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Established Camping

Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park

Maple Springs Campground, near Mammoth Cave National Park, is a peaceful spot that caters to both tent campers and RV enthusiasts. With electric and water hookups available, it’s a solid choice for those looking to enjoy the great outdoors without sacrificing comfort.

The campground is known for its spacious sites and beautiful wooded surroundings, making it a great place to unwind. Visitors have praised the quiet atmosphere, with one camper noting, “We had it completely to ourselves one night.” While there are no showers, the clean pit toilets and nearby water sources help keep things manageable.

For adventure seekers, the campground offers direct access to some fantastic trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Many campers have enjoyed exploring the nearby Mammoth Cave, with one reviewer highlighting the “great time touring Mammoth Cave.” Just a heads up, if you're bringing an RV, be aware that you can't take it across the ferry, so plan your route accordingly.

Whether you're here for a weekend escape or a longer stay, Maple Springs provides a laid-back environment with plenty of opportunities to connect with nature. With its friendly vibe and scenic views, it’s a great base for your Mammoth Cave adventures.

Description

National Park Service

Mammoth Cave National Park

Overview

At Maple Springs, visitors can enjoy the serenity of the campground and surrounding backcountry trails, or spend their days exploring Mammoth Cave. Campers can explore up to ten miles of the cave through a variety of tours available at the Visitor Center. With more than 400 miles (644 km) of mapped passageways, Mammoth Cave ranks as the world's longest known cave system. Mammoth Cave is named for its grand size and scale. Visit the Rotunda for an idea of just how large this underground world is. The World Heritage Site was explored by Native Americans more than 2,000 years ago, and Europeans discovered its existence at the turn of the 19th century.

Recreation

Avid horseback riders head to Maple Springs to explore the lush backcountry trails. Hikers will also find these trails enjoyable.

Natural Features

This campground is part of Mammoth Cave National Park, a 52,800-acre park that includes the Green River Valley, rolling Kentucky hillsides, and the expansive Mammoth Cave with grand-scale chambers and long, winding passageways. This remote campsite is quiet, peaceful and ideal for those who want to be immersed in nature. Wildlife includes deer, turkey, and coyotes.

Nearby Attractions

Take a tour of Mammoth Cave and see landmark cave areas like the Cathedral Domes and Mammoth's famous formation, Frozen Niagara. Or hike above the caverns to explore sinkholes like Cedar Sink.

Charges & Cancellations

Group Facilities - Overnight -$10.00 cancellation fee AND forfeit the first night's use recreation use fee if cancelled less than 14 days before the arrival date (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). For rules and reservation policies please follow the link below: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies

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Location

Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park is located in Kentucky

Detail location of campground

Directions

Directions from the North: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway towards the Visitor Center. Turn left on the Green River Ferry Road. Cross the ferry and follow the signs to Maple Springs. Turn left onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left. For trailers or large vehicles, use alternate directions. Vehicles boarding the ferry must not exceed 8 tons and have a length no more than 16 feet. Alternate Directions from the North:Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Turn left on HWY 70 to Brownsville. Make a right on HWY 259. Turn right onto HWY 728 which becomes HWY 1827. Then turn right onto HWY 1352 and follow signs to Maple Springs Group Campground. Turn right onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left. Directions from the South: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway towards the Visitor Center. Turn left on the Green River Ferry Road. Cross the ferry and follow the signs to Maple Springs. Turn left onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left. For trailers or large vehicles, use alternate directions. Vehicles boarding the ferry must not exceed 8 tons and have a length no more than 16 feet. Alternate Directions from the South: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Turn left on HWY 70 to Brownsville. Make a right on HWY 259. Turn right onto HWY 728 which becomes HWY 1827. Then turn right onto HWY 1352 and follow signs to Maple Springs Group Campground. Turn right onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left.

