Eight Conference Field Trip
Optional Field Trip to Bowling Green and Mammoth Cave on Sunday, April 1
The optional conference field trip to the Central Kentucky karst promises to be extraordinary. It will visit two classic karst areas: the city of Bowling Green, once billed as "the city with a natural sewer system," and the world’s longest cave at Mammoth Cave National Park. And, it will be led by Dr. Nick Crawford, Director of the Center for Cave and Karst Studies at Western Kentucky University, and Mr. Joe Meiman, hydrogeologist at Mammoth Cave National Park.
The field trip will begin in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Saturday evening with an introductory presentation on the karst of the Bowling Green—Mammoth Cave area and a social hour, to be held in the old night club in the entrance to Lost River Cave. Free boat tours of the cave will be available. Participants should arrive in Louisville on Saturday afternoon or early evening, and will be transported from Louisville to Bowling Green by van.
In Bowling Green participants will stay overnight at the Best Western Motel, Scottsville Road Exit off I-65 (Exit 22). Participants must make their own reservations: phone (270) 782-3800 or (800) 343-2937, or FAX (270) 782-2384, and be sure to mention the Sinkhole Convention for the reduced rate of $40/night. They may leave most of their luggage at the Galt House hotel in Louisville and just bring to Bowling Green what they want for the field trip. Final details will be coordinated with the registered participants closer to the date of the field trip. Participants will not be permitted to follow the field trip bus in their private vehicles.
1Because of the early start, participants have generally arrived the night before the field trip. Lodging Saturday night is not included in the field trip fee.
The field trip schedule is complicated by the fact that Bowling Green is in the Central Time zone and Louisville is on Eastern Time. Moreover, Daylight Savings Time begins early Sunday morning. However, because all the participants will be meeting Saturday evening, we hope to remind everyone of the time change and avoid any late risers in the morning. Because of the time zone change, the field trip will depart at 7:00 a.m. Central Daylight Savings Time Sunday morning.
In the morning we will visit sites around Bowling Green seeing how the local karst has impacted the development of that city. In the afternoon we will visit the Mammoth Cave area and journey into the world’s longest cave. The drive from Mammoth Cave National Park back to Louisville takes approximately one and a half hours, which participants may use to recover from the early departure. We plan on returning to Louisville at approximately 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
Please remember that the field trip is an optional extra and that participants must check the appropriate line on the registration form and pay the extra $75.00 fee. Please be sure to include your e-mail address so that we may communicate the final details to you efficiently. Note that the cost of the field trip has decreased this year! World famous karst and the world’s longest cave all for less than ever before: Don’t miss it!
Photos courtesy of the National Park Service.