Kentucky Route 70: Cave City to Mammoth Cave National Park

Following Kentucky Route 70 from Cave City toward Mammoth Cave National Park, this series explores a landscape shaped by underground discoveries, tourism, competition, and ambition.

Its opening story examines the Kentucky Cave Wars and Floyd Collins, whose search for a commercially successful cave entrance ended in tragedy in 1925. His entrapment in Sand Cave sparked an extraordinary rescue effort and nationwide attention.

Through historical accounts, newspaper reporting, and the physical geography of Kentucky’s cave country, What’s Outside the Window examines what happened here—and why the story still matters a century later.