The hottest cave in the world. Caves. Mysterious and beautiful. The largest cave in Vietnam
About ten kilometers from the city of Kuala Lumpur are the Batu caves (karst caves), with a 42-meter statue erected at the entrance in honor of the Hindu god Murugan.
Marble Caves, Chile
The main attraction of Lake Lago General Carrera, marble caves in bluish hues - one of the unique and beautiful places in the world, located on the border between the countries of Chile and Argentina. beautiful music for relaxation
Son Doong Cave (Hang Sondong)
The largest and one of the most beautiful caves on the planet is located in Vietnam and is called Son Doong. The cave is striking in its scale - its height is about 200 meters, and its width is up to 150 meters.
Thamlod cave
Located in the Thai province of Mae Hong Son, Thamlod Cave is one of the most ancient caves in the country. It is very popular with archaeologists and tourists.
Mendenhall Glacier Caverns
The picturesque Mendenhall Glacier, located in Alaska, is famous for its amazing ice caves, with its fantasy world.
Giant Crystal Cave
In the desert of Mexico, at a depth of three hundred meters, an amazing world of giant crystals lurks.
Kyaut Sae Cave in Myanmar
Another one on the list of amazing caves is the place where a Buddhist temple was erected, Kyaut Sae Cave, striking in its views and size.
Vatnajokull glacier and its caves
On the imposing European glacier Vatnajokull (which means “glacier that gives water”) there are picturesque caves in the ice.
Phraya Nakhon Cave in Thailand
Not exactly a cave, but rather a valley 50 meters wide and 65 meters deep, over which hang walls covered with vegetation and stalactites.
Muntovsky volcano cave
Here is a cave of indescribable beauty, created by lava, ice, geysers and light, located in Kamchatka, not far from Muntovsky volcano.
Reed Flute Cave in China
Fabulously beautiful, like fantasy world karst cave located in Guilin, China.
In 1991, in Vietnam (near the border with Laos), a unique cave Shondong, recognized as the largest and beautiful cave in the world. Its length reaches nine kilometers, its height is 150 meters, and its age is several million years. Some halls, which will take more than one month to inspect, 150 pieces were found in the cave.
In 2009 and 2010, speleologists from the UK worked in Son Doong Cave. They spent two weeks underground and described in detail unusual phenomenon nature. Scientists were amazed by the deep chasms and the magnificent stone columns that they met on their way. They are sure that modern skyscrapers will fit in the halls of the cave.
Path to Son Doong Cave
In 2015, the cave was officially visited by the first small group of tourists, each of whom did not spare three thousand dollars, for the sake of dangerous trip in the dungeon. They had to go down an 80-meter rope and use climbing equipment in dark labyrinths to see 70-meter stalagmites and unusual pearls, underground clouds, jungles and amazing animals, as well as hear the roar of a stormy river, the waters of which formed in rocks large rooms and carved rock paintings.
How to get to Son Doong Cave?
To get to the entrance to the cave, you need to move through the impenetrable jungle for more than a day, which not everyone can do. Only the most hardy tourists descend into the cave. Each group of eight people is accompanied by experienced guides and speleologists. Below, a fire is made and food is prepared, and a tent city is also being created. Tourists are waiting for many kilometers walking route with crossing water obstacles.
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The largest caves on the planet amaze with their grandeur, which can bewitch anyone. It is terrible to look into the trap of a huge cave. It seems that it is impossible to get out of this place back. This mysterious separate world of silence and silence is able to suck any careless tourist into its expanses.
Expeditions to explore the most difficult caves began in the 18th century. A well-known scientist at that time, I. Nagel, led the largest expedition to the caves of Moravia. During the expedition, the group reached a depth of 138 m.
A large amount of knowledge about underground depths was introduced by M. Lomonosov. Explanation of the chemical nature of caves - Lomonosov's theory. The movement of air at the depth of caves and the formation of stalactites and stalagmites, as well as the formation of ice in caves - this knowledge is the merit of our scientist.
Absolutely all caves are different from each other, but they can be safely attributed to the list on Earth. The presence of wells, lakes, grottoes, waterfalls and glaciers are the elements of the caves that create the overall picture and make certain differences.
