Mammoth Cave National Park will receive approximately $6.5 million from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to rehabilitate about one mile of cave trail inside Mammoth Cave starting in the fall.
The project will address deferred maintenance associated with these facilities, visitor safety, tour experience, and natural and cultural resource protection from the New Entrance to the Frozen Niagara entrance, the GAOA said in a news release.
“The funding we’ve received through GAOA will allow us to fix deteriorated cave trails and greatly improve the visitor experience in this busy section of Mammoth Cave,” Superintendent Barclay Trimble said. “The current trail has not seen any major improvements since the 1930s when the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the path used today. Once this project is complete, we will have a safer and more comfortable tour route and provide even better protection to the cave’s sensitive resources for the next generation of cave visitors.”
The Cave Trail Rehabilitation Project will harden the existing cave trail using concrete and paving stones and replace narrow stairways to improve both the visitor experience and emergency personnel access.
New benches will be installed in the Fairy Ceiling gathering area and the Frozen Niagara section will see an improvement to the overlooks in the main Drapery Room and Crystal Lake. These improvements will greatly enhance the visibility of these features to the public once the project is complete, officials said.
The exact date of construction has not been set, according to officials, but work is expected to begin in November 2022 and last until summer 2023. During construction, the Grand Avenue, Domes and Dripstones, Frozen Niagara, Introduction to Caving, and Wild Cave Tours will be unavailable, but the park will offer several other tours through Mammoth Cave that are unaffected by the project.
In 2021, Mammoth Cave National Park received 516,000 visitors who spent an estimated $47.9 million in local gateway regions.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
