I am from the Louisville area, and frankly I would be bored spending more than a day at Mammoth Cave (seen one cave...). There is a "wild cave" tour that I would highly recommend. Mammoth has very few "pretty" features that other caves have. Some of the southern Indiana caves (Squire Boone, Marengo, etc) may be more photogenic. Mammoth is significant because it is the longest. There is some nice canoeing on the Green River which flows thru the park. As for the park above ground, it is not all that noteworthy. I would opt for a week canoeing at Dale Hollow Lake on the KY-Tenn border. It is very clean and does not get the boat traffic (Ohio Navy) that overwhelms other lakes. To the east is the Big South Fork--now there is high adventure! White water, natural arches, cliffs and lots of hiking. To the north is the Red River Gorge; likewise spectacular but I don't know if I would want to spend a week there. Be advised that Ky summers are hot and humid and we don't have the high cool mountains like in the Smokies or West Virginia. But we do have chiggers and poison ivy!
