January 1, 2016
"An underground adventure rich in history, geology, mining, recycling, green building technology, and just simply HUGE in scale!" - Louisville Mega Cavern
New Years Day 2016, JT and I wanted to do something fun, something neither of us had ever done before. So instead of doing the normal watching a ball drop with 100,000 of distant, yet uncomfortably close drunk people the night before, we decided to do something a bit more...to ourselves. I saw a friend post on Facebook about her recent trip down to Louisville to experience zip-lining through underground caverns, and it only took me about 30 seconds to convince JT to go. We booked our tickets online at louisvillemegacavern.com and headed to Louisville!
We traveled through Louisville quickly arriving on the south side of town which could only be described as "seedy". We quickly drove to find a bank ATM to get some money, JT wondering if that could be his last ATM transaction ever. We kid, we kid.
After driving through a twisted maze of roads in an industrial park we arrived at the caverns. It appeared to be no more than an out of place rocky cliff, in an otherwise bustling business park. However, inside we could quickly see it was much more.
The caverns, which were originally used to mine limestone from the 1930s to 1970s, were converted to into an underground adventure of zip-lines, challenge suspension bridges, paths for electric fat tire bike tours to ride through, tram tours, and an underground bike park. Year-round, the caverns stay between 58-62 degrees, so it's perfect for an adventure any time of year!
As you walk through the caverns to your first "real" zip-line (you ride down a "bunny zip" before you get to the regular zip-lines to practice landing), the excitement builds as you see the massive rock walls towering over you. Some of our group members were nervous, so I stepped up to be the first to go down. The first zip of our 2.5 hour tour was 666 feet long and dubbed "The Zip-line to Hell". You step up on the box, get strapped onto the line, and jump off into complete darkness. The above picture is a different zip, but you get the point of the cavern. I thought for sure as I came in for landing that i was going to go SPLAT into the rock wall, but no worries...Purly and Cameron were always there to catch us!
As JT goes down, you can see how dark it really was! The adrenaline rush standing on the box before you push off was intense! On your way down, some of the zip-lines would send you flying down at 35mph! That is, if you weighed enough. If not, the ocassional push from the instructor was needed to give you a boost.
Between zips, we had to spelunk through the caverns and navigate across challenge suspension bridges. They send you across two at a time, once the first person gets half-way across. Crossing the first suspension bridge, I had an easy start with the bridge only bouncing up and down as i stepped across. However, JT got on behind me once I crossed half-way and the entire bridge started moving side-to-side too! We finally made it across to move zips, crossing suspended platforms and zipping down.
Before the last zip-line, we had to cross another suspension bridge. I wasn't prepared for this one, though! Looking up the bridge, it seemed like it must have been at least a 30-40 degree angle (although I'm sure it wasn't quite that). Regardless, that bridge was the most terrifying part of the experience! My heart was racing as I tried to maneuver up the steep bridge as it was swaying up and down and side-to-side. We finally made it up, and were ready for our last of six zips.
The last zip-line is a dual zip, where you race each other down. Cameron put me on the "fast" zip-line and JT on the other. After we trash-talked it out, we were finally ready for our race. Cameron counted us down and I jumped off furthest and had a good lead on him...until the incline increased. Even though I went down in the smallest ball possible to increase my speed, JT's size advantage took over and he won by a long shot. Sad face.
All-in-all, it was an amazing adventure for us! We will definitely be going back, but this time, equipped with action cameras capturing HD video as we zip-line through the caverns! We highly recommend Louisville Mega Cavern to anyone looking for something new and advenurous to try. Zip on!
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Service: Underground Zip-Lining, Bike and Tram Tours, Challenge Suspension Bridges, and more!
Price: $49 for students, $59 for the early bird special, $69 weekday, $79 weekend
Website: http://www.louisvillemegacavern.com/