Address

P.O. BOX 7
Mammoth cave, KY 42259

Coordinates

37.2072222 N
86.1316667 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site

Stay Connected

  • WiFi
    Available
  • Verizon
    Unknown
  • AT&T
    Unknown
  • T-Mobile
    Available

Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Standard (Tent/RV)
  • Group
  • Equestrian

Features

For Campers

  • Trash
  • Picnic Table
  • Firewood Available
  • Phone Service
  • Reservable
  • Drinking Water
  • Electric Hookups
  • Toilets
  • Alcohol
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Water Hookups
  • Pull-Through Sites
  • Big Rig Friendly

Contact

General Info

Reservations

Drive Time


Reviews

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4.5

out of 5

12 Reviews

Reviewed Jul. 2, 2023

Maple Springs Camp Group Sites

Peace and quiet, awesome set up for our 40ft fifth wheel “the big kahuna”. 4 nights, electric and water hookup. Dump site is on the mammoth cave side, only downside is the 45 minute drive around to the dump site, other than that 10/10 for campground and amenities.

SiteG003
Month of VisitJuly
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Aloha M., July 2, 2023
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Aloha M., July 2, 2023
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Aloha M., July 2, 2023
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Nov. 15, 2022

Amazing space

Large area and peaceful get away. The pull in line up could be a bit better for some of the spaces (site 3 you better reverse traffic). Sewage would be a nice upgrade especially with no showers there but the Camp bathrooms ease some of that burden. Beautiful scenery and some great things to check out at the cave. My verizon signal worked great here, used a Hotspot to stream movies when inside for a rain storm

Site2
Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Apr. 17, 2022

Quiet and open

Nicely wooded. Had a water and electric site but the second night the electric stopped working at the pole so we had to run out generator for a couple minutes. Ferry was open and had a great time touring Mammoth Cave.

Site1
Month of VisitApril
Reviewed Oct. 31, 2018

Quiet campground across the river from the caves

Like most, we were here to visit Mammoth Cave National Park. We stayed on the Maple Springs side of the Green River to be closer to the mountain bike trails and are glad we did. The trails were great for both of us and we could ride straight from the campground. If you are in a RV note that you can't go across the ferry with your rig!!! You have to go around the park to access this campground. We are so glad we realized that ahead of time and didn't have to back track. The campground was quiet and we had it completely to ourselves one night. The campground had pit toilets but no shower. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we almost stayed an additional night! If you plan to visit the cave, be sure to book your tour ahead of time. The tours were all sold out when we got there!

Site2
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Bounding Around , October 31, 2018
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Bounding Around , October 31, 2018
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Bounding Around , October 31, 2018
  • (8) View All
Reviewed May. 20, 2018

Spacey

Ranger Review: Renogy Water Filtration at Maple Springs Campground Mammoth Cave NP.

Campground Review: Maple Springs Campground is a horse and group campground in Mammoth Cave NP. From the main park you take the Green River Ferry across you guessed it Green River to the far side.

Pro: this area is definitely less traveled than the main park.

Con: you are sharing the trails with horse and bike ( not really a con but..)

Pro: there are some good technical single track trails that take you into the “woods” AND there are free dispersed camping sites! Just check in with the main camp office first. Many, many interesting things to see.

Con: got nothing

Pro: the campground is well spaced out, horse trailer and horse friendly, pretty good shade. I am not a horse person so I can’t speak from that expertise. Plenty of room for groups, there was a Boy Scout invasion when we visited.

Con: pit toilets…..

Pro: direct trail access

Con: pit toilets, though they are clean and well maintained

Product Review: I packed the Renogy Water Filtration

****https://www.renogy.com/

in my hydration bag no problem. . I would suggest pre-assembly due to a few small parts. There are three “main parts” after initial assembly. Intake hose with initial filter and float, the Renogy hand pump and the out put hose. (These are not the official terms, they are my laymen terms) I left the “flusher” at the campsite while hiking. You use it when you are complete with filtration to back flush the “core”.

The only problem I had with the Renogy was handling all the components and three dogs and my cell phone for video capture;) Otherwise it was total ease of use!

1: Place initial filter with float in your source water.

2: place out put tube in your capture vessel

3: pump handle until capture vessel is full and make sure your initial filter is not sitting in the bottom silt.

I sampled my filtered water (yesterday) and have had no ill effects.

A few things to note, I used a run off stream and filtered water from above the trail crossing (I didn’t want any extra trail apple or other flavoring). I have used other filters and water sources before and even with filtration sometimes the water doesn’t taste “pristine” but it’s still palatable. The stream I used was fresh rainwater from the night before and day of. Avoid stagnant water and water with obvious metal contamination. I’m no expert, so there are more tips, read up before extensive use.

