Famous naturalist John Muir's "noble gateway" is alongside Main Street in downtown Horse Cave, Kentucky.  The town, which formed around the cave in the mid 1800's, once sustained a thriving tourist trade.  Visitors arrived by the trainload to see the natural wonder, once billed as the "World's Largest Cave Entrance".

 

By the 1940's, pollution had cut off not only the drinking water, provided by the subterranean river which rushes through Hidden River Cave, but also the streams of tourists the cave attracted.  The cave's restoration in 1993 was one of the most remarkable environmental success stories in America and a breath of fresh air for Horse Cave.

	Today, Horse Cave, Kentucky is a constant reminder of the delicate balance between caves and the sunlit world above.
Thousands of visitors and school children tour Hidden River Cave and the American Cave Museum each year.     The American Cave Museum and Hidden River Cave are the only facilities in the U.S., dedicated to cave, karst and groundwater education.
A unique place where you can learn about groundwater and then venture underground to see it .