Mammoth Cave Parkway
The Mammoth Cave Parkway is a major roadway located in the Mammoth Cave National Park in west-central Kentucky. It encompasses parts of Kentucky Routes 70 and 255 within the park in northwestern Barren and eastern Edmonson Counties. It closely follows the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail.[2]
Mammoth Cave Parkway | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by NPS | |
| Length | 8.4 mi[1] (13.5 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| North end | Visitor's Center / Flint Ridge Road |
| South end |  US 31W at Park City |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Counties | Edmonson, Barren County |
| Highway system | |
| National Park Service Road | |
Route description
Mammoth Cave Parkway is marked by Kentucky Route 255 from U.S. Route 31W, through the I-65 exit 48 interchange. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet maintains the road from US 31W to just beyond the I-65 interchange, while the NPS maintains the rest of the road beyond the I-65 junction. The road continues northward to the junction with Kentucky Route 70 (KY 70) near the Barren-Edmonson County line within the Mammoth Cave National Park.
It turns left onto KY 70 westbound, while KY 255 begins a brief concurrency with KY 70 eastbound for a couple of miles back into Barren County. A little beyond the Sloan's Crossing Pond Trail, KY 70 westbound leaves the parkway by making a left turn towards Brownsville, while the Mammoth Cave Parkway continues north to end at the Visitor's Center beyond the crossroad intersection with East Entrance and Carmichael Roads and intersections with Green River Ferry and Flint Ridge Roads. The parkway ends in the Visitor's Center parking lot and an intersection with an access road to the park's woodland cottages.[3]
Attractions along the route
- Diamond Caverns [4]
- Sloan's Crossing Pond Trail
- Doyle Valley Scenic Overlook
- Mammoth Cave Campground and Caver's Camp Store
- Hercules and Coach No. 2
- Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor's Center
History
The Mammoth Cave Parkway was originally built alongside the original path of the Mammoth Cave Railroad (1886–1931), which ran from the original town of Mammoth Cave to Park City (originally known as Glasgow Junction). When the Mammoth Cave Parkway first opened (as a local road), portions of the road, along with Cave City Road (also known as East Entrance Road), a small piece of Green River Ferry Road, and all of Joppa Ridge Road west of the visitor's center was part of the original alignment of KY 70 from 1929 until the 1970s. KY 70 was re-routed to its current alignment in the 1970s. The road became maintained by the National Park Service once Mammoth Cave became a national park.
In 2004, both of Mammoth Cave Parkway's junctions with KY 70 were reconstructed just before the completion of the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail.
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barren | Park City | 0.000 | 0.000 |   US 31W (Louisville Road/Second Street) / KY 255 south – Cave City, Bowling Green | Southern terminus; KY 255 continuation south of Park City after running concurrently with US 31W; southern end of KY 255 concurrency |
| 0.402 | 0.647 |  I-65 – Louisville, Nashville | I-65 exit 48 | ||
| Edmonson | Mammoth Cave | 2.4 | 3.9 |    KY 70 east (Mammoth Cave Road) / KY 255 north – Cave City | Northern end of KY 255 concurrency; southern end of KY 70 concurrency |
| 4.9 | 7.9 |  KY 70 west (Brownsville Road) – Brownsville | Northern end of KY 70 concurrency | ||
Old Mammoth Cave Road (a.k.a. Cave City Road) to  KY 255 to I-65 – Cave City Carmichael Road (Authorized vehicles only) | |||||
| 7.9 | 12.7 | Green River Ferry Road north / Ranger Station | Connects to    KY 1352 to KY 1827 | ||
| 8.1 | 13.0 | Mammoth Cave Campground | Campground and Caver's Camp Store | ||
| 8.2 | 13.2 | Mammoth Cave Hotel Road | Mammoth Cave Hotel Entrance | ||
| 8.3 | 13.4 | Flint Ridge Road east | Connects to  KY 218 to I-65 – Horse Cave Flint Ridge Road closed during winter months | ||
| 8.4 | 13.5 | Mammoth Cave Tours/Visitor's Center Woodland Cottages | Northern terminus in the Visitor's Center parking lot[3] | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
- Microsoft; Nokia (October 15, 2014). "Mammoth Cave Parkway" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
- National Park Service (n.d.). Mammoth Cave National Park (PDF) (Map). c. 1:84,480. National Park Service. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- National Park Service (n.d.). Visitor Center Area: Mammoth Cave National Park (PDF) (Map). c. 1:21,120. National Park Service. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
- Diamond Caverns (2015). "Discover Diamond Caverns". Diamond Caverns. Retrieved March 5, 2017.