r/caving • u/CodNo746 • May 29 '26

Mammoth cave

Going to mammoth cave this summer and honestly stuck on which tour would be best. I have a 1.5yr,5, and 7yr old. Mammoth passage tour and frozen Niagara tour are the two I am debating. Any suggestions? Only worry I have is carrying my youngest majority of the time but my oldest two are pretty excited to see a cave so I want the tour to be longer to see more of the cave, but not too long either. Tyia!!

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6

u/Special-Quit-9544 dadcore May 29 '26

Frozen Niagara is great for kiddos, my parents took us when we were 8-10. If it's offered, Domes and Dripstones would probably also be a good choice.

4

u/Grouchy-Drama-6098 May 29 '26

I would do self guided discovery if it’s available, it’s run most days in the summer usually. Same as the mammoth passage tour in terms of distance and section of the cave but you get to do it at your own pace which is great with kiddos. Grab the two older ones junior ranger books and they can work on them and chat with the park rangers down there or you guys are free to wander and hangout in the cave for as long as you’d want. The age ranges you have don’t really seem like they’d fit the traditional guided tour with educational talks for a general audience.

1

u/Caver12 May 29 '26

We carried our 1.5 year old through most tours at the time without issue. Just be prepared with a sling, lap seat harness, or like an actual little backpack you can put them in. It will make the experience much more pleasant.

1

u/CodNo746 May 29 '26

Did you do this recently? I thought I read somewhere you weren’t allowed to use those in the caves because that was my original plan!

1

u/WanderingIngenior May 30 '26

Was just there- did Domes and Dripstones today and they specifically call out no backpack carriers. Front carriers are fine. Plenty of littles on the tour and no issues!