For centuries, water erodes rocks and creates huge labyrinths of mysterious and powerful caves. What are the largest caves on earth?
We bring to your attention the 7 most huge caves Earth.
Krubera cave.
Kruber's Cave is also called Crow's Cave. She is one of the most deep caves on the planet. Voronya is the only cave that has a depth of more than 2 km. It is located in Georgia. The entrance to its open spaces is located at an altitude of 2249 m. The vertical cave has many wells that are connected big amount stiles. At a depth of about 200 meters, the cave is divided into 2 branches. The main branch - has a depth of 2197 m. Nekuibyshevskaya - 1698 m. 
The Krubera Cave was discovered in 1960 by the expedition of the Research Institute named after. Bagrationi. Crow Cave has seen a huge number of different expeditions and scientific research.
Jeita caves.
The Lebanese great caves are among the most magical caves on earth. The upper cave was discovered in 1836, the lower one much later - in 1958. The length of the cave is 2250 m. 
Jeita is very popular among tourists who have the opportunity to visit only part of the cave 700 m deep, the rest of the path is blocked. The upper cave has 3 halls and special underground reservoirs. Stalagmites and stalactites also adorn the view of the Lebanese cave.
Mammoth Cave.
The Mammoth karst cave system is located in Kentucky (United States).
A national park was also built there, and the cave is its landmark and pride. Mammoth Cave is considered the longest cave in the world (588 km). Mammoth Cave has 226 underground passages, as well as more than 20 halls and 25 deep mines. 
By the way, the name "Mammoth" is not associated with any surname or with mammoths. "Mammoth" means "huge".
It is known that Mammoth Cave was formed more than 10 million years ago. The Indians knew about its existence. This fact was confirmed by scientists after Indians with mummies were found in the cave.
Caves of Crystals.
The Crystal Cave is the most unusual and amazing cave all over the world. It is located in Mexico and is unique because it is filled with giant gypsum crystals. The largest crystal was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century. It is 11 meters long and weighs 54 tons. The temperature inside the cave exceeds +50°C at 100% humidity. 
The cave was discovered in 1910 by Mexican miners. " Ice Palace"- the most famous hall of the Crystal Caves complex. It was discovered during drilling operations in 2009. Oddly enough, with its depth of 150 m, the hall is not filled with water.
Dragon Caves.
The Dragon Caves are of amazing beauty and are the main mystery of Mallorca. Exploration of these caves began in 1886. 
The caves are 1250 m long, equipped with special lighting equipment and a huge auditorium, which was built for various shows and concerts. Musical performances take place on boats on Lake Martel.
Sondong cave.
The most large cave in the world is located in Vietnam. They learned about it in 1991, and in 2009 a group of British scientists began a deep study of Shondong. The cave with the highest and widest passages has a total volume of 38 million m³. 
In Shondong sprouting their own jungle (the height of the trees reaches 3 meters) and the river flows with a fairly fast current.
Optimistic cave.
The cave is located on the territory of Ukraine and reaches a length of more than 200 km. The cave, discovered in 1966, has not been fully explored. In the cave, in addition to stalactites, there are formations resembling the crystals of the Crystal Cave in Mexico. However, the crystals of the Optimistic Cave are much smaller. 
The name "Optimistic" cave was due to the fact that, contrary to the forecasts of other scientists, Lviv speleologists considered the cave one of the largest in the USSR. As a result, their assumptions were confirmed.
A cave is a naturally formed natural cavity in a mountain, large enough for a person to enter. They are studied by such a science as speleology. Thanks to speleologists, we know a lot about caves, because they are very different: deep, beautiful, bizarre or just huge. What is the deepest cave in the world and what other outstanding caves exist on Earth?
This Vietnamese cave was discovered relatively recently - in 1991 - by a local resident who was afraid to enter it because of the terrible rumble of water inside and called his friends for help. Eighteen years later, speleologists from Britain came to grips with the study. After covering a distance of four kilometers, they stumbled upon an obstacle in the form of an impressive wall, entirely formed from solid calcite (rock-forming material). In 2010, the study resumed again, the expedition stayed in the depths of the cave for two weeks.
