South end: US 31W at Park City | Length 13.5 km | |
North end: Visitor's Center / Flint Ridge Road Counties: Edmonson, Barren County | ||
The Mammoth Cave Parkway is a major roadway located in the Mammoth Cave National Park in west-central Kentucky. It encompasses parts of Kentucky Routes 70 and 255 within the park. It closely follows the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail.
Contents
- Map of Mammoth Cave Pkwy Park City KY 42160 USA
- Route description
- Attractions along the route
- History
- References
Map of Mammoth Cave Pkwy, Park City, KY 42160, USA
Route description
Mammoth Cave Parkway is marked by Kentucky Route 255 from US Route 31W, through the I-65 exit 48 interchange. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet maintains the road from US 31W to just beyond the I-65 interchange, while the NPS maintains the rest of the road beyond the I-65 junction. The road continues northward to the junction with Kentucky Route 70 near the Barren-Edmonson County line within the Mammoth Cave National Park.
It turns left onto KY 70 westbound past the Sloans Crossing Pond Trail, while KY 255 gets co-joined with KY 70 eastbound for a couple of miles. A little beyond Sloan's Crossing Pond, KY 70 westbound makes a left turn to head for Brownsville, while the Mammoth Cave Parkway continues north to end at the Visitor's Center beyond the intersection with Flint Ridge Road. The parkway ends in the Visitor's Center parking lot.
Attractions along the route
History
The Mammoth Cave Parkway was originally built alongside the original path of the Mammoth Cave Railroad (1886–1931), which ran from the original town of Mammoth Cave to Park City (originally Glasgow Junction). When the Mammoth Cave Parkway first opened (as a local road), portions of the road, along with Cave City Road (East Entrance Road), a small piece of Green River Ferry Road, and all of Joppa Ridge Road west of the visitor's center was part of the original alignment of KY 70 from 1929 until the 1970s. KY 70 was re-routed to its current alignment in the 1970s. The road became maintained by the National Park Service once Mammoth Cave became a national park.
In 2004, both of Mammoth Cave Parkway's junctions with KY 70 was reconstructed just before the completion of the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike and Hike Trail.