Mammoth Dome Sinkhole - Mammoth Cave US National Park, KY
Posted by: 
cldisme
N 37° 10.980 W 086° 06.302
16S E 579440 N 4115548
Mammoth Dome Sink is a leisurely walk from the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor's Center.
Waymark Code: WMB6JH
Location: Kentucky, United States
Date Posted: 04/11/2011
Views: 11
Visitors who want to explore the surface of Mammoth Cave National Park can find this well marked sinkhole along the appropriately-named Mammoth Dome Sink Trail. The full depth of the entire surface feature is approximately 30 feet. Visitors can tour the sub-surface feature in one of many Ranger-guided tours including the Historic Tour - but photos are a little dark.
The interpretive sign reads:
Sinkholes are found by the tens of thousands in south central Kentucky. Each of them is performing the same task - funneling water from the surface to the underground. Sinkholes along the side of sandstone-capped ridges, usch as Mammoth Dome Sink before you, act like a natural downspout.
Water runs off the ridgetops until captureed by a sink. Often these sinks alow water a direct vertical path t the easily dissolvable limestone beneath. As more water continues to drain, it creates open vertical shafts within the cave system. Mammoth dome Sink's natural funnel has created one of the cave's most mammoth shafts - Mammoth Dome drops 192 feet from the top to the bottom.
Visitors to Mammoth Dome enter at the cave's fourth level from Sparks Avenue and clime the metal tower to exit on the second level at Little Bat Avenue.
At its closest point, only about 70 feet of stone separate the sink's bottom and the dome's top. Will there be a natural "skylight" someday? Unlikely - the sink is not directly above the dome.
Visit Instructions:
Please provide a photo of you and/or your GPS at the site.