Unusual stone columns and deep gorges were found in the cave. The wonders of Shondong amazed the entire speleological world. The dimensions of the cave are truly gigantic, in some places a skyscraper could fit there. It reminds lost city underground. It is even surprising that for so many years no one suspected its existence.
When floods occur, it is not possible to enter the cave
The cavity is 150 m high and about 9 km long. After the discovery of the cave, extreme sports enthusiasts rushed there. To get underground, you need a rope and stuff climbing equipment. On the way, you will have a chance to see the dark labyrinths, decorated with real rock patterns created by water flows. Indeed, inside this outlandish cave, a stormy underground river roars, creating a variety of tunnels. In some places, she managed to break through to the surface.
Shondong - extremely unusual place. 70-meter stalagmites grow here, attracting the attention of tourists, and real clouds form due to the mixing of warm and cold air. No matter how difficult and tiring the path to the cave was, all those who have been there unanimously assure that it is worth it.
Lubang Nasib Bagus
This one big cave in the world is located in Malaysia. It has a famous grotto called Sarawak. This grotto has very impressive dimensions - 600 by 415 m, and a height of about a hundred meters. The total volume of the grotto reaches a fantastic figure of 25 million cubic meters. It was discovered by three cavers from England in 1981.
At that time, they examined the karst massif, which is located in the Gunung Mulu reserve. Scientists climbed up the river and found themselves in a cave from which it flows. The speleologists did not even have enough lanterns to fully illuminate it.
On the area occupied by the grotto of Sarawak, several dozen aircraft can easily fit
Miao (Miao)
China also has one of the largest caves on the planet. It is hidden under the hills, and you can get there only by moving along the underground river. The cavity is a huge cave chamber. A few years ago, an expedition took place that studied this chamber in detail using a laser method.
This expedition was organized by the British, including specialists from the Chinese Institute of Karst Geology. Funding generated by the US National geographical society. Later, all the information was announced at a conference on the issue of caves, held in England. After extensive laser scans were carried out in 2013, the cave was officially mapped.
Miao's volume is approximately 11 million cubic meters
Eisreisenwelt
Is on the planet amazing place surrounded on all sides by ice. It is located in Austria near the city of Salzburg. It is the longest cave in the world that is partly made of ice.
The cave goes deep Alpine mountains for as much as 40 kilometers, but ice occupies only a small part of it, followed by limestone. The cave was formed by the efforts of the Salzak River, which made a hole in the mountain, and the ice appeared due to snow that fell into the cave and froze in winter.
The entrance to the ice part of the cave is always open for tourists, and cold winds constantly walk through the tunnels, which prevents snow and ice from melting, and in the warm season cold air rushes outward, forming a kind of air plug.
According to official data, A. Posselt was the discoverer of the cave in 1879. This naturalist, however, managed to explore only the initial 200 m. Before the discovery, the cave was known only locals. They were afraid of her, calling the devil's abode. In the middle of the 20th century, it was decided to build a special cable car, which reduced travel time from 1.5 hours to just 3 minutes. The open season runs from the beginning of May to the end of October. Full tour of this impressive place will take approximately 1.5 hours.
Difficult to find photo interior caves, because it is forbidden to take pictures there
red cave
On the Crimean Peninsula, which is part of Russia, there is also an outstanding cave, or rather, a cave system that stretches for more than 25 kilometers. Under the ground there are many halls of different sizes and appearance, between them an impenetrable labyrinth wanders. True, only 500 m are available for tourists, and then under the control of an experienced guide.
The interior view of the cavity is striking in the first place due to the lighting skillfully distributed along the entire route. Its intensity is adjusted in such a way that it favorably emphasizes the relief and creates beautiful shadows. Walking through the cave is convenient and safe: it is equipped with special paths with railings. The place is very interesting from the point of view of speleology, especially with its large stalagmites and bizarre streaks on the walls. Also, an amazingly clean river flows inside. It is so transparent that sometimes it can be seen only by the reflections of light.
