Mammoth Cave Canoes & Kayak — Local services in Glasgow

We were the first kayakers of 2023 and had a blast! My wife and I did the double kayak for $60. Cash avoids any credit card processing fee (this is the same for almost all attractions in the area). The site says 3-4 hours and that seems correct based off of intro/signing papers, van ride there, float time (depending on experience and pace) and the ride back to your car. For reference, we're experienced but only paddled for about 60% of the time and still finished the 7.5 miles in close to 2.25 hours.

The river was a little below the highest depth they allow kayakers to float on so the current was pushing us down the river nicely and we ran into very few obstacles to get around. The river height prevented us from finding a good spot to pull off and have a light lunch, so we just ate while we floated. Highly recommend calling the morning of your trip, reservation or not, to double check the level of the river since it changes often.

The river was high the day before our trip so the steps in and out of the river were COVERED in thick mud/leaves. We didn't care about getting a little muddy because, honestly, you're out in nature...what else do you expect? Wear solid shoes that you don't mind getting muddy. Outside temp was supposed to be low 60s, but with the wind and cooler temps on the water, I'd guess it was low 50s. If you've never kayaked before, think about the water temp v.s. actual temp and plan your outfit accordingly. They kayaks might be on the heavier side and not look like much, but as a 260lb 5'8" person that wears most of their weight around their hips/waist, it was by far the most comfortable rental kayak I've ever been in. Easily able to stretch my legs out completely (sat in the back) and didn't get stiff on the whole float.

Naomi and Nate were SO good to us... super kind and friendly, entertained us in conversation there and back, and spent a lot of time making sure that the steps down and up from the river were as cleared off as possible for us. I don't think we could have hand picked better people to have as our "guides" for this experience. They even gave us a heads up on where to look out for the bald eagle nest... we saw it and a bald eagle "followed" us for the first half of the trip. We also saw many turtles, ducks, a bunch of turkey, and if we were quieter, we probably would have seen deer, too.

There's a porta potty available at the end of the float at the Green River Ferry lot.

We'd 100% come back and do this kayaking...

Forget the negative reviews. Seems like those were just from people who were expecting an amusement park ride.

Mammoth Cave Canoe & Kayak is the closest river floating company to the park.

I took my wife, 3 boys, on a float trip over Spring Break. This was a last second decision as we noticed their location as we exited the park. So we stopped in and checked them out. Nate was super helpful, very courteous and didn't rush us into anything. He laid out what they were doing, the costs, what to expect on the float, and let us decide.

So for a family of 5, we have a bit of a disadvantage with a lot of things and we can add renting a canoe to that disadvantage. Canoes only handle 4 people. So we rented a canoe and we got our 13 year old a two-person kayak. He sat in the back and that left a perfect space for our cooler full of drinks, snacks, and our lunch.

We met Nate the next morning and he had everything all ready for us for our 7.5 mile trip. We knew exactly what we were getting in to when it came to lack of rapids on this stretch of the river and the time of year. Swimming in the water was highly discouraged.

Overall, we really enjoyed our float! Yes, there is a SMALL, repeat SMALL, cave not even 15 minutes into the float. It only goes about 50 feet in so not like you'll be floating in and being met with a bunch of animatronics and annoying music for the duration. We floated in, thought it was really cool, then turned around and floated back out. There are many submerged rocks around the cave so extra caution is encouraged.

There are two large islands and a beach in that 7.5 miles. We stopped at all three of them for us to stretch our legs, throw some rocks in the water, use the "bathroom" and enjoy our snacks and lunch.

The trips really do take about 3 hours or so if you actually take the time to enjoy it. Yes, ALL milemarkers are posted! At the end, Nate was waiting for us and we assisted in getting the canoe and kayak back on to the trailer for the drive back to the shop.

Overall, it was a good experience with this company! Very reasonably priced and good service and good information about the trip as well. I highly recommend if you're looking for a very mellow time...

On 6/23/14 my wife, our young daughter, and I patronized Mammoth Canoe for their 8 mile trip package. It cost $53. We spent almost 4 hours on the river. The equipment they provided was in good repair; better than your average canoe outfitter. The staff was very friendly.

Since the particular stretch of the Green river that we canoed is inside Mammoth Cave National Park, none of the local (cave city) canoe outfitters are located directly on the river. That means you follow the outfitter in your own car to the end point of the trip, drop off your car, then ride to the start point in the van driven by the outfitter. At the ends of your trip, you leave the canoe in a small canoe drop off area and drive away. The system works just fine.

There are several canoe rental companies that serve this same stretch of river, but Mammoth is the closest to the river (less than 50 yards from the entrance to Mammoth Cave National Park). We have absolutely no complaints about our experience, and we would use them again...