Hidden under the surface of south-central Kentucky, a vast network of sinkholes, springs, streams, and cave systems helps make up some of the most important karst areas on Earth. Mammoth Cave National Park is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve, helping to preserve a dramatic, complex ecosystem consisting of over 400 caves and an impressive diversity of terrestrial and aquatic organisms—including those that have specifically adapted to live in dark, cavernous environments. Learn more with these 10 mind-blowing facts about Mammoth Cave National Park.
The Oldest Parts of Mammoth Cave Are at Least 10 Million Years Old
Although the rock beds are estimated to have formed during the Mississippian Period, about 320 to 360 million years ago, the actual passages of the cave didn’t begin to form until between 10 and 15 million years ago. These passages were created when surface rivers and streams sent water down into the underground rock beds through small cracks, continuing to flow into the cave and the lower levels until modern times (the cave is still forming today).
It Preserves the World’s Longest Cave System
Not only does Mammoth Cave National Park protect the longest known cave on Earth, but that system is also nearly twice as long as the world’s second-longest cave (the underwater Sac Actun cave in Mexico). Explorers have already mapped out about 412 miles of cave passage at Mammoth, though they are still discovering new passages to this day—some experts believe the cave system could be as much as 200 miles longer.
Mammoth Cave National Park Became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981
UNESCO decided to officially protect Mammoth Cave National Park as a World Heritage Center in 1981, mainly due to the fact that almost every type of cave formation is present within the site. Not only that, but the flora and fauna living in Mammoth Cave is the richest cave-dwelling wildlife known to man, with over 130 species within the cave system alone. Because it exhibits 100 million years of cave-forming actions, the network of cave passages helps provide researchers with a completely accessible record of the world’s geomorphic and climatic changes.
The Surrounding Forest Ecosystem Contains Diverse Plant Species
Mammoth Cave National Park contains more than just caves—diverse forest habitats and the unique flora and fauna live there as well. The surrounding forest supports over 1,300 flowering plant species and a wide range of bird species such as bald eagles and wood warblers. On the whole, the park encompasses 52,830 acres of wilderness, including 60 miles of backcountry hiking trails and 30 miles of rivers.
The Cave System Is Home to an Endangered Cave Shrimp Found Nowhere Else on Earth
The Kentucky cave shrimp (Palaemonias ganteri) is a small, endangered crustacean that grows to just over one inch in length. They have translucent bodies, no eyes, and are one of only two known species of the genus Palaemonias. Kentucky cave shrimp are found exclusively in the state of Kentucky, only having been observed in underground streams in and surrounding Mammoth Cave National Park. U.S. Fish and Wildlife designated critical habitat for the shrimp in 1983, consisting of a single stream in a base-level cave passage in Mammoth Cave.
Native Americans Mined the Caves 5,000 Years Ago
Evidence of Native American exploration dates back to between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago, thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers.
Early inhabitants of the area mined minerals from the passageway of Mammoth Cave, using mussel shells from the nearby Green River to scrape the soft natural compounds from the walls into containers. Parts of the cave even contain prehistoric petroglyphs and pictographs made using charcoal pigment.
Mammoth Cave Preserves Fossils From the Paleozoic and Cenozoic Periods
Some of the sedimentary bedrock layers making up the Mammoth Cave formations consist of 300 to 325-million-year-old Paleozoic limestone, sandstones, and shales. The limestone, in particular, originally formed at the bottom of the Mississippian Sea, so its fossils tend to contain sea creatures from the Mississippian Period. As a result, fossils of corals, crinoids, brachiopods, gastropods, and even sharks embedded in cave walls are not uncommon.
On top of the limestone layers, sandstone and shale from the Pennsylvanian Period produce ancient plant fossils, while some of the cave sinkhole entrances contain fossil bones from animals that were deposited between 2 million and 5 million years ago.
A Local Community Group Helped Establish Mammoth Cave National Park
In 1924, a body of community members in Kentucky established the Mammoth Cave National Park Association with the purpose of forming a national park. After years of canvassing the National Park Service, acquiring land, and building the appropriate infrastructure, Mammoth Cave National Park was officially created in 1941.
Mammoth Cave Aquifers Help Provide Drinking Water to the US Population
The US National Park Service manages over 4,900 caves and karst formations (limestone landscapes that have eroded to produce sinkholes, caverns, and underground streams), the largest of which are located in Mammoth Cave National Park. Karst formations are valuable as they also contain aquifers that collect natural rain water underground, and although they only cover 20% of the country, their aquifers hold about 40% of our groundwater.
Many of the Park’s Greatest Explorers Were Enslaved
Enslaved Black people played a role in practically every aspect of the cave system’s original rediscovery by modern man, from the mining of saltpeter (the main ingredient in gunpowder) within the depths of Mammoth during the War of 1812, to the establishment of the popular tourist destination before the Civil War.
Many of these men and women worked in the Mammoth Cave Hotel cleaning rooms and preparing meals, while others worked as guides to help develop tour routes within the caves for visitors. Perhaps the most well-known, a self-educated enslaved man named Stephen Bishop, worked as both a guide and an explorer, contributing to many of the more significant discoveries made in Mammoth Cave until his death in 1857.
