Lost River Cave was not our destination, nor was it even on our minds when we made the long car ride in Kentucky to attempt a socially isolated vacation. Thankfully, when I picked up a brochure at our hotel, I knew it was a place I wanted to see with my own two eyes.
Not far from Bowling Green, as a matter of fact, only a five minute ride from our hotel, you will find Lost River Cave, a nature reserve and cave tour. Although many of the activities were shut down due to the coronavirus epidemic, we weren’t there for the ziplining, we were there for the unique caving experience.
You see, Lost River is literally that… a river that flows underground into a small cave. Boarding a boat, you gently drift into the darkness and find yourself in another world.
Masks on!The Blue Hole, colored with minerals flowing from underground.When you get to the mouth of the cave, you are blasted with a refreshing blast of cool air. Thanks to the reservation system to manage social distancing, and one family not showing up, there were only eight people on a boat built for at least thirty.The mouth of Lost River Cave used to be a nightclub. The dance floor, complete with a chandelier, is still intact. Some very old graffiti. Inside the cave, looking out.Fossilized sea sponge.You gotta duck to get in!This gigantic flowstone greets you once you get to where you can sit upright again. Our tour guide told us that some of the flowstone is actually made up of cow manure from when the land above was a pasture. As a matter of fact, there are some suspiciously poop-colored places on the rock if you know where to look.Entering the largest room.Although the ceiling constantly drips, it is mostly free of stalactites as the cave often floods and the formations that do appear are broken off.Another fossil.The end of the tour. Although the cave does continue for a few more miles, it is not accessible by boat and can only be seen by crawling through very tiny tunnels. The shallow waters behind the dam constructed to keep the water deep enough to allow the boats to navigate the cave.Another fossil.Heading back out.Hanging out in the old nightclub.Thank goodness that we have cell phone service again!
Jason Gaston 