Mammoth Cave Historic Tour — Attraction in Glasgow

My husband and I did the Grand Historic Tour. We had 2 tour guides. Jarvis and Kenna. Jarvis started it off and when he went over the first section my husband and I thought he was going to start crying. He started talking about how HE remembers those little black boys that served the country even though others may not remember them and that his favorite days to tour were national military holidays. He kept talking about how HE fought for our freedom, and how HE would leave his wife and 2 year old son in a heartbeat to go off and fight for this nation if he were called back again, and that we should be appreciative of those that fought for us. He kept taking long dramatic pauses and scanning the crowd for I guess someone to thank him for his service. He did this for about 15minutes straight at the very first stop. You could tell people were feeling very awkward and uncomfortable. We get it you were in the National Guard but to be soooo dramatic and talk 1MPH was such a drag and a bore. Jarvis dude, get over yourself. Thankfully he had to stop the tour when we took our bathroom break and Kenna took over. She was enthusiastic about the actual cave and spoke at a normal speed. She was very approachable and encouraged us to ask questions. You could tell the shift in the group. People started asking questions and becoming more enthused for the tour. Very much enjoyed it from that point forward. She wasn't micromanaging everyone and you basically walked at your own speed. It was beautiful the further and further you go into the cave. I don't think the tour place says this or not but if you are very heavyset or bad knees or anything like that you will struggle at fat man's misery section of the tour and the multiple flights of stairs. We didn't have that in our group of 20 people but I can totally see that being an issue with someone like that. We went on a...

This review is for the Violet City Lantern Tour. The tour was great and I'm so glad that I went. I was unclear on a few things that I'll try to clarify here for future visitors. Bathrooms: there really are no bathrooms, outhouses, etc for the entire 3 hours. Everyone in my group was fine though. Water: the signs say no food or drink, but right before the tour starts the guide tells you water is ok. Too late for me but hopefully it helps you. Difficulty: this is a fairly difficult hike. I use AllTrails for hiking and in my experience this would be called Moderate trail with something like a 500 ft elevation change. What to wear; it is 54F in the cave. The guidance online says to dress warmly. I wore pants, a tee shirt, and a light jacket. I was pretty warm from the exertion though. If I had to do it again I would probably do exercise pants and a tee shirt. Many people were in shorts and tee shirts and they seemed fine. Shoes: wear shoes with tread. Sneakers are fine as long as they aren't old and worn. There are somewhat steep hills with loose ground and without tread you...

The place was exceptionally beautiful and I was pleased to see the largest cave in America. The disappointment was the tour guide—his snarky and ‘Debbie Downer’ attitude.

Firstly, he strongly discouraged the LARGE group from taking the tour—that was very strange. He told us all the reasons we should not be there—from ‘it’s a long walk’ to ‘places are real tight to motivate in’ to ‘if you are in back of tour, you will not be able to hear me.’

He was definitely right about that message—we never saw him after we entered the cave, except when we all gathered at the beginning and end.

After the tour, I asked why the large group and why no microphone—he rudely replied, ‘above my pay grade.’

We would have enjoyed hearing about the cave’s beauty and history, and really, all the MANY references to slavery seemed excessive.

It was Memorial Day and ‘tour guide boy’ missed several opportunities to honor our war...