Not only can you gain free entrance to Mammoth Cave National Park on two more weekends this summer, but you'll also be able to partake in some free tours of the cave.

This past weekend the park offered the Discovery and Mammoth Passage cave tours free of charge to all comers. The offer will be repeated July 18-19, and August 15-16 as a gesture by the National Park Service to help citizens enjoy the outdoors.

“We consider the weekend a great success,” said Superintendent Patrick Reed. “The purpose was to give folks a break in these tough economic times. Some came out specifically because of the free tours, others who were already here added a free tour to their visit. Both Saturday and Sunday showed significant increases over the number of people who visited on the same weekend last year.”

On Saturday and Sunday (June 20-21), 7,151 people toured Mammoth Cave, compared to 5,157 people on the same weekend in 2008, a 28 percent increase. The park ran the self-guided Discovery tour through the busiest part of the day, and then added extra Mammoth Passage tours to ensure all visitors would have an opportunity to go on one of the free tours.

“One woman told us the tours added to a cheap summer get-a-way she planned for her grandchildren,” said Mike Adams, Mammoth Cave’s chief of interpretation. “She said they came to this area to use discounted tickets at one attraction, then came to Mammoth Cave for the free tours. We hope others will follow her example when we offer the free tours again July 18-19 and August 15-16.”