Thursday, June 30, 2016

Mammoth Cave Railroad Hike & Bike

Following the Civil War, tourism at Mammoth Cave started to grow and the railroads wanted to be a part of that. A spur line was built from Park City, KY up to Mammoth Cave and ran for about 10 years. Today the old rail bed has been converted to a 9-mile hiking and biking trail starting at the Visitor Center and running to Park City (18 miles round trip).

We got a late start on the bikes but were able to get to Park City by lunchtime. It is not your typical rails-to-trails path as they had to work around existing roads and attractions so there were several very steep climbs along the way, especially coming back. We had lunch at The Grand Victorian Inn Bed & Breakfast.  What a delightful place. It was built as a hotel in 1885 and was used as a boys home, a nursing home and as a private home through the years. About 14 years ago it was bought by the current owners and made into the Bed & Breakfast. It is beautiful.

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I know you have heard this before, but I really struggle going up hill! Today it seemed worse but we made it back and had a nice dinner and a campfire.

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