World’s longest cave just got even longer after discovery at Kentucky national park


Chacour Koop

Mon, September 13, 2021

The longest cave in the world just got even longer — at least officially speaking.

Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky said researchers found another 8 miles of passages while mapping the immense underground geological marvel. The new discovery by the Cave Research Foundation brings the total length to 420 miles, officials said.

“When it comes to discoveries in Mammoth Cave, there truly is no end in sight!” the park posted on Facebook.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, the park estimates up to 600 miles of cave remain undiscovered. Plus, more than 200 miles of disconnected parts of the main cave system exist in the park.

Steven Bishop, an enslaved Black man, was a guide and among the first in modern history to map the cave in the 1840s, discovering new passageways in the “dark labyrinth,” according to the park.

The cave system continues to grow in official size as explorers from the Cave Research Foundation visit for mapping.

Mammoth Cave National Park is about 130 miles southwest of Lexington.