Parking
Start at the Great Onyx Road gate off Flint Ridge Road. A designated lot or roadside pull-off was not confirmed; check the park’s current parking guidance before leaving a car.
Overview
About Great Onyx Cave Road Trail
Why go
- A direct surface walk to the Great Onyx Cave area.
- Leashed pets are allowed on park surface trails.
Heads up
- The return retraces the same road uphill.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Mammoth Cave map
Full mapElevation585–851 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
4 active Mammoth Cave alerts
- ClosureAccessible Tour unavailableThe Accessible Tour is currently unavailable because mechanical issues have taken the cave elevator out of service. - Check back for updates or call the visitor center at (270) 758-2180.Official details
- ClosureGreen River Ferry temporarily out of serviceThe Green River Ferry has temporarily suspended operations because low water levels make service unsafe. - Ferry service will resume once water levels rise and conditions are safe.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Mammoth Cave Tour Guide
Your drive to Great Onyx Cave Road Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Mammoth Cave National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Great Onyx Cave Road Walk0:00 / 0:22
“The Flint Ridge Road access to Great Onyx Cave Road is ahead, for a dirt-and-gravel walk through the woods. Allow about two hours for four miles out and back, climbing uphill on the return along a road shared with bikes.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Mammoth Cave Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Mammoth Cave Baptist Church and Cemetery
- Bransford Family Cemetery
- The Animal Behind the Stone Buttons
- Visitor Center and Historic Entrance
- 52 audio storiesacross Mammoth Cave’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Tricolored Bat, Cave Salamander, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 47 trails, 42 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Great Onyx Cave Road Trail
What the walk isGreat Onyx Cave Road is a 4-mile out-and-back from Flint Ridge Road to the Great Onyx Cave area…
Great Onyx Cave Road is a 4-mile out-and-back from Flint Ridge Road to the Great Onyx Cave area and back. You follow about two miles of a wide dirt-and-gravel road each way through deciduous woodland; allow around two hours. The road is the experience, so choose it for a straightforward forest walk rather than a loop with changing scenery.
The return climbThe route drops about 265 feet overall toward the cave, then you climb it on the way back.
The route drops about 265 feet overall toward the cave, then you climb it on the way back. Four miles and the uphill finish are the main commitment. Bikes share this same administrative road, so expect a mixed-use route.
Reaching Great OnyxThe walk ends near the cave area; it does not go underground.
The walk ends near the cave area; it does not go underground. Great Onyx is also the setting for a separate, ticketed National Park Service cave tour, so plan that as a different outing.
Start and rulesPick up Great Onyx Road at its Flint Ridge Road access.
Pick up Great Onyx Road at its Flint Ridge Road access. The National Park Service lists the road for hiking and biking, and leashed pets are allowed on surface trails. I couldn't verify a designated trailhead lot or today's access arrangements, so confirm where to park with the park before you go. Keep dogs on a leash no longer than six feet.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Mammoth Cave
227 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
21 sightingsTricolored BatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
75 sightingsCave SalamanderMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
149 sightingsWild TurkeyMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBarred OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
40 sightingsSnapping TurtleMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Mammoth Cave. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
