Photo Gallery (U.S. National Park Service)

Millions of people have walked by Crystal Lake in the Frozen Niagara section of Mammoth Cave over the last 100 years. Most leave only footprints and take only pictures, but occasionally a ninja turtle is left behind. Park resource managers worked on a special project to clean up this area of the cave and restore the waterway to a more natural state.

*The copyright status of these images may vary. Check the copyright status on the image detail pages before you download them.

A small greenish body of water in a gray, steep sided cave room.

Crystal Lake Pre Draining

3000 x 4000
2.3 MB

A small body of green water sits at the bottom of a deep rocky cave pit.

Crystal Lake From Above

3000 x 4000
4.9 MB

Two people wearing helmets sit in brightly colored inflatable kayaks in a small green body of water inside a cave.

Floating in Crystal Lake

3000 x 4000
3.6 MB

A person wearing a green uniform, helmet and headlamp looks at a muddy water’s edge near a yellow and blue kayak in a cave.

Inspecting the Bottom of Cryst...

3000 x 4000
3.6 MB

A person in a green uniform, caving helmet, and headlamp stans in waist deep water in a dark rocky cave.

Monitoring in Crystal Lake

3000 x 4000
3.2 MB

A steep muddy hill inside a cave that has piles of wires and light bulbs sitting at the base.

Litter and Wires on the Crysta...

3000 x 4000
4.1 MB

Small objects are littered across a muddy floor inside a cave.

Litter on the Bottom of Crysta...

2286 x 3728
1.2 MB

Two people with helmets and headlamps stand in shallow muddy water in a rocky cave room.

Crystal Lake Drained

2048 x 1536
0.7 MB

After and before photos that show a rocky and muddy floor in a steep sided cave room and another that shows a dark green body of water in the same steep sided cave area.

Before and After Crystal Lake ...

2048 x 1152
0.2 MB

People wearing blue overalls, caving helmets, and headlamps stand in knee high to waist deep mud inside a dark cave.

Volunteers Standing in Mud in ...

1536 x 2048
0.5 MB

A muddy gloved hand points to a small pile of green and brown copper pennies.

Copper Coins from Crystal Lake

3155 x 3024
2.9 MB

A person wearing a helmet and headlamp smiles while she is covered in thick brown mud from her chest to her feet.

Muddy Work

4032 x 3024
1.9 MB

A man pulls a muddy bucket on a pulley system in a cave.

Volunteers Hauling Buckets fro...

2048 x 1536
0.3 MB

Five people sift through thick brown mud in three square boxes with a mesh bottom in a forested area.

NSS Volunteers Screen Mud

2048 x 1536
0.8 MB

A wooden square with a mesh bottom holds three dirty hats, coins, long pieces of paper, a comb, