Maple Springs
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- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:57 UTC
- A night
- $50From, per site
- Sites
- 7All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Click See More at the bottom of this overview and review the "Need to Know" section of the campground. At Maple Springs, visitors can enjoy the serenity of the campground and surrounding backcountry trails, or spend their days exploring Mammoth Cave. Campers can explore up to ten miles of the cave through a variety of tours available at the Visitor Center. With more than 400 miles (644 km) of mapped passageways, Mammoth Cave ranks as the world's longest known cave system. Mammoth Cave is named for its grand size and scale. Visit the Rotunda for an idea of just how large this underground world is. The World Heritage Site was explored by Native Americans more than 2,000 years ago, and Europeans discovered its existence at the turn of the 19th century. Keep reading
Recreation
Avid horseback riders head to Maple Springs to explore the lush backcountry trails. Hikers will also find these trails enjoyable.
Facilities
Access to the primitive campground is best via ferry, located six miles from the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center. The ferry accommodates up to two cars, and the ride is free, taking just a few minutes. Taking the ferry is the quickest route to the campground. If the ferry is unavailable, you will need to drive around, which takes about 45 minutes. For information on ferry schedules and trailer standards, call (270) 758-2166. These sites offer electric and water hookups. Sites 1, 2, 3, and 4 are recommended for equestrian use and feature a horse tie-up area. Please consider sites 5, 6, and 7 before booking the others, and prioritize those with horses for the equestrian sites. Note that there is no sewer or dump station at Maple Springs. A small amphitheater is available on-site, and a large fire pit is provided for groups on a first-come, first-served basis.
Natural Features
This campground is part of Mammoth Cave National Park, a 52,800-acre park that includes the Green River Valley, rolling Kentucky hillsides, and the expansive Mammoth Cave with grand-scale chambers and long, winding passageways. This remote campsite is quiet, peaceful and ideal for those who want to be immersed in nature. Wildlife includes deer, turkey, and coyotes.
Nearby Attractions
Take a tour of Mammoth Cave and see landmark cave areas like the Cathedral Domes and Mammoth's famous formation, Frozen Niagara. Or hike above the caverns to explore sinkholes like Cedar Sink.
Charges & Cancellations
Group Facilities - Overnight -$10.00 cancellation fee AND forfeit the first night's use recreation use fee if cancelled less than 14 days before the arrival date (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). For rules and reservation policies please follow the link below: https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
What the agency tells you
Please review the 'Need to Know' information for the site you have selected for more details on site conditions.
These sites have electric and water. Sites 1, 2, 3, and 4 are recommended for equestrian and include a horse tie-up area. Please consider sites 5, 6, and 7 before booking the others, and allow those with horses priority for the equestrian sites. There is no sewer or dump station at Maple Springs. Vault toilets are available.
Hours - Check-out: 11:00 am CST - Check-in: 1:00 pm CST - Quiet Hours: 10:00 pm - 6:00 am CST - Generators are permitted from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm if properly muffled.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
- Green River Ferry is subject to last minute closures. If the Ferry is down, it can take 45 minutes to get from the Visitor Center to the Maple Springs Campground and Backcountry trail heads by going through Brownsville. You may call the Green River Ferry at 270-758-2166 or go to NPS Website to make sure it is operational the day of your arrival. - Green River Ferry hours are 6:00 a.m-6:00 p.m. CST, Daily. Vehicles boarding the ferry must not exceed 12 tons combined and have a length no more than 16 feet and a width max is 8.5 feet. - Please note: If you are driving an RV you will not be able to board the ferry and will need to take the driving route around the park listed in the driving directions under the "Getting Here" tab. If the river levels are between 10.5 feet and 20 feet you may cross the ferry with a trailer.
Safety - Ticks are common in the park and their bites can spread diseases. Learn steps to prevent tick-borne illness. + - Pets: Keep pets on a leash, no longer than 6 feet, at all times. Dispose of pet waste in garbage. Do not leave pets unattended at a campsite for longer than one hour. Kennels are available at The Lodge at Mammoth Cave. - Follow Leave No Trace Seven Principles (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Vehicles - RV: Only one RV per site. RV max length is 38 feet; Trailer max length is 26 feet. - Sanitation: Dump and Fill stations are located in the Camp Store parking lot. - All wheels must be on paved pad. This includes all trailers, popups, teardrops, RVs, etc. Please stay on paved areas to prevent ruts and damage to sensitive vegetation. Overflow parking is available in the Camp Store parking lot.
Food Storage - When food or trash is not within reach, it must be stored inside a vehicle or hard sided container to prevent wildlife access to human food. Do not hang trash or food from trees. - Dishwashing water should be disposed of in the toilets in restrooms.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Firearms must be carried in accordance with Kentucky state law, but all other weapons are prohibited. Possession of firearms in the park buildings and cave is prohibited. The use of firearms are prohibited anywhere within Mammoth Cave National Park.
