Louisville Mega Cavern

Louisville Mega Cavern: an underground adventure

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Jul 25, 2009

One top attraction in Louisville is actually way under ground.

About 100 feet below the Louisville Zoo lies a cavernous excavation created by continuous limestone quarrying from 1930 to 1972. All of the stone the miners blasted out over those 42 years would have been enough to build all three of Egypt's great pyramids!

Today the Louisville Mega Cavern takes up 4 million square feet (over 100 acres) with more than 17 miles of underground roadways.

For years, the privately owned underground has been used as a drop-off point for concrete, brick, rock, dirt, shingles, auto parts and other nonorganic waste materials, keeping them out of Kentucky's landfills and, at the same time, filling in cavern holes to create floors and roadways.

The cavern's also used as a weatherproof, earthquake-proof storage facility, housing everything from road salt to boats, cars and priceless original movie prints from Hollywood.

Now, after two years of preparation, the cavern is open for visitors. SUV-drawn trams carry riders on 60 to 70-minute guided tours throughout the day, seven days a week.

The tours opened officially in June 2009 and drew thousands in its first month, said Jim Lowry, one the three owners. "It's going extremely well — actually better than we expected in the early going," Lowry said.

Tour highlights include discussions on how ancient oceans formed the limestone deposits and on the history of the mine, displays of excavation techniques, a replica of the fallout bunker dating to the Cold War and a worm farm being developed to recycle paper waste into fertilizer.

Tours run every half hour and are available in all types of weather — underground, it's a constant 58 degrees. Anyone who might get chilly at that temperature might want to bring a sweater.

General admission is $13.50 for ages 13 and up ($12 for seniors), and $8 for children 3–12. Children 2 and under are free with a paid adult. Discounts are available for AAA members and with coupons available at Louisville Wendy's restaurants. Group rates are available; call (877) 614-MEGA or (502) 855-MEGA.

Louisville Mega Cavern has special rates for field trips. Staff will also tailor tours to specific areas of interest, whether caverns, karst, cavern life, groundwater or the area's natural or recorded history. Field trips with 20 students or more cost $6 per student, although teachers and bus drivers enter free (one adult per 10 students). Extra chaperones pay $10.

Through Aug. 31, the Mega Cavern will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the last tour leaving at 4 p.m. Saturday; Sunday hours are 9 a.m.to 6 p.m.,  with the last tour leaving at 5 p.m. After  Aug. 31, call (877) 614-MEGA or visit the Mega Cavern website for hours. 

- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)