Founded by Ralph Rodgers in the 1930s, the 100 Acre Limestone Cavern now features all different kinds of “Mega” adventures, in seventeen miles worth of underground passageways underneath the city of Louisville. It was created by a gigantic limestone quarry created in the early 1930s and ran until the 1970s. However, after the Louisville Zoo moved in above, and after some mining laws had changed, blasting was no longer allowed in the quarry. It laid abandoned for about a ten years after that. In 1989, investors saw the quarry as an opportunity to develop into an “environmentally-conscious”, high security, commercial storage facility.
So since the 1990s, recycled building materials have been taken here and been reused to fill holes, create floors, build roads and storage space, and construct offices. Because of these advances, the MegaCavern is considered the biggest ‘building’ in Kentucky. It is obviously a unique kind of building because it is indoor, and outdoor, underground and above ground. Since it is so obscure, it requires a special set of dual regulatory building codes to abide by since it is underground.
“One of the biggest things that they started is a recycling program. The cavern is actually one of the largest non-biodegradable material recycling facilities. Anything that does not produce methane gas or break down, we can take that and dump back here. And with the process of back-filling the whole cavern, we use that for storage space, basically. We eventually release that to companies for storage”
-Kevin Mullins AKA Cricket- Main Grounds Supervisor
Of the different “Mega” adventures the MegaCavern has to offer, they feature MegaZips, a MegaQuest, a MegaTram, MegaEvents, the world’s largest indoor bike course, and the annual Lights Under Louisville.
The MegaZips features a two and a half hour tour to never-before-seen parts of the cavern, on five different zip lines ranging from 60 feet to 800 feet, and at some points you’ll be 70 feet above the ground. Each zip line is a little different, and offers you a different experience, from the “Bunny” zip to get you comfortable, to the “Zip to Hell” which is the first long zip line you’ll experience, to the last zip where you’ll race someone in your group to the end of the tour.
The indoor MegaQuest, in the heart of the cavern, is the only underground aerial ropes challenge course in the world, an extreme sport entailing suspended ropes, mixed with a bit of an obstacle course, and the MegaCavern put in a zip line at the very end. it takes about three hours to complete, and is fun for anyone over the age of five.
The MegaTram is a historic tram tour, lasting 60 to 70 minutes, which showcases the history, geology, mining, recycling, and green building technology, spanning over 17 miles of corridors underneath the city of Louisville. It is only one of two United States tram cavern tours.
The MegaCavern has the ability to host MegaEvents in the heart of the cavern, in the same space the MegaQuest is completed. The unique, 16,000 square foot space has the capacity for 350 standing people for meetings, or 250 sitting at tables for dinners. They make the space available for corporate meetings, schools wishing to host meetings, ceremonies or lock-ins, and churches.
Lights Under Louisville has gained a lot of attention in the past few years. The MegaCavern is the world’s only completely underground drive-through light show, featuring over 2,000,000 points of light within 850 Christmas displays. The MegaCavern allows you to drive your own car through the cavern to experience the show with your entire family. The tour takes your through the 17 miles of passageways and takes roughly 30 minutes to complete. That’s a lot of Christmas lights!
The MegaCavern features the world’s largest underground bike park. With its 320,000 square feet, it’s complete with over 45 trails Jump Lines, Pump Tracks, Dual Slalom, BMX, Cross Country and Single Track, all 100 feet underground. For beginners, they now offer bike rentals, and have a four hour pass, or a day-long pass to enjoy the fun.
Other fun facts:
- The MegaCavern typically stays 58 degrees year-round.
- 70% of the Louisville Zoo is located right above MegaCavern.
- MegaCavern pumps out 50,000 gallons of water every day to conquer flooding issues.
“This experience was one of the most memorable I’ve ever had. I had always heard of the cavern, but I never thought it would be this vast. It’s pretty interesting to see how large it is and how many different things there are to do here. I would definitely suggest this to anyone who is visiting Louisville. There’s nothing else like this.”
-Dalen Barlow – University of Louisville Student
Weekly Chronicles of a College Senior 