On our travels on Highway 64 between Louisville and St. Louis we see signs for Marengo Cave. We have passed by this several times over the years. Every now and then, you must get out of the car and explore what the attraction has to offer. We were glad we did. The tour and the caves are worth the time to stop in and see.

My first thought in seeing the entrance sign was “What is a National Natural Landmark (NNL)?” I had to look it up.  From their website: “The National Natural Landmarks Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of sites that contain outstanding biological and geological resources.” Marengo Cave has been a NNL since 1984. It is privately owned. The NNL designation was interesting, and in reading about it, I discovered that over 600 sites are designated as of July, 2024.

I apparently have been to a few of the NNL’s and did not know that I had been in one. One is on a frequent bike ride route: Big Bone Lick State Park.

My next thought after seeing the entrance to the park was: “Why the name Marengo?” According to my research, eleven cities/towns in the US are named Marengo after the “Battle of Marengo.” I also had to look up the battle and Napoleon’s victory in the Italian city of Marengo which apparently (according to the internet) sealed the success of his Italian campaign in 1800.

The cave tours were informative and the caves themselves were impressive. I am glad we stopped. You cannot take many pictures in a cave. It was hot outside but the cave temperature is a constant 52 degrees all year around. So, we were comfortable on our tours. We are experienced cave walkers and did have a sweatshirt with us—and we used it.

Marengo Caves has two tours, and we walked both Crystal Palace and the Dripstone Trail. Each one was captivating. If you have the time, the continuous line from Crystal Palace to Dripstone makes sense. We were fascinated by the tours and did the Crystal Palace tour second. This arrangement allowed us to really enjoy the differences in the cave formations. I enjoyed the mirror lake feature the best; it is viewed on both the Crystal Palace and Dripstone Trail tours.

There are attractions outside of the cave that look like fun for kids. We did the Miner’s Maze and went in and around The Crawl, which was a replica of caving. I was just short enough (under six foot two) and thin enough (40-inch waistline or less) to get through, although it is best left to people younger than I am. I will keep this place in mind as a good spot to take a grandchild in the future.

We also walked around the nearby town of Corydon, IN, on our way back to the interstate. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say. We enjoyed walking the small downtown area and discovered it was the first capital of Indiana.

We would have explored the Battle of Corydon site except that it is only opened on the weekends. It looks interesting. It is a Confederate Civil War victory and we have ridden by a similar site in Ohio.

Lessons learned:

Be ready to explore on a road trip, especially one that we have taken before. I am sure on some weekend car trip we will stop back at the Battle of Corydon site.

Look for the National Natural Landmark sites. With over 600 of them, we must be passing one every now and then.

No bike riding in the caves. See you on the road.