Mammoth Cave Parkway
| 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 |
|
Green River Ferry Road  I-65 at Park City | |
| South end: |
 US 31W at Park City |
| Highway system | |
|
National Park Service Road | |
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. It closely follows the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail.[2]
Road description
Mammoth Cave Parkway is marked by Kentucky Route 255 from US 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 near the Barren-Edmonson County line within the Mammoth Cave National Park.
It turns left onto KY 70 westbound past the Sloans Crossing Pond Trail, while KY 255 gets co-joined with KY 70 eastbound for a couple of miles. A little beyond Sloan's Crossing Pond, KY 70 westbound makes a left turn to head for Brownsville, while the Mammoth Cave Parkway continues north to end at the Visitor's Center beyond the intersection with Flint Ridge Road. The parkway ends in the Visitor's Center parking lot.[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 Glasgow Junction). When the Mammoth Cave Parkway first opened (as a local road), portions of the road, along with Cave City Road (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 was reconstructed just before the completion of the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail.
Intersections
Here is a list of intersections for the Mammoth Cave Parkway.
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barren | Park City | 0.000 | 0.000 |  US 31W (Second Street) / KY 255 (Louisville Road) – Cave City, Bowling Green | Southern terminus; KY 255 continuation south of Park City after running concurrently with US 31W for 1.666 miles (2.681 km); southern end of KY 255 concurrency |
| 0.402 | 0.647 | I-65 north – Louisville | Exit from I-65 North and ramp to I-65 North | ||
| 0.418 | 0.673 | I-65 south – Bowling Green, Nashville | Exit from I-65 South and ramp to I-65 South | ||
| 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 | ||
| Carmichael Road (Authorized vehicles only) / Cave City Road / Old Mammoth Cave Road to KY 255 to I-65 – Cave City | |||||
| 7.9 | 12.7 | Green River Ferry Road; to   KY 1352 to KY 1827 / Ranger Station | |||
| 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; 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 [5] | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||