Camping At Mammoth Cave Campground In Mammoth Cave National Park

For our visit to Mammoth Cave National Park this fall we decided to stay at the park’s campground because it was so much more convenient to the tours and hiking the park offers.

There are three campgrounds located in the park. Houchin Ferry Campground is tent only and to reach the Maple Springs Group Campground if have to take the ferry (which sounds really cool).

We stayed in the main Mammoth Cave Campground.

The main campground is just a few minutes drive from the visitor center a 1/4 mile away. You could walk there pretty easily if you just wanted a little extra exercise for the day and there are trails.

Reservations are available from March 1 – November 30.

The Campground is closed from December 1 – February 28.

Reservations can be made at recreation.gov.

I do believe you can walk in to get a site and pay at the check-in station, but reservations are highly recommended because it’s a busy campground.

I read somewhere that after 5 pm you must reserve online though because no rangers man the station.

The previous two statements are only what I read during research and cannot fully confirm. The safe bet is to call ahead.

When you arrive at the campground the check-in station is at the entrance. The ranger wasn’t there when we arrived so we just went to our site and set up.

On our way to the visitor center an hour later we stopped by the check-in station and told her we arrived, but she had already checked us in.

We saw the rangers drive through the campground every couple of hours so they kept up with everything pretty well.

A single site at Mammoth Cave Campground is $25 a night (group sites are $40).

There are a total of 111 campsites for tenters and campers. These sites do not offer any kind of hook-ups, but water spigots are scattered throughout the camp.

A dump station and potable water fill station are available near the camp store before the check-in station.

There is a limit of 8 people per site and a maximum stay of 14 days in a calendar year.

Check-in time is noon (or 1 pm the website listed different times) and check-out time is 11:00 am.

Quiet hours are 10 pm – 6 am and generators are permitted from 8 am to 8 pm.

Pets are allowed as long as they are leashed and please pick up after them.

The max RV length is 38 feet and the max trailer length is 26 feet.

Please note that not all sites can accommodate an RV or trailer so carefully study the campground map and the details of the site before making reservations. They do not offer refunds.

Each site has a picnic table and fire pit.

The transport of firewood into the park is prohibited. You can pick up dead wood for fires (it was very scarce though) or purchase wood from the camp store (which was ridiculously expensive).

Only place fires in approved fire pits and make sure all sparks are out before leaving camp or going to bed.

Some of the sites are pull-through while others are back-in.

This is a pretty wooded area so if you’re running solar you will have issues in a lot of sites.

Restrooms with flushing toilets are scattered throughout the campground.

There are no trashcans, but dumpsters were provided by one of the restrooms in the middle of the campground to properly dispose of your trash.

Let’s talk about cell phone service, I don’t remember. I know that isn’t really a lot of help is it?

I know that we worked during our visit and we have both AT&T and Verizon, but don’t know which we used. I can confirm that elsewhere in the park cell service was weak or non-existent while we were hiking.

In the building that houses the camp store, you will also find laundry facilities and coin-operated showers.

We did laundry here and showered a couple of times and the place was always clean and reasonably priced for a national park.

As I mentioned earlier this campground is conveniently located near the visitor center. All cave tours start at the visitor center as well as a number of hiking trails.

Click on this link to learn more about all the trails we hiked during our visit.

The campground was a safe and quiet place for us to use as a home base while we explored the park and we have no complaints about our stay there.

I will admit Mammoth Cave National Park is not my favorite park and I wasn’t very impressed with our cave tour or the hiking trails.

We enjoyed our experiences at Wind Cave National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park much more.

Pets are allowed on all hiking trails at Mammoth Cave National Park though so that’s always a plus for us.