Hearing this name, anyone will imagine the remains of the greatest prehistoric giants discovered by scientists underground. But this is just a play on words, in the English dialect "mammoth" is huge. However, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with mammoths, traveling in it is extremely exciting. This is a whole underground kingdom, full of halls, galleries and passages. The cave seems to live its own, independent life: rivers roar here and waterfalls seethe. The reservoirs even have their own unique fauna: blind fish, shrimp without eyes...
The main entrance is located in the US, Kentucky. Nearby, in the western part of the Appalachians, there are several more smaller underground systems that were previously considered independent, but now it turned out that they are all connected in one way or another with Mamontova. A significant national park was founded on this territory, where a colony of rare bats lives and you can enjoy untouched nature. In the Mammoth Cave, scientists have come across unusual finds more than once, for example, the mummified corpse of an Indian, perfectly preserved along with clothes due to special climatic conditions.
The cave has not yet been fully explored, the estimated length is 587 km.
Sak-Aktun
This unique cave is one of the main attractions not only in Mexico, but also in the world. flowing in it major river bears the same name, which means "white cave" in translation. The cave system has a length of more than 300 km and is a suite, interconnected by passages of "rooms". The study of Sak-Aktun, located on the Yucatan Peninsula, began only in 1987, but over the years that have passed since that time, only one percent of the territory has been explored. It is hard to imagine how many more amazing things are hidden in it, because the cavity was formed 65 million years ago.
According to one version, its occurrence is the result of a collision of the Earth with a huge meteor. At the place where he fell, a crater turned out, from which, in turn, many cracks spread underground. Time passed, and the crater, along with the cracks, filled with rainwater. And so it turned out a long full-flowing underground channel. This river has always been treated with respect by local tribes, for example, the Maya.
The river occupies almost the entire cave, and the spectacle is unusually beautiful.
Krubera-Crow
This cave is located in Abkhazia. Its length is just over two kilometers, and Georgian scientists began to study it since 1960. Krubera-Voronya is of interest not only for speleologists, but also for biologists. Here they discovered a previously unknown species of beetles, which were recognized as champions among insects in terms of the depth of their habitat. Biologists also claim that many other new species can be found in this place.
The well-known speleological group Cavex is mainly engaged in the study of the cave. This team was the first to achieve maximum depth– 1.7 km. Research can not be called easy: the expedition now and then ran into dead ends, had to go back. It also happened vice versa, windows leading to the discovery of new paths were found in the cave wall.
From Kruber-Voronya flows the most short river on the planet - Reprua, which is only 18 meters long
Sarma
Sarma is located in Arabica mountain in Georgia. It is a series of wells and halls, between which many tunnels and small climbs meander. Sarma is unanimously recognized by scientists as one of the most beautiful and scientifically interesting caves, extremely valuable for the world speleological community.
Sarma is conditionally divided into three levels - the first goes to a depth of 420 m, the second - to 900 m, the third - to 1830 m, then the territory has not yet been explored. Sarma got its name in accordance with the name of the wind: due to the peculiarities of aerodynamics, strong winds always blow here. hurricane wind, reaching a speed of 50 km / h, which the locals are afraid of.
The cave is closed to tourists, so you can get into it only as part of an expedition, having the appropriate skills and equipment.
Our Earth is a place filled with amazing wonders and mysteries of nature, only a small part of which has been explored by mankind. Huge and majestic caves invariably delight travelers.
April 14th, 2013
Mammoth Cave is a place of beauty, mystery and paradox. This is a real kingdom of underground lakes and canyons, waterfalls and streams, narrow passages and domed large halls. Located 80 km from Bowling Green, Kentucky, the cave contains one of the largest underground tunnel systems in the world, which is why it is included in the list world heritage UNESCO. mysterious sinkholes, underground waterfalls and cave formations in the gypsum karst attract numerous visitors. Nobody knows the true size of the Mammoth Cave yet. New caverns and passageways are constantly being opened up, the subterranean boundaries of this spectacular labyrinth are expanding deeper and deeper into the depths. underworld. Mammoth Cave is the world's longest underground labyrinth system, if the second and third longest caves in the world were combined, it would still be the longest in the world with a margin of 160 km!