Fireworks are prohibited.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 7 · 3 group, 4 equestrian
- Hookups
- 7 electric, 7 water
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - seasonal
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Dump station
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Birding
- Hiking
- Horse Camping
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Mushroom Picking
- Picnicking
- Scenic drives
- Stargazing
- Night sky · 35th darkest of 60 in KY
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 15:57 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
5 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:21 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 7 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 7 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 15:57 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $50 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Group Facilities - Overnight -$10.00 cancellation fee AND forfeit the first night's use recreation use fee if cancelled less than 14 days before the arrival date (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation).” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 5
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:21 UTC
- Mammoth Cave CampgroundMammoth Cave National Park · 2.5 mi · 2 of 216 site-nights open
- Dog Creek (KY)Nolin River Lake · 7.8 mi · 20 of 136 site-nights open
- MoutardierNolin River Lake · 9.4 mi · 105 of 328 site-nights open
- TailwaterBarren River Lake · 22 mi · 66 of 96 site-nights open
- Baileys PointBarren River Lake · 22 mi · 9 of 334 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:57 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
7 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 7 mapped sitesAll 7 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 7 of the 7 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Group Sites | G001 | equestrian electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 190 ft | 4,774 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G002 | equestrian electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 162 ft | 4,584 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G003 | equestrian electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 162 ft | 4,425 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G004 | equestrian electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 180 ft | 4,440 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G005 | group standard electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 165 ft | 4,530 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G006 | group standard electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 165 ft | 4,681 ft | $50 |
| Group Sites | G007 | group standard electric | 50 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 188 ft | 4,867 ft | $50 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Mammoth Cave CampgroundMammoth Cave National Park · 2.5 mi
Mammoth Cave Backcountry CampingMammoth Cave National Park · 2.8 mi
Houchin Ferry CampgroundMammoth Cave National Park · 5.9 mi
Dog Creek (KY)7.8 mi
WAX9.3 mi
Moutardier9.4 mi- Directions from the North: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway towards the Visitor Center. Turn left on the Green River Ferry Road. Cross the ferry and follow the signs to Maple Springs. Turn left onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left. For trailers or large vehicles, use alternate directions. Vehicles boarding the ferry must not exceed 8 tons and have a length no more than 16 feet.
- Alternate Directions from the North:Take Interstate 65 to Exit 53 (Cave City Exit). Turn right onto KY-70. Follow 70/255 as it becomes the Mammoth Cave Parkway in the park. Turn left on HWY 70 to Brownsville. Make a right on HWY 259. Turn right onto HWY 728 which becomes HWY 1827. Then turn right onto HWY 1352 and follow signs to Maple Springs Group Campground. Turn right onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left.
- Directions from the South: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Follow the Mammoth Cave Parkway towards the Visitor Center. Turn left on the Green River Ferry Road. Cross the ferry and follow the signs to Maple Springs. Turn left onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left. For trailers or large vehicles, use alternate directions. Vehicles boarding the ferry must not exceed 8 tons and have a length no more than 16 feet.
- Alternate Directions from the South: Take Interstate 65 to Exit 48 (Park City Exit). Turn left onto KY-255 and follow 255 as it becomes the Park City Road into the park. Follow Park City Road until it joins the Mammoth Cave Parkway; turn left. Turn left on HWY 70 to Brownsville. Make a right on HWY 259. Turn right onto HWY 728 which becomes HWY 1827. Then turn right onto HWY 1352 and follow signs to Maple Springs Group Campground. Turn right onto Maple Springs Loop. Maple Spring Campground will be on the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Brownsville, KY
Typical weather
Typical October night 49°F, day 74°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Maple Springs is in Kentucky’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Brett Guthrie (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itMammoth Cave National ParkNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyBrett GuthrieU.S. Representative · Kentucky’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMitch McConnellU.S. Senator · Kentucky
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRand PaulU.S. Senator · Kentucky
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Maple Springs for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Mammoth Cave National Park: I tried to camp at Maple Springs in Kentucky and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Maple Springs are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Maple Springs keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Maple Springs as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Maple Springs (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Dear Brett Guthrie, I’m a constituent in Kentucky’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Maple Springs are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Maple Springs keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Maple Springs. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Maple Springs (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Dear Mitch McConnell, I’m a constituent in Kentucky. I tried to camp at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Maple Springs are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Maple Springs keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Maple Springs. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Maple Springs (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Dear Rand Paul, I’m a constituent in Kentucky. I tried to camp at Maple Springs, Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Maple Springs are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Maple Springs keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Maple Springs. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Maple Springs (Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky) via campanac.com