Lost River Cave sees flood damage

Published 6:00 am Friday, April 11, 2025

By Jack Dobbs

As a multi-day stretch of heavy rains dumped just over 10 inches of water on Warren County, low lying areas became inundated with flooding, including the valley encompassing Lost River Cave.

Speaking with the Daily News on Thursday, Lost River Cave CEO Justin Jennings said water levels at the mouth of the cave rose approximately 60 feet higher than normal.

“On average, the water inside the cave is only three to four feet deep,” Jennings said. “It’s a very shallow river.”

Email newsletter signup

Many portions of the park remain closed. Crews were busy Thursday at the mouth of the cave, spraying off mud and silt left behind from flood waters on the dance floor area of the cave entrance and some buildings along the pathway leading to the cave.

“The water crested approximately Sunday morning,” Jennings said. “It’s probably dropped about 20 to 30 feet since Sunday.”

The bridge that takes visitors from the parking lot into the valley normally has a dry valley underneath. At one point, the waterline rose to around 30 feet from the bridge.

Most of the park’s trails in the valley are still underwater, Jennings said, and will be closed until floodwaters recede. Several trees are down around the park as well. Jennings said Lost River Cave’s butterfly habitat, which is set to open Memorial Day weekend, did not experience any flooding since it sits on higher ground, one of the only places in the park Jennings said was unaffected.

Rain was in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, although any additional rainfall was not expected to have as large of an impact on the park as last week’s storms did.

Jennings said the park expects floodwaters to recede in about a week. However, cave tours will be on pause for a bit longer.

“If we can stay dry, probably mid-next week,” he said. “It will recede from the dance floor fairly quick, but when it gets down to that narrow passage that enters the cave, it will stall out.”

Once the water gets to this point, levels are expected to stay high for another week and a half or longer, he said.

Along with damaging plant life, the flooding has had a financial impact on the park. While a figure for total losses due to flooding is not yet known, Jennings said the figure would be “pretty big.”

“When our boat tours aren’t running, we’re not bringing in revenue,” Jennings said. “This is prime spring break season … we love seeing those spring break travelers, and now all we get to do is turn them away.”

Jennings said once the waters go down and silt is removed, crews will head into the cave to inspect and replace infrastructure destroyed by the water, including cellular systems and lighting fixtures. Downed trees and debris will need to be removed as well, since they pose a threat to tour boats.

He said early estimates place the repair bill at $15,000 to $20,000, much of which will be payroll expenses for workers. Much of this work is expected to fall within the week-or-so timeline. Earth Week events at the park are expected to go on as normal.

A “flash fundraiser” was started last Thursday and ran for four days, ultimately raising nearly $7,000 for cleanup efforts.

“We were overwhelmed by the community’s support,” Jennings said. “That’s going to be critical to cleaning everything up and replacing anything that got damaged.”

About Jack Dobbs

Jack covers city government for the Daily News. Originally from Simpson County, he attended Western Kentucky University and graduated in 2022 with a degree in journalism.

email author More by Jack

More News

Building permits

Man charged in deadly Lovers Lane crash returns to court

Evidence in BG murder case to undergo testing

Bill to expand Mammoth Cave National Park boundaries introduced

Print Article