

An American Legion Monument commemorating the dead from World War I, and an American War Mother's Monument which contains papers from 34 states bearing the names of their war dead.  

A site where nitrites were harvested for use in making gun powder during the war of 1812.

Evidence of ceiling layer collapse over the years

This is Lookout Mountain which marks the end of the cave passage.  If this were excavated it would reveal a valley on the other side.  Originally the cave was much longer but over the years weathering and erosion caused the passageway collapse.    

From here we did an about face and exited the way we came in.  We did see a few more sights on the way out such as some evidence of  very old cave exploration and habitation, such as moccasins and other items.  

A few more pictures and we will bring this to a close:

Our fairly large tour group.  This shows the massive expanse of one of the "rooms"

And out we climb!

The cave was nice and cool and the climb out back in to the heat and humidity was not welcome!  We returned to the campground, tired but very glad we went.  Tomorrow we plan to visit the Crystal Onyx Cave and in the afternoon, the Hidden River Cave & American Cave Museum.

P.S.  Liberty had a great day.  No GI issues at all.  Lets hope this continues.