Mammoth Cave National Park near Brownsville, KY

Entrance to Mamouth Cave, a World Heritage site.














Lantern tour through the cave. With gas lanterns we trecked through the cave just as they did in 1838 and later when tours began. Then, slaves took people through and told ghost stories. The more entertaining they were, the bigger the tips. The slaves could keep the tips and some bought their freedom in this way.









Dirt vats, dug out by slaves, and wooden pipes created a leaching factory in the cave during the War of 1812 to extract saltpeter for gunpowder.













There are a very few stalagtite fromations because this caveis absolutely dry.We're standing in front of one formation.











Tourists were allowed to write their names on the roof of the cave with candles on sticks.