Mammoth Cave National Park - Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail

Mammoth Cave National Park is one of those terrific places that I wanted to visit. It was on my "go-to" places when I knew it was only an hour away from my vacation spot. I booked two tours of the cave for two different dates that are yet to come, but decided to get a better feel of the park today.

One of the longest routes, around 5 miles round trip, was Green River Bluff, Echo River Springs, Sinkhole and Heritage Trail. It goes around the perimeter of the busiest area of the park (the park itself is much larger than that area) and hits the major viewing points with great vista.

I arrived in the morning around 10 am. The parking lot was still relatively available, but at the visitor center where I used the restroom there were many people waiting for their cave tours. Lots of kids (my nightmare...) and families since most of the trails are easy.

I started out solo and for the first mile did not see a human soul, just amazing birds and several squirrels. There are very few bears in the park that are rarely seen. It gave me a sense of security and sadness at the same time as bears disappeared from the park at some point due to development, but reappeared just recently in very small numbers.

It is still early April, so the trees are just starting to bud, and the first flowers peek through the ground.

As I continued downhill, vegetation at lower levels was more advanced in their "coming to life" journey.

The first outlook is probably pretty impossible during the summer months when the trees are full of leaves. Now I could see Green River right below me.

As I continued the hike, the trail lost more elevation and I was able to approach the river. Indeed, it had this strange green color.

Panoramic shot of the river close up

The trail soon had a fork towards where river flows out of the cave. 

After another mile or so the trail seemed to have connected to a paved trail leading towards a wooden boardwalk featuring areas with small ponds of water coming out of the cave. The cave itself is pretty mystical still to this date as divers tried to explore it. Water comes from all different areas and at this point is not completely trackable (although they tried with a dye).

The trail started to climb and offered this amazing lookout. This probably would look even better a month or so from now!

I finished the hike near the cave entrance packed with people thinking in just a few weeks I would be one of them. Looking forward to coming back!