AMERICAN CAVE MUSEUM
Hidden River Cave
Horse Cave Reservations
Open Year Round
Conveniently Located:
119 East Main Street
Horse Cave, KY 42749
Open Daily:
8:30 am to 5:00 pm (CST)
Closed: Christmas Day,
New Year’s Day
& Thanksgiving Day
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Open Daily
More Than Just A Cave
Hidden River Cave is more than just another commercial cave tour. Located beneath the City of Horse Cave, Kentucky, it is operated by the American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA), a national, nonprofit association dedicated to protecting caves, karst landscapes, and groundwater resources through conservation and education.
An Environmental Success Story
Hidden River Cave is one of America’s most remarkable cave conservation success stories. Once a vital source of drinking water and hydroelectricity for the City of Horse Cave, the cave later became one of the most polluted caves in the United States before being restored through decades of conservation efforts. Today the cave serves as a “living exhibit” allowing visitors to see first-hand the intricate relationship between above and below ground activities in karst areas.
“The entrance seems like a noble gateway to the birthplace of springs and fountains and the dark treasuries of the mineral kingdom. This cave is in a village (of the same name) which it supplies with an abundance of cold water, and cold air that issues from its fern-clad lips. In hot weather crowds of people sit about it in the shade of the trees that guard it. This magnificent fan is capable of cooling everybody in the town at once.”
— John Muir, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf
The Story of Hidden River Cave
Horse Cave was a vibrant community that was founded around 1850 on the land surrounding the scenic entrance to the cave. The cave stream provided drinking water and hydroelectricity for the City of Horse Cave. In 1916 a local contest was held to rename the cave and the name “Hidden River Cave” was chosen. Public cave tours into Hidden River Cave were offered from 1912 through 1943. Tourists came from all around to see Sunset Dome the “largest unsupported roof dome in the world” and the eyeless fish, “curious creatures of darkness, found originally only in Hidden River Cave.” (source: historic Hidden River Cave brochure c. 1930s)
Discover how Hidden River Cave became one of America’s greatest environmental restoration success stories.
World's longest swinging bridge-Hidden River Cave, Kentucky
Hidden River Cave
Located just 16 minutes from Mammoth Cave National Park, Hidden River Cave offers one of Kentucky’s most unique cave tour experiences.
Our historic cave tour will take you through one of Kentucky’s largest and most scenic cave entrances where two subterranean rivers flow over one-hundred feet below ground. Walk across the world’s longest underground swinging bridge and step up into Sunset Dome, one of the largest free-standing cave domes in the United States.
You’ll pass the remnants of a turn-of-the-century hydroelectric generating system that once supplied the town overhead with water & electricity and explore areas with seldom seen creatures that live in the darkness underground.
American Cave Museum
The American Cave Museum is the only museum in the United States devoted entirely to caves. It has been called “a little bit of the Smithsonian in rural Kentucky.” Discover the history and science of America’s natural caverns through educational and informative exhibits.
Admission to the museum is FREE for all ages! Take a self-guided tour of two floors featuring exhibits on karst geology, groundwater, archaeology and the many uses of caves. Your admission also allows you to explore the nature area in the cave entrance and ends at the cave’s observation overlook.
Your visit to Kentucky Cave Country will not be complete without an in-depth look at the fascinating world of caves.
Hidden River Cave & The American Cave Museum are operated by the American Cave Conservation Association, A National 501 (c) 3 Nonprofit Organization.