For more information:

• Mammoth Cave National Park, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259, (270) 758-2251

Whole Lot of Hole

Mammoth Cave

Mammoth Cave is known worldwide as the largest cave system on Earth. More than 350 miles of passageways have been mapped, but new ones are still being discovered, and the explorers say there’s no end in sight.

Each year, more than 2 million visitors come to the park, with nearly 500,000 of them taking a cave tour. Although Mammoth Cave wasn’t established as a national park until 1941, tourists have been visiting since about 1816, paying guides to lead them through the cave.

Kentucky Life Program 417 includes a segment on the wildflowers of Mammoth Cave National Park. In Program 511, our cameraman strapped on a hard hat and light to take the park’s challenging wild cave tour.

For more information:
• Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, 100 Van Morgan Drive, Golden Pond, KY 42211-9001, (270) 924-2000

Wild and Scenic

Land Between the Lakes

This 170,000-acre region between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley was signed into existence in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy as a demonstration project to find out whether recreation could coexist with environmental education and preservation. By all accounts, the experiment has been quite a success.

The land is now managed by the U.S. Forest Service and boasts both 420 miles of road and 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline. In 1996, the large publicly owned buffalo herd got some new neighbors as elk were reintroduced to the area. Human visitors can enjoy camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, birdwatching, horseback riding, mountain biking, and boating.

Kentucky Life “discovered” this special place early on: Our first visit was in Program 106.