Mammoth Cave Campground puts campers in a prime spot to explore the depths and overland treasures of Mammoth Cave National Park. Mammoth Cave is an underground passageway containing more than 400 miles of naturally sculpted limestone and sandstone. It is the longest recorded cave system in the world. The grand-scale chambers and long, winding passageways were the inspiration behind the park's name. The campground doubles as an entry point to 14 miles of hiking and biking trails. It's also a five minute walk to the visitor center, where cave tours begin.
Recreation
A must-do activity in the park is exploring Mammoth Cave. Walking tours of the caverns leave from the visitor center daily. There are also miles of bike trails and hiking trails within the park.
Facilities
The 109 primitive campsites are set around a paved parking area surrounded by aromatic trees. Water and restrooms are located on the insides of the loops, and the park Visitor Center is a five minute walk away. Coin operated showers are available adjacent to the campground at the Caver's Camp Store. Inquire at the Camp Store for current shower fees.
Natural Features
The campground is tucked inside Mammoth Cave National Park, which boasts scenic valleys along the Green River. The river is within walking distance of the camp, and the hilly Kentucky countryside expands beyond the valley.
Deer and turkeys commonly stroll around the campground, so visitors are likely to see them grazing in the early morning and at dusk.
Nearby Attractions
Nearly 30 miles of the Green and Nolin rivers offer canoeing and boating through the park. Commercial outfitters outside the park rent canoes, kayaks and safety equipment. Most trails north of the Green River are open for horseback riding. Commercial liveries outside the park rent horses and some may provide organized excursions.
Charges & Cancellations
For rules and reservation policies please follow the link below:
https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
ADA Access: N
We arrived after hours and were told we could stay in a site, and in the morning they would find us an open campsite. Although it rained we still had a great experience at the campsite, hiking and caving.
I loved this campground. It was in the perfect location for exploring the national park. The spots were very spacious and nice! The bathrooms were well maintained and clean. I would return to this campground. There was a camp store and showers right outside the campground, in walking distance.
Cute little campground with lots of tree cover, not too noisy despite the close proximity of neighbors. Great access to the caves.
Great experience all around. Clean, quiet. My sister and I had a wonderful stay and plan to return. She accidentally locked her keys in her car and the kind park rangers helped her get the door unlocked. Can’t wait to go back!
We love coming here for the cave of course. If you are not to squeamish to enjoy one of mother earths natural beauties of the underground the. This isn’t for you! They have amazing cave tours of all times of the day some for expert and some amateurs. This is a very neat place and wonder of the world as it holds the record for largest cave system in the world!!
Great campground with only 2 less than ideal factors: 1) it is close to the main road through the park, so there is some occasional road noise. 2) the campsites are relatively close together. Otherwise, this is a great campground. It is mostly all shaded with lots of trees, birds and deer interact with the campers, convenient to the camp store with warm showers (.25 cents for 4.5 minutes) and close to the visitor center.
We took a chance not knowing anything about this campground. It’s beautiful here and they take really good care of the grounds. They were super helpful and we are so happy we stopped here. I highly recommend staying here.
Loved staying at the mammoth cave state park last weekend. April 26th-28th 2019.
No reservations are needed until May 1st. It was Walk up First come first serve from March through May. The last weekend of April was perfect and was not over crowded but had a good amount of visitors. We had perfect weather as well. The camp grounds are clean and nice looking , bathrooms also very clean and have normal toilets, laundry room had new washers and dryers and very roomy & clean with attached bathrooms & showers for men & women. The camp store was nicely set up and had plenty of foods and stuff Incase you forgot anything. However they do not sell real fire wood. They do sell compressed fire bricks. That Looks-like compressed sawdust bricks. So if you want real fire wood you have to go off trail and find it. Recommend and saw to cut it up but there was plenty of dead branches to be found through out the park and you are allowed to pick it up and burn it. The cave tours are fun and educational however if you lack fitness some of them will test your limits. So know your limits before booking. Highly recommend buying your tickets before you arrive as they fill up super fast and they offer more tours during the peak season than they do in spring.
The lodge is nice has 2 restaurants one is sit down one is fast food snacks like setting. There are 5 gift shops in all between the camp store has 1 the lodge has 2 and the visitors center has 2. It’s worth the trip if your in to caving and hiking. Unfortunately there is lack of access to the river unless you go backwoods hiking/camping But all in all it’s a fun time!
Let me just say, it is nice to find a campground that not only welcomes tent campers but seems to be designed for them exclusively. This campground is primarily a tent site. There are a handful of RV sites, but over 3/4 of the camp is set up for tents only which makes for a better overall outdoor feel without the humming of generators, the height of large RVs blocking your tree views and the overall feeling the you are squished in next to someone.
The closest campground to the Visitor Center, this campground has narrow roads through camp, flushing toilets and hot showers. Preparing for tent campers, the amenities are vast enough to not feel like you are stuck waiting for a shower because they have not properly accommodated you. It is a great feeling to have.
Seasonally there is a small camp store which offers ice and firewood along with some basic items. I even picked up an ice cream here on a hot evening.
My site was $20 and was well shaded, almost nestled into the trees.I was in site 46 which was on the bend and seemed a bit closer to other campers, yet I still had plenty of space for my activities as a solo camper. Had I have been in a larger group or even not camping as a single I might have opted for a site a bit further around the loop.
TIPS:
If you are a senior and have an access pass you can present this when booking and get 1/2 off your site.
Look at the campground map in advance, you wlll be happy to have done so when looking for larger sites or sites which offer pull through options.
Close to the store, visitor center, and tours. Great location, clean sites, everything we needed. Bathrooms were exceptional!! Best ones we've stayed in!! Would have been nice to have a utility sink to wash dishes, I hated dumping my wash water down those sparkling toilets!! lol