Hidden River Cave – Horse Cave, Kentucky - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

Hidden River Cave

Horse Cave, Kentucky

Once one of the most polluted caves in America, now an environmental success story and a museum dedicated to caves. 

View all photos
Hidden River Cave is right in the middle of Horse Cave, KY debbie 2c85adda (Atlas Obscura User)
Hidden River Cave Joseph Gage / CC BY-SA 2.0
Suspension bridge in Hidden River Cave James St. John / CC BY 2.0
45
141
Top Places in Kentucky
Dinosaur World
Cave City, Kentucky
The Grave of Harry L. Collins
Louisville, Kentucky
Belle of Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
 See All

Hidden River Cave is wonderful and unique because of the tremendous amount of history associated with it. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, stopped by for a visit in 1867 and detailed his experience in his 1916 book Thousand Mile Walk To The Gulf. The cave was once a source of drinking water and hydroelectricity for the City of Horse Cave and the remnants of the equipment are still visible during the cave tour. 

Electricity generated from the cave stream powered the home above the cave, which included a dentist’s office and two other buildings in town. Horse Cave was actually the first town in Kentucky to have incandescent lights. The cave operated for commercial tours from 1916-1943, until household waste from businesses and the community above polluted the cave streams.

The cave remained closed until 1992, when the combined efforts of local leaders and the nonprofit American Cave Conservation Association (ACCA) joined forces to clean up and restore the subterranean site. A regional sewage treatment system went online in 1989, which stopped pollution from entering the cave. This allowed nature to take its course and Hidden River Cave is now considered to be an environmental success story. The ACCA also opened the American Cave Museum in the entrance to the cave in 1992.

Today, tour guides explain Hidden River Cave’s history and general information about caves, the animals that inhabit them, and some of the uses of caves. This tour is not only entertaining, it is educational.

Know Before You Go

The museum is actually free to peruse at your own pace. They offer guided cave tours which include the bridge and end in Sunset Dome. They also offer an off-trail cave tour.


Pets are allowed and the location is about halfway between Nashville, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky.

pollution underground subterranean sites caves geology museums
Community Contributors
d
Added by
debbie 2c85adda
Published
July 21, 2023
Edit this listing
Make an Edit Add Photos
Nearby
Wigwam Village #2
3.21 miles
Mammoth Cave Wildlife Museum
4.73 miles
Dinosaur World
5.21 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
Wigwam Village No. 2. (Wikimedia Commons)
Cave City, Kentucky

Wigwam Village #2

One of the few surviving "Wigwam"-themed motels.
Cool mural on the building
Cave City, Kentucky

Mammoth Cave Wildlife Museum

Amazing taxidermy dioramas from the 1960s in a cement building meant to look like an ice cave.
Cave City, Kentucky

Dinosaur World

Prehistoric animals decorate this popular outdoor park.
Munfordville, Kentucky

Kentucky's Stonehenge

A local scoured more than 1,000 acres for stone to create his masterpiece.
Related Places
Aracena, Spain

Gruta de las Maravillas (Cave of Wonders)

An underground spring in a labyrinthine cave system, decorated with stalagmites and stalactites.
Vegacervera, Spain

Cueva de Valporquero

The spectacular geological formations make it one of the most impressive caves in Europe.
Dubuque, Iowa

Crystal Lake Cave

An underground wonderland in Iowa.
DeSoto Caverns
Childersburg, Alabama

DeSoto Caverns

Since it formed millions of years ago, this cave system has been a sacred burial ground, a Prohibition-era speakeasy, and the center of an amusement park.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web