Backcountry Repairs, Cleanup Scheduled For Mammoth Cave National Park

Damage from last winter's ice storms will be cleaned up from Mammoth Cave National Park's backcountry in the weeks to come. NPS photo.

There will be quite a bit of activity in the backcountry of Mammoth Cave National Park during the next month as crews clean up from storms and make repairs to trails and bridges.

Trails will remain open, with some temporary, minor detours.

“In the next weeks, backcountry hikers and horse users will see our maintenance staff and volunteers doing extensive work on First Creek Trail,” says Superintendent Patrick Reed. “This is work in our cyclic maintenance schedule, and we a fortunate that is comes on the heels of two destructive storms, the ice storm January and a wind storm in April.”

The bridge near First Creek Lake, which has been in disrepair for several years, will be replaced so that it will accommodate horses and hikers again. The four-week project begins today, May 26. Materials will be transported to the worksite by river. Visitors will be asked to use the existing trail east of the lake during construction. Campsites will remain open.

In later months, two boardwalks will be installed along the Good Spring trail to span perpetually damp areas. The park has contracted with the Student Conservation Association to supply an eight-person volunteer crew during June. In three weeks, they will traverse the entire length of the seven-mile trail, trimming trees, repairing trail tread, and installing water bars.