Summary
1841 Taylor Ave, Louisville, KY 40213, USA
Phone +1 877-614-6342
You’ve probably been to the Louisville Zoo, but do you know that most of the zoo sits on top of the Louisville Mega Cavern? It’s a man-made cavern, originally a limestone quarry, and has been open to tourists since 2009. For the adventurous, there are zip line tours, an underground bike park with over 320,000 square feet of trails (the only underground bike park in the world), an aerial ropes challenge course, and for the history buffs, there are historic tram tours.
How to Join a Mega Cavern Tour
The entrance to the Mega Cavern is just south of the Louisville Zoo and north of the Watterson Expressway. The whole place was once the Louisville Crushed Stone Mine and is located right in the city. Directions can be found here. There is ample parking and a clearly marked doorway leading visitors down a hallway filled with facts about the cavern.
Example factoids:
- The mine was active from the early 30s to the early 70s.
- The average temperature in the Mega Cavern is a consistent 58 degrees.
- Most of the roads and warehouses underground have motion sensors that control the lights and conserve energy.
- Louisville Mega Cavern is the largest building in Kentucky.
- A 10-ton heater dehumidifies 50,000 square feet of space.
The hallway leads visitors to a gift shop where tickets can be purchased for both the historic tour and an adventurous day on the zip lines. After getting tickets, we explored the available snacks, rocks, and t-shirts for sale. When our tour was announced, we loaded into small open-topped vehicles resembling off-road Jeeps. Our guide was both humorous and informative, starting the tour with jokes which created a light and inviting atmosphere.
What Is in the Louisville Mega Cavern
Starting with a tour of the city’s salt reserves (used for wintry weather), the tram descends into former mining areas. Utilizing mannequins to demonstrate where and how rock was mined, the guide provided extensive history about the mine, Louisville, and the job opportunities it offered during economic downturns.
Continuing, visitors learn about the cavern’s outfitting as an atomic bomb shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Cold War era. An antique film sets the scene as visitors traverse through an area featuring dummies in survival mode (complete with industrial-sized cans of water) and learn that the underground bunker had capacity for 50,000 individuals—a fact kept top secret at the time.
Rounding out the tour, attendees discover the various current uses of Mega Cavern. It plays a significant role in the city’s recycling program, hosts worm farms producing excellent fertilizer, provides storage for a range of businesses (including art for 21c), and during the holiday season, Mega Cavern presents “Lights Under Louisville,” a spectacular holiday light show viewable from vehicles.
A Summary of the Historic Tram Tour
The historic tram tour is both educational and entertaining; you will depart with newfound insights into the history of Louisville. This tour can serve as a wonderful introduction to the cavern for you and your family before embarking on the bike trails or zip lines. It’s astounding that the Mega Cavern exists under such a bustling urban center. However, after spending time underground (and encountering eerie displays of mannequins illustrating a fallout shelter scenario), you will undoubtedly appreciate the opportunity to emerge and enjoy the sunlight once more.