People entered the Mammoth Cave and lived here since historical times. Anthropologists believe that Native Americans first discovered it about 4,000 years ago. For lighting, they used torches made from bunches of reeds that still continue to grow nearby. The charred remains of these ancient torches have been found for many kilometers inside the cave. Almost 5 kilometers from the entrance, the mummified body of a gypsum miner, who died about 2000 years ago, was found. He was crushed to death by a huge 5-ton block. The human body and clothes are well preserved.
The cave was known from time immemorial to Indian tribes. In a cave speleologists mummies of Indian tribes were found. Mammoth Cave was discovered by American colonists back in 1797. Legend has it that the first European to discover Mammoth Cave was either John Howchine or his brother Francis Howchine. In 1797, while hunting, Howchin pursued a wounded bear and discovered the entrance to a cave near the Green River.
Further in 1798, Valentine Simon purchased a cave for the development and extraction of potassium nitrate. As a result of the Anglo-American War of 1812-1814, saltpeter prices skyrocketed. During the War of 1812, the cave served as an important source of saltpeter, for the extraction of which they used the labor of mainly the black population of America. Saltpeter mining at that time had great importance, since it served as a key component for the manufacture of gunpowder. During the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, a significant part of the saltpeter needed for warfare was mined from Mammoth Cave. Its owners relied on the labor of 70 African slaves to extract this valuable mineral.
Further, Mammoth Cave was bought out by entrepreneurs Charles Wilkins and Hyman Gratz for the industrial production of saltpeter and calcium nitrate. But the war ended, and as a result of a decline in demand for saltpeter, prices began to fall, which made the production of saltpeter extremely unprofitable. Mining and production of saltpeter was stopped, and the cave was turned into a tourist attraction. local importance and later global. 
After the end of the war in 1815, saltpeter prices plummeted, and its extraction became unprofitable. However, people who learned about the cave began to visit it to see with their own eyes the huge size of this underground miracle. In the following decades, the cave turned into a popular tourist attraction.
In 1838, the cave was purchased by slave owner Franklin Gorin. Gorin appointed one of his slaves, Stephen Bishop, as an escort for the then-visitors of the cave. Bishop made attempts to explore the cave, which were sufficiently successful. AND Bishop became the first explorer of the cave. Bishop discovered many interesting and beautiful places in the cave, to which he gave his names. Bishop was the first to successfully cross the so-called. Bottomless pit. After that, Bishop concluded that the cave has a much greater extent than previously thought. Subsequently, Bishop compiled a map, on which he carried more than 16 kilometers of the routes he had laid. This map was the only guide to Mammoth Cave for 40 years. 
Stephen Bishop proved to be a talented explorer and guide. He made many discoveries that increased the popularity of the cave over the next decade. Stephen became the first person to cross the "Abyss" (Bottomless Pit) - a large hole over 30 meters deep. Stephen Bishop became one of the most famous guides in the history of Mammoth Cave, and almost everyone who visited the cave needed his advice. Many of his discoveries are described in the guidebook Rambles in the Mammoth Cave.
Later in 1839, doctor John Croghan bought the cave along with the slaves, including Bishop from Gorin. John Krogan had attempts to make a treatment-and-prophylactic hospital out of the caves, but without much success.
Dr. Krogan was interested in the cave's possible healing properties. He believed that the cave's constant temperature and humidity could be beneficial for people with tuberculosis. In the spring of 1842, he placed the sick with this disease in wooden and stone houses built in the center of the cave. Visitors from that period spoke of persistent coughs they heard from patients living in these lodges. In 1843, the experiment ended in complete failure. Several patients died, and the condition of others worsened. Obviously, the high humidity inside the cave and low temperature only harmed, not helped sick people. In Mammoth Cave, two stone houses are still preserved as a memory of this experiment. Ironically, Dr. Croghan himself died of this severe illness in 1849.
Attempts to turn the cave into a tuberculosis sanatorium were unsuccessful. And in 1845 Alexander Bullitt published the book Rambles in Mammoth Cave, during the Year 1844, by a Visiter. Gradually Mammoth Cave became more famous. And with the passage of transport arteries to nearby cities at the end of the 19th century, made it possible for tourists to visit the caves. What made the Mammoth Cave subsequently an important tourist attraction USA.
In the 1920s and 1930s, attempts were made, which were subsequently crowned with success, to acquire land around the cave. And thanks to these efforts, both on the part of the authorities and on the part of interested citizens, the Mammoth Cave National Park was created in 1941.
Further in the course scientific research from 1954 to 1961, speleological expeditions found that mammoth cave, as well as a number of other nearby caves, Crystal, Unknown and Salt, are included in one karst system caves. In 1972, a speleological expedition conducting research in Mammoth Cave, based on their research, concluded that Mammoth Cave connected with the nearby Flint Ridge cave system. This means that all the caves in the area are nothing but one whole cave system.
Cave Wars Kentucky
The difficulties of farming on infertile, poor soils served as the reason for the desire of the owners small caves located near Mamontova to switch from farming to other types of business. Thanks to the development of transport in the first quarter of the 20th century - rail and road - the number of visitors to the cave increased significantly. In the mid-1920s, the area around Mammoth Cave became the center of what historians have called the "Kentucky Cave Wars," a period of intense competition between local cave owners to generate tourism money.
A widely practiced practice of deception was used to lure tourists into other small caves. Along the roads leading to the Mammoth Cave, fake road signs, who led tourists astray and directed them to other caves. The owners of these small caves made visitors think that they had visited Mamontova, although in reality it was a completely different cave. A typical strategy at the initial stage of origin car travel consisted in the fact that a capper (a person who lures simpletons), jumping on the bandwagon of a passing tourist car, convinced passengers that the Mammoth Cave was closed, quarantined, collapsed, in a word, inaccessible to the public and offered them to visit another cave.
Creation national park mammoth cave
After Dr. Krogan's death, his nephews and nieces held the cave in trust until the last of the heirs died in 1926. According to his will, after the death of the last heir, Mammoth Cave should be sold at an open auction. With the death of the last heir of Dr. Krogan, a movement spread among wealthy Kentuckians to create a national park on the territory of the cave. The citizens of the state formed a public organization Mammoth Cave National Park Association. They believed that the only way to ensure its protection for future generations was to create a national park.
Mammoth Cave was considered a clear candidate for park status and state support. In fact, the national park project proved to be a formidable task, because, unlike the territories of such parks as Yellowstone and Yosemite, the area around Mammoth Cave was occupied by farmers and local entrepreneurs, many of whom did not want to leave their lands, and opposed the creation of a national park. parka.
On May 25, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the creation of Mammoth Cave National Park. The law tied the creation of the park to contingent donations of land to the federal government.
Donations from wealthy citizens were used to acquire the land of some farms, while other plots of land were acquired under the legal right of the state to alienate private property. Unlike the formation of other US national parks in sparsely populated areas of the country, thousands of people were forced to move to other places of residence. Like the American Indians who originally inhabited the area, the descendants of European settlers who arrived in the Green River Valley in the 1790s also had to leave the area.
Mammoth Cave National Park was officially opened on July 1, 1941 with the aim of "protecting a unique underground labyrinth, hilly terrain above, and the valley of the river Green.
How was the cave formed?
The ancient sea covered the central part of the modern United States 325 million years ago, depositing more than 180 meters of soluble limestone, later covered with a layer of sandstone and shale deposited ancient river. The top layer covered the bottom like an umbrella. The sea and the river disappeared, and the forces of erosion eroded this upper layer about 10 million years ago, when cracks and holes opened the limestone to the outside. Geologists believe that the old part of the Mammoth Cave began to form about 10 million years ago. Rainwater, oxidized by carbon dioxide in the soil, seeped through the cracks and began to dissolve the limestone, creating the labyrinth of passageways, amphitheaters, rooms and voids we know as Mammoth Cave.
Many interior features such as stalagmites, stalactites and columns formed at the rate of one cubic inch every 100 to 200 years.
Why is it called "Mammoth Cave"?
The name Mammoth was first used to describe the cave in the early 1800s. The name was used due to the huge size of the systems of labyrinths and passages, and has nothing to do with the mammoth. Any information about the discovery of mammoth remains here is not true.
Length of Mammoth Cave?
To date, researchers have mapped 584 km of passages, making Mammoth Cave the longest cave system in the world. Explorers are still discovering new passages, and, as is often said, "the end of the edge is not in sight." Professional speleologists continue to study the cave system, making new maps and discovering new passages, many of which are hard-to-reach corridors.
The bats
Mammoth Cave once had a population of 9-12 million bats in the historic section alone. Although bats continue to live in the cave, today their number does not exceed a few thousand. Now environmentalists are working on a program to restore the bat population.
Tourism and attractions Mammoth Cave
The US National Park Service offers visitors a number of cave tours. Tours last from one to six hours. The two tours are run using only paraffin lamps and are a popular alternative to the electrically lit trails. Several "wild" tours deviate from well explored parts of the cave and lead into dusty tunnels.
Park tours are distinguished by the quality of explanatory programs. Information for tourists depends on the tour chosen, so by taking several tours, tourists will learn about the various aspects of the formation of the cave and its history.
The six hour tour is the most popular among tourists. Groups pass through Cleveland Avenue, which is a long cylindrical hall carved groundwater. Its walls gleam with white gypsum, crystallized under a layer of limestone. The route then passes through the Snowball Dining Room, where you can stop and have a bite to eat. After that, the tour goes through Boone Avenue − deep gorge, the width of which is so narrow that you can easily touch the opposite walls of the passage with both hands. The tour ends at Frozen Niagara. Mineral-rich water, seeping through the rock, gradually formed Frozen Niagara, a characteristic feature of which is the presence of stalactites, stalagmites, images stone waves on the walls, simulating the fall of water.
One part of Mammoth Cave is called the Methodist Church, where it is believed that religious rites were held in the early 1800s. Visitors to this part of the cave are given the opportunity to experience what the first tourists felt. The guide turns off the lights and lights the torches, and visitors see firsthand how the cave looked before the installation of electric lighting here.
Buta Amphitheater - other famous place Mammoth Cave, visited by actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Booth is said to have recited Hamlet's monologue "To be or not to be" at this point.
Nearby is a deep hole in the ground, known as the Abyss (Bottomless Pit). It was named by the cave's first tour guides, unable to see its bottom through the faint light of oil lamps. The depth of the Bottomless Pit is 32 meters.
Entrance to Mammoth Cave. One of the most famous and most photographed objects in the park. It is especially good when you look outside from the middle of the cave.
The once most famous and popular Eco River tour, during which tourists had the opportunity to sail on a boat on an underground river, was canceled in the early 1990s due to environmental reasons. In addition, the maintenance of cave passages for viewing by the public, periodically subjected to floods, was incredibly costly. During the season, tourists are offered a cave tour that allows you to see the underground river.
Visitors to the national park rarely see more than 20 km of passages available for guided tours. If there free time you can explore the cave on your own. In addition, you can practice hiking or horseback riding on over 112 km2 of land on the surface of the park, fishing and rowing on the Green River.
The park's peak tourist season is during the summer, when an average of 5,000 to 7,000 visitors visit the park daily. Approximately 500,000 tourists visit the cave every year.
mammoth cave formed more than 10 million years ago in a thick limestone bed beneath the Big Clifty Sandstone in the western foothills of the Appalachians under the Flint Ridge. The top layer of sandstone covers and protects most of the cave from seeping water. Therefore, the upper passages of the cave are very dry, this explains the lack of stalactites, stalagmites and other sinter formations. But in some places, due to erosion and cracks, water still penetrates into the cave, forming beautiful panoramas, for example, in the hall “Frozen Niagara. Water, accumulating at the lower levels, forms lakes and rivers. One of these underground rivers, the Echo River, up to 60 meters wide and about 10 meters deep. Until the 1990s, there were frequent tourist boat trips on the river, but they were subsequently discontinued due to financial difficulties, as well as for environmental reasons.
