Kentucky Down Under in Horse Cave, Kentucky is a fabulous place to add to your trip to Mammoth Cave or anywhere in the surrounding area. We were completely surprised and delighted! We needed to stop and drop off something to a friend who worked there. It is a bit pricy but if you are going with children they will have a blast and it is VERY hands-on. If you are a senior or have seniors or someone disabled or young children who get tired you may rent a golf cart! I have to say I absolutely LOVED that part! I am soon gonna be 62 and my old knees don’t love hills and stairs much these days.
We were totally expecting a road-side zoo. You know the type: Dirty, concrete cages etc. That is absolutely NOT what we found. Plenty of animals to see and pet. As the name implies there is a bit of an Australian theme there. They have Kangaroos with plenty of Joey’s that you can go in and pet and feed! Yes! Feed! Momma Kangaroos and keepers are walking around with full pouches! For a dollar you can buy food and for $5.00 you can buy a LOT of food! I had an absolute blast feeding them!
This zoo was in a very beautiful area. The paths, though paved, were very wooded and there were trees, flowers and beauty all around. There were fountains/streams and all of the cages were clean and nicely kept. There were some very small ones in one section for small mammals and birds the rest were wonderful.
There were old horses that had been retired from the local Amish Community. There was a young Camel also from the Amish and a huge draft horse just walking around loose. The goats were free ranging all over the place as well as the owner’s dogs. This is really a nice place to see nature, Play in Nature and it is ranked very high on our Places To Play in Nature List!
I loved the horses! Coming from Kentucky I always enjoy horses. The free-range draft horse was BEAUTIFUL! And the retired horses from the Amish were gorgeous as well!
I loved so much about this place. The kids could run and run. They could pet and feed kangaroos! They could go in with and feed Lorries. They could go in a cave and take the tour ( they had the cutest miner’s hats in the gift shop) They could mine for gems. A very wonderful day!
And because we were in a small town there were inexpensive hotels. We would absolutely recommend this as a place to spend a day on either a weekend vacation or a piece of a long summer one!