Existing comment:
Historic Entrance:
Prehistoric people were the first to stand beneath this forest canopy and feel the chilling breath omitted from an unseen, yet gaping, hole in the ground. Cool air and mystical darkness drew them into the earth for twenty centuries. Local tradition has it that, in the late 1790s, a young pioneer chased a wounded black bear into the same yawning chasm, rediscovering the cave and all its secrets.
World travelers began to visit the Mammoth Cave following the War of 1812. Guides led generations of visitors into the cave by torch, lantern, or electric light. Millions of people ventured into what was, until 1921, the only entrance or exit to the vastness below.
The sunlit area where visitors have gathered for centuries has gradually changed over the years, yet one thing remains constant. The cave's breath reaches out to draw you in, just as it chilled bare legs four thousand years ago. |