Month of VisitMay
  • Assembly
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  • Renogy Filtration use
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  • Maple Springs Trailhead
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  • (10) View All
Reviewed Nov. 1, 2017

Mammoth caves enough said

stayes here one night and mammoth cave campground. This place was quieter. But we are all here for the caves sooo.

Month of VisitSeptember
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Daniel S., November 1, 2017
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Reviewed Sep. 18, 2016

Study....

Make sure you have your map and know which trail(s) you want to link up to. Winging it may make for a long afternoon :) excellent campground area for the horse enthusiast and sometimes very full! A cool thing I noticed was a handicap loading area for horseback.

  • Small gravel sand mix easier on horse hooves
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  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Shelly S., September 18, 2016
  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Shelly S., September 18, 2016
  • (12) View All
Reviewed Sep. 1, 2016

beautful

great way to enjoy a weekend off then going camping and hiking in the great outdoors

  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Leah P., September 1, 2016
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2016

Small horse-friendly campground

Half the sites are for horses so it’s a little more barn-like than I expected. Lots of trees but not all sites are shady. Small and simple, didn’t really do much here besides spend the night. If you don’t have a horse you might want to look elsewhere but really I have no complaints.

Reviewed Jul. 30, 2016

Across the ferry

Nice large camping areas, secluded and quiet, easy access to the trails. Well maintained full hookup for RVs and plenty of room for your horse too. There are also several primitive spots you can backpack into, check in with the staff before beginning your adventure.

  • Crossing the ferry , bout 3 miles to Maple Springs turn off
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  • Small stream on Rymer, nice hilly gravel trail you share with horses
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  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Shelly S., July 30, 2016
  • (7) View All
Reviewed Jul. 25, 2016

lots of horses

While visiting Mammoth Cave, we drove through the campgrounds checking them out for family that was going to be traveling here in the next couple of months. These sites looked super nice, but many are reserved for group camping and equestrian camping it seemed. It does seem like some people didn’t have horses too, so there must be regular camping as well. The campground was small, but wooded and seemed to offer some seclusion from others and it was a reprieve from the busy park.

Reviewed Jul. 8, 2016

Maple Springs in Early Spring

I visited the Maple Springs Campground in Mammoth Cave National Park for a total of 3 days/2 nights. I chose this site because it was pet friendly. Each site was spacious with room for up to three tents without feeling crowded. The sites were also spaced far enough apart that you never have to interact with your neighbors. Each site has two grated fire pits as well as picnic tables.

The campground offered several facilities such as a communal fire pit and a few privies and water supply stations. Everything was clean and in order while I was there.

Horses are allowed in the campground and you will see a lot of people taking their horses for a few runs around the road through the campsite as a warm up in the early mornings. My dogs did not like the horses at first but they got used to it as the trip went on. Keep this in mind if you plan to bring any four legged friends!

The only downside to the entire trip is that the park is infested with seed ticks and deer ticks. I was pulling ticks off of every inch of me even though I was coated in several layers of hardcore bug spray and my gear had been treated with permethrin. Seriously, the ticks were gnarly.

Overall, this was a great place to stay. I would happily go back if I felt that I had more control over the bug situation. I hope I can learn a little more about tick control and make my way back there soon!

  • Review photo of Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park by Carrie J., July 8, 2016

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Does Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park have RV hookups?

    According to TheDyrt.com, Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park has water hookups.

  • What is the max vehicle length at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park?

    Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park allows vehicles up to 50 feet.

  • Are fires allowed at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

  • Does Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park have wifi?

    No, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park does not have wifi.

  • Is there cell phone reception at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park?

    According to campers on TheDyrt.com, Verizon signal is unknown, AT&T is unknown, and T-Mobile is available.

  • How hard is it to get a campsite at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park?

    Some campers book as far as 6 months in advance, so on high-demand weekends it can be very difficult to get a campsite at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park. If you want to get a last-minute campsite at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park, try setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts

  • Why is it so hard to get a campsite at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park?

    There are 7 campsites at Maple Springs Campground — Mammoth Cave National Park and over 80 million Americans who camp! Try snagging a cancellation by setting up a text message Alert atTheDyrt.com/alerts