Two visitors enjoy a sunny fall day on a trail in Mammoth Cave National Park / NPS
For the next month, the National Park Service is seeking comment on a draft Land and River Trails Management Plan (LRTMP) for Mammoth Cave National Park. Comments can be made through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website through Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. A completed LRTMP will provide the park with a long-term strategic direction for trail maintenance, investment, and construction for the next several decades.
According to Barclay Trimble, the park's superintendent, the growing popularity of Mammoth Cave is creating trail maintenance issues that need to be addressed to protect the park's ecosystem and to ensure an enjoyable experience.
In recent years, Mammoth Cave National Park has seen an increase in the popularity of its land and water trails," Trimble said in a statement. "While this increase in use is a good thing—more people are discovering the aboveground wonders of this world-class park—the increased use also impacts park resources on the ground and in the cave. In fact, the park's hard-working trail staff have been unable to keep up with the wear and tear due to poor trail design and placement, increased trail use, and the intensified large group sizes. This means visitors often find trails that are wet, muddy, badly rutted, eroded, braided, and difficult to travel, resulting in reduced enjoyment of these recreational opportunities. Our river-based water trails also lack intentional recreational opportunities.
"The overall goal of the LRTMP is to protect park resources by utilizing sustainable trail construction techniques that limit erosion while also providing increased visitor access and recreational opportunities to new areas of interest within the park,” Trimble said. “Park service planners have created several ways for the public to review the plan’s information before they officially provide their comments.”
Details about the plan are included in an online story map that discusses Mammoth Cave National Park and the proposed trail alignments. The story map is accessed through the ArcGIS StoryMaps website bit.ly/mammothtrailsmap.
A short informational video narrated by Superintendent Trimble details the LRTMP and park’s planning process. It can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/GKyGth9iDNU.
Two public meetings are scheduled to informally share information about the LRTMP, the park planning process, and answer questions in person. The first meeting will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the Warren County Library, Bob Kirby Branch at 175 Iron Skillet Court, Bowling Green, Ky. from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. The second meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 24 at the Edmonson County Library at 280 Ferguson St., Brownsville, Ky. from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.
The draft plan is available for review and comment on the PEPC website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/MammothTrails. Click ‘Open for Comment’ to provide written comments.
Comments made through the PEPC system are preferred but they will also be accepted by U.S. mail addressed to “Mammoth Cave National Park, Attn: Trails Plan, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259.” All mail-in comments must be postmarked by Nov. 15, 2024. Anonymous comments and comments submitted by e-mail will not be accepted. Bulk comments in any format submitted on behalf of others will not be accepted.
