Treasure Trove Park — Attraction in Cave City

I have a mixed review of Treasure Trove Park. There were some pros, but also significant negatives. The biggest factor compelling me to write a review was the presence of two sick cats on the property that desperately needed vet attention. This alone upset me enough that it brought everything into perspective, and I want people to know what they will encounter here. The Pros: The owner, Tuck, is enthusiastic and proud of his “family” park. There is free bottled water and popcorn. The animatronic dino trail is cool, and there are live animals, bouncy inflatables, go-karts (additional charge), and ride-on dinosaurs that play music. I could see how locals would enjoy coming here for a day to let the kids burn off steam, with most of the negative things about the place going over the kids’ heads. The Cons: The animal enclosures were dirt/mud and rocks. No grass, bedding or straw outside. Lots of animal waste in the pens and walking paths, strong odor, dirty drinking water troughs. We were invited to hand feed the cows, but the employee laughed afterwards when I asked if there was sanitizer or a hand-washing station. Two of the exhibits I just didn’t “get”. One about a guy who made moonshine, complete with a photo of him giving the middle finger. Another about Bonnie & Clyde, with Coroner’s photos of them lying dead. There's a graphic Holocaust exhibit, which is of course important information, but does it belong here? Numerous signs throughout the property with sayings like, “Stop Pedophilia”, “Stop Hate of Asians”, “Stop Slavery of Irish People”. Being a Christian/family organization, couldn’t these be stated in a positive way, like, “Everyone is welcome” or “Protect our children”? It was a weird juxtaposition to see exhibits with scary/adult/depressing/negative imagery in a family fun park. Educational exhibits are great, but the topics they chose to educate about were unnecessarily shocking and in your face. Maintenance: The bouncy inflatables were so dirty that some people opted not to use them, gravel go-kart path has holes and ruts, The Beatles exhibit and other areas were in need of a good cleaning. I know that the owner is excited about continuing to build and collect and add to the park, but there is a lack of maintenance on the things already there. The lady operating the go-karts was smoking a cigarette and walked right up to us smoking in our face as we asked her questions. Need better signage in some places, such as how to use the ride-on dinos and where you are and aren’t allowed to go within the park. We were very careful but got yelled at twice. One employee even moved our golf cart and yelled at us to not park in the path. We had pulled off to the side in a wide gravel area by the Monster Bus where no one else was present. We purposely parked there to stay out of the way, so it was shocking when an employee came stomping over to scold us. Golf cart rental: I paid $49.93 incl tax, but it wasn’t needed. The exhibits are close enough together that you could easily walk. The owner made it seem like the place was HUGE and there was SO MUCH to see, but not really. And finally, the cats. We’re cat lovers and were excited to be greeted by two kitties. However, one of them had gunky/runny eyes and was sneezing, and it kept chewing on a large hole on its leg. You could actually see all the way down to the bone. The other cat seemed healthier but also had a leg wound down to the bone. Come on, Tuck!!! Get those cats to the vet! The sick white one is especially suffering with infection and wounds, not to mention its fur is filthy. Please show some compassion and get them help, or humanely put the poor white one out of its misery. I was so depressed after seeing this that it’s the first thing I think of when I remember our visit to Treasure Trove Park! Are we glad we visited? My teen and I say sure, for the entertainment value that we did receive and for our ability to kind of laugh off some of the shock and gore, but the negatives outweighed the positives for us and we won’t...

My experience with this road side attraction was… The worst I’ve ever been to. When walking in the front doors, we were greeted with a ton of taxidermy, biblical quotes, and random gift shop stuff. A gentleman behind the counter introduced hisself to us as the owner of this attraction and started in on a 5 minute speech of what all there was to do in the park. The gentleman was talking so fast we could barely keep up with anything he was saying. We purchased two adult tickets and a rental of a golf cart. Coming to a total of $106.74

When we started on our way, we first traveled through the animatronic dinosaurs path. Some were working, some weren’t. Some had rips on them that was very noticeable, looked like some of the maintenance hasn’t been kept up with. It was a very short trail but all and all, it was ok.

We then traveled over into the “petting zoo” which honestly, I don’t see how they’re not shut down due to how poorly the animals are kept up with. When we first rode into this section, there were goats running lose and two dogs penned up. They informed me that they let him roam free after closing to protect the other animals. When traveling in a little further, we ran into a small pen of VERY YOUNG piglets. So young in fact, that they should have absolutely not been separated from their mother. There were 3 of them in the pin, one of them was laying down breathing very heavily. When the lady who worked there picked it up, blood came pouring out of its mouth. When confronted, she claimed that “it was because he was picked up too many times today”. That statement is NOT TRUE. There was definitely something wrong with that poor baby. The staff there did absolutely nothing about it either. No medical attention, no nothing. They simply put it back in the pen with its mother and let it be. She then pulled another piglet and placed it in the pen with the other two just for them to get into a pretty intense fight because she said “they weren’t from the same litter” after breaking it up.

…. Really???? How is this even legal?????

They had ducks with zero water in sight, the water that some of the animals had was so disgusting and green and it was their drinking water, the area/space they have in each section is absolutely not enough room for anything to live in. I honestly don’t see how they haven’t been shut down due to that alone.

Getting into the other “attractions” they have. The rest of them are exhibits about off the wall topics that has no place being in something like this. The Bonnie and Clyde exhibit has pictures of dead bodies….. dead… bodies….

The attention to detail is next to nothing. It honestly looks like a 5 year old put this thing together and honestly, this place is the biggest scam and a waste money and time I’ll never get back.

I highly do not recommend. I’m a sucker for roadside attractions, but this? This isn’t close anything it claims to be. It sucks and I’ll...

This is just another sad kentucky tourist trap.

When you first enter there is a long wall of taxidermy animals. I don't know what it is about kentuckians and their stuffed animals, but the animals looked like they'd came from a dumpster-they were so mangy looking.

The dinosaurs were okay in that they had sensors that made them move when you went past, but many of the dinos looked awful with visible stitching repairs, especially on the brachiosaurus. It even had a gaping "wound" on its neck.

The animal rescue ark-area isn't really an animal rescue. I thought they rescued animals from factory farms, that's what it sounded like to me anyway, but their animals come from owners who just don't want them anymore. This explains why the animals are pretty friendly and seem to be used to people.

They had a small building exhibiting a petrified pigs snout, and a box car filled with work from an artist who seemed overly proud of her work. While her art was okay, she only speculated about the events she depicted, almost as if she had never watched a WW 2 documentry.

The Bonnie and Clyde museum though small, was the only decent thing there.

I know the Trove isn't finished yet, but I it could be better for what they have. For example, narrow concrete strips would be nice in the ark-area for treading if someone is using a cane or wheelchair.

And the Bonnie and Clyde museum isn't handicapped friendly at all!

Those stuffed animals should be given a decent burial. Buddhist, vegans, and any member of the general public with any sense would be grossed out by them.

I may go back when the Trove is finished, but they are going to have to make some major improvements to get a better...