Cave City

Cave City is a city in Kentucky's Caves and Lakes region. It is the main gateway city for Mammoth Cave National Park and its economy is largely based on tourism related to the national park.

By car
Cave City is off of Exit 53 (KY 70/90) on I-65, about halfway between Louisville and Nashville. Cave City can also be accessed from Exit 14 off of the Cumberland Pkwy and heading west on KY 90.

By air

 * Louisville International Airport
 * Nashville International Airport

Get around
Cave City is a small community, so getting around should not be much of a problem.

Caves
Cave City is aptly named — there are numerous caves within the area, including the world-famous Mammoth Cave.



Events

 * 31W Treasure Hunt Sale, in September, +1 270 670-3741

Eat
Cave City is served by several fast food chains near KY 70's junctions with KY 90 and I-65. They include Long John Silver's (co-branded with A&W), KFC, Wendy's, and McDonald's. Subway and Sonic are inside the Shell Travel Plaza.

Drink
In 2014 the city voted to go wet, and Barren County followed suit in 2016. Almost every restaurant now has alcohol sales and package liquor stores are available.

Sleep
Most of these lodgings are located near I-65 at Exit 53 (KY 70, 90)

By phone
Most telephone numbers in Cave City consist of +1 270 plus a seven-digit number, but the region is now served by an overlay complex of two area codes, with +1 364 being the second. A local or in-state telephone call now requires all 10 digits of the local number be dialed (omitting just the leading +1 from a local landline call).

Signage on many established businesses may still display the original seven-digit numbers; dial 270 before these if no area code is indicated.

Go next
About 80 miles (130 km) north of Cave City is Louisville, the home of Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. Louisville also has the Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville Slugger Museum and 4th Street Live, a thriving entertainment complex downtown.

To the south of Cave City is Bowling Green, where Western Kentucky University hosts football and basketball games, along with performing arts. It also has Beech Bend Park, a small amusement park with a water park.

Further south is Nashville, America's Music City. Along with music related attractions, you'll find Opry Mills Mall, The Parthanon and Tennessee Titans football.

Several Kentucky state parks are within an hour's drive of Cave City. They include Nolin Lake SP (just north of Mammoth Cave), Rough River Dam SRP (northwest of Leitchfield), Barren River Lake SRP (southwest of Glasgow), Green River Lake SP (east of Cave City near Campbellsville), Lake Cumberland State Resort Park (south of Russell Springs) and Dale Hollow Lake SRP (along the Kentucky-Tennessee border).