Post #770584 by uncle trav on Fri, Nov 25, 2016 5:05 AM

My wife and I visited the wild underworld of Kentucky late last month. This was our second visit to Mammoth Cave National Park. We were on the final tour of the year for Great Onyx Cave. Although part of the park the cave does not connect to the main cave system. The tours through Great Onyx are limited to thirty people and are given totally by lantern light due to no electricity in the cave. The entrance is literally in the middle of nowhere. A hair raising bus ride through the hills and woods down some sketchy trails is the only way to get there. The lantern tour was amazing and our ranger guide was great. We stayed in the park in one of the historic cottages on the grounds. The night sky was spectacular. If you have never experienced a truly dark night sky you will be blown away. The Milky Way was splashed across the sky like billions of diamonds spilled over black velvet. There is so much more to these parks than just the main tourist attractions. We already have a pile of maps and are planning next summer's trip to the wilds of Michigan's Upper Peninsula when the warm weather returns. We had fantastic summer this year that has been a long time coming. Thanks for taking a look.

The cave entrance was behind a heavy iron door through this little stone building built into a hillside.

One of the eight lanterns for the tour that I carried.

Some of the amazing formations.

Our ranger guide told many stories about the cave.

There are ten historic cottages facing the woods just a short walk from the visitors center that are very cozy.