 |
| The Echo River Springs Trail covered in Fall wildflowers. |
There are some beautiful walking trails
around the Visitors' Center at Mammoth Cave National Forest.
To celebrate the Autumnal Equinox I chose to explore the trails
on the south side of the Center (see map below).
 |
This trail is next to the parking lot on the south side of the Visitors' Center/Motel.
This takes you to the campground area and down to the Green River. |
 |
| The trailhead of the Campground Trail (see map). |
I will begin my walk on the Campground Trail,
then turn right onto the White's Cave Trail, turn left on the
Sinkhole Trail, continue on the Echo River Springs' Trail,
walk up the Sunset Point Trail, and finish on the Heritage Trail.
If you take your time and observe your surroundings it should
take you about 1.5 to 2 hours.
 |
| As you get near the campground (see the tent in the background) you will see an outdoor amphitheatre on your right. |
 |
| Turn right after the bridge to get onto the White's Cave Trail. |
 |
| A beautiful Fall Aster. Click any photo to enlarge it. |
 |
| The White's Cave Trail heading down toward the Green River. |
The autumnal equinox was a landmark day to early cultures.
They celebrated this day because it represented the time of the
year when you had to prepare for the harsh winter to come.
They called this day Mid-Autumn, not the first day of Autumn.
To find out why click here.
 |
| Hoary Mountain Mint You can see the distinctive white spraypaint effect. Click here for Information |
 |
| Lots of Pawpaw Trees on this trail. Information about Pawpaw fruit. |
 |
| You will like the canopy of the tall deciduous trees. |
 |
| A species of Coneflower, Thinleaf, I think. |
 |
| Turn right at this sign. You're still on the White's Cave Trail. Click the Trail Map, below, to see where you are. Look for the bottom of the S curve. |
 |
| Shelf Fungi rotting this limb. |
 |
| You'll notice the many Red Cedar trees on this part of the trail. |
As the deciduous trees grow taller, they outgrow the Cedars,
eventually shading them out, killing them. That's why you don't
see Cedars in the middle of a mature deciduous forest.
 |
| You can see that the Cedar is being shaded out by the taller deciduous trees. It has lost most of its leaves. This is a great example of Ecological Succession. |
 |
| A climbing plant called Crossvine. Click here for Information |
Heard a White-breasted Nuthatch here.
 |
| Photo taken from the Cornell site. |
 |
| The deciduous trees are not growing well in this area. This is a very rocky area with little soil. With time, though, more soil will accumulate, allowing the hardwoods to take over. |
Have you ever gone walking in the woods on a rainy day?
"A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods. I always thought so myself; the Maine
woods never seem so fresh and alive as in wet weather. Then all the needles on the evergreens
wear a sheath of silver; ferns seem to have grown to almost tropical lushness and every leaf has
its edging of crystal drops." from The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson
"A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods. I always thought so myself; the Maine
woods never seem so fresh and alive as in wet weather. Then all the needles on the evergreens
wear a sheath of silver; ferns seem to have grown to almost tropical lushness and every leaf has
its edging of crystal drops." from The Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson
 |
| Ahead is the Sinkhole Trail. Turn left to get to the Springs. |
 |
| Descending toward the Echo River Springs. |
 |
| Red-spotted Purple butterfly Information |
 |
| Always remember to stop, look, and listen, often. |
 |
| Once in awhile you'll spot a quick moving Chipmunk. This one stopped and posed for me. Information |
 |
| Now, you begin to see plants called Snakeroot, with their white flowers. |
 |
| Blue-tailed Skink (a juvenile lizard) They lose their blue coloration as they grow into adults. Click here to see a video. |
 |
| Ahead is the Echo River Springs Trail. |
 |
| Before you go right, go left to see the Echo River Springs, the point at which the cave water exits the cave system. |
 |
| This is the Echo River Spring (one of two). The underground river flows through the cave system and comes out here and flows into the Green River (see map). Information about Springs |
 |
| Sour Grass or Yellow Wood Sorrel The flowers and leaves taste like lemons. |
Heard a Pileated Woodpecker here.
 |
| Photo taken from the Cornell Site To learn about this bird and hear its call, click here. |
 |
| A young Sassafras tree Notice the three different leaf shapes...some oval, a few mitten shaped, and many three-lobed. Interesting Information |
Now turn around and head back toward the sign and continue
walking on this trail toward another spring called the
River Styx Spring, which is about a mile from here.
 |
| Some kind of insect larvae. (Lady Bug?) |
 |
| Lots of tall trees along the river. |
 |
| The forest floor is covered with Snakeroot and Yellow Wingstem. |
 |
| Snakeroot Information |
 |
| Yellow Wingstem Information |
 |
| The Green River is to your left, out of sight. |
 |
| Daddy Longlegs (not a spider) Read about the MYTH that It's the most Poisonous Spider |
Continue walking toward the River Styx Spring.
 |
| This is where the River Valley Trail intersects with the Echo River Springs Trail (see map). |
 |
| A Velvet Ant...however it's not really an ant. This is a female wasp, and it will give you a good sting. Be careful. The males have wings. Read about the Velvet Ant (wasp) |
 |
| Walking toward the River Styx Spring. |
 |
| This area is covered with Canegrass. |
 |
| Canegrass looks alot like Bamboo. |
 |
| At this point I turned right to go to Sunset Point. To see the River Styx Spring, go to my post called Mammoth Cave Forest, the North Side. |
Click the map, below, to find the Sunset Point Trail.
 |
| This Sunset Point Trail is fairly stenuous. It's a series of S curves going up a steep, long hill. I would advise you to take your time and stop and observe, often. |
 |
| Two beautiful Viceroy butterflies trying to continue their species. You can tell they are not Monarchs, because Monarchs do not have the black line going across the hindwing. |
 |
| Beechdrops, a plant without chlorophyll! |
 |
| This organism is non-photosynthetic, yet makes flowers and seeds! Read about Beechdrops here. |
Eventually you will reach the top of the hill and be able
to rest at Sunset Point!
 |
| The view from Sunset Point...the Green River Valley in the background. |
Take the Heritage Trail to the Visitors' Center/Motel.
The 3 insect larvae were all on the wooden rail along the trail.
Near the motel I noticed this Honey Locust tree.
 |
| Honey Locust |
 |
| Some of the thorns were 6 inches long. |
 |
| The flattened, twisted pods can get up to 18" long. Information |
This was a perfect way to celebrate the Equinox.
Get out and explore the surface trails at
Mammoth Cave National Park!
Click here to see the north side trails.
