Western trailhead for the River Styx Spring Trail at Mammoth Cave National Park

Length:  .45 mile
Time: 15 minutes (not counting hikes on other trails to reach it)
Difficulty: Moderate

The River Styx Spring Trail is located on the south side of the Green River near the Mammoth Cave National Park Visitor Center. It is an out-and-back trail that can only be reached by hiking other trails first. It is accessible from the Green River Bluffs Trail (western trailhead), the Dixon Cave Trail (eastern trailhead), or by taking the paved path from the Visitor Center that leads down to the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave (also the eastern trailhead). I hiked it as part of a loop that started out on the Green River Bluffs Trail at the Mammoth Cave Picnic Area and ended on the Dixon Cave Trail back at the picnic area. The River Styx Spring Trail was the middle section.

River Styx Spring Trail map (click to enlarge)

If hiking from the picnic area on the Green River Bluffs Trail as I was, the trail ends at a T-intersection. Take a left to get to the River Styx Spring Trail. The two trails are within eyesight of each other.

View from the southwestern terminus of the Green River Bluffs Trail towards the River Styx Spring Trail in Mammoth Cave National Park

The trail forks at the intersection, with a left being the River Styx Spring Trail and a right leading to the actual River Styx Spring. If you keep hiking a tenth of a mile past the spring, you will come to the northern trailhead of the Echo River Spring Trail.

Western trailhead for the River Styx Spring Trail (left) and River Styx Spring (right), Mammoth Cave National Park

The River Styx Spring Trail starts off uphill on a wide, gravel road. The climb is moderately strenuous in difficulty, and the hill continues all the way to the Historic Entrance of Mammoth Cave. In fact, if you have taken any tours that start at the Historic Entrance, you’ve walked down the paved path from the Visitor Center. The River Styx Trail is nothing more than a .5-mile gravel extension of the paved path.

Typical terrain of the River Styx Spring Trail at Mammoth Cave National Park

River Styx Spring Trail ends / begins at the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave

Eastern trailhead for the River Styx Spring Trail at the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave

The Dixon Cave Trail, which is how I continued my loop hike back to the picnic area, starts to the left of where the pavement ends at the Historic Entrance. For information and photos about this hike, see the Dixon Cave Trail review here on National Park Planner.

Southern trailhead for the Dixon Cave Trail at the Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave

Back to the Top