Cub Run Cave

This is the best cave in Kentucky! This place seriously should be on everyone’s bucket list. I’m dead serious, this is one of the coolest places that I’ve ever been to. Currently, it’s for sale for 1.9 million! I want it! Too bad I’m not a millionaire and nowhere near it. But the reason I mention it being for sale, is that you now don’t know what the future holds for the cave, or who will end up buying it and what they’ll end up doing with it. Hurry up and make a trip there.
The tours meet up at the gift shop, on the main road, Wednesday-​Sunday 9:30am, 12pm, 1:30, 3 and 4:30. The tours typically last an hour to an hour and a half. The gift shop is closed during the tours. GPSs don’t work very well in the area, so give yourself some extra time. At the gift shop, we met the ever so sweet Linda. That’s who told us that it was for sale. She was knowledgeable about the area in general. Our tour was the first tour of the day and there were only 4 others. This is literally Kentucky’s biggest secret, a hidden gem.
From the gift shop, we got in our car and followed Linda. The cave entrance is about a 5 minute drive from the gift shop. The entrance is simple and unassuming. The reopening was in 2006, so the entrance and walk ways are around 10 years old. I didn’t feel safe or unsteady at anytime though.
I can’t say enough about how awesome Linda is and what a great passionate tour guide she is, she definitely added to the experience, just by sharing her knowledge and her love for the cave. So here’s a bit of what I learned from her… The cave was discovered in 1950 by two teenagers, one is still alive and comes by every once in a while to start off the tour… THAT would be cool. She explained that he knew that cold air coming from the natural spring meant that there was a cave somewhere under it. The boys took a lantern and crawled through the tiny hole at the peak of the spring and the rest is history. I can’t imagine! I was in awe just by walking through the entrance, knowing what was up ahead. Not only is there a cave… it’s huge! I mean, it’s no Mammoth Cave, but you don’t see sights like these at Mammoth Cave either. The colorful salamanders, albino craw fish, crickets and cave spiders were about all of the wildlife that we seen. Linda said that the bats mostly come out in the spring and apparently she will teach you how to get up close and personal with them.
Mammoth Cave doesn’t allow flash, but here you’re free to snap away, flash and all. If ever you pick just one recommendation that I’ve given, this one should be it! Niagara, Grand Canyon, and Cub Run Cave… my favorite is Cub Run Cave.

We camped at Nolin Lake State Park, which also gets 5 stars into book, so this cave wasn’t too far from us. It’s really is an amazing cave. So many formations, well maintained easy boardwalk, 1.5 was just right, very nice fun guide. We saw this cave first then went to Mammoth which was large and grand but the beauty at at Cub Run is breath taking.

Came out this way for Mammoth Cave, but Cub Run had to pinch-​hit because Congress doesn’t want to share with its citizens. Who knew this cave would hit a home run? So many amazing sights inside, well preserved and described by a passionate, knowledgeable guide. Don’t miss your chance to experience it.
As a bonus, the gift shop is an entertaining time capsule of its own: circa 1990 truck stop.

Wonderful! Wonderful! We came here since the government can’t get it’s act together and closed Mammoth cave. It was kind of a fortunate occurrence because we loved this one even more than Mammoth! Linda was our guide and she was so friendly, warm, and just a genuinely happy, pleasant person. She loves the cave and you can tell. It was not crowded for early October. We had a Group of 14, kids and adults from 3 to 65, and we were the only ones on the tour. It felt like a private tour! Tickets were reasonable, with $ 2 coupon it was $ 12pp, $ 10 seniors, and under 5 free. (Linda also sells gourds that she paints herself). Anyway, the cave was sealed in the 1950s due to a family feud and only reopened in 2006. This means the cave is pristine! The formations were just beautiful and I’m not really impressed by much. The wood walkway is comfortable and takes you all of the way through. There is water throughout and the sounds are great. Linda found some crawfish and bats for us to look at, the kids (and us!) loved it! Could not recommend this place more! They even let us eat our packed lunch in their breeze way on their picnic tables.

We visited several commercial caves in this part of Kentucky and Cub Run is the prettiest and the best. It’s a little out of the way but well worth it as most of the formations are pristine and have escaped the destruction of the infamous ‘Cave Wars’ of the early part of the 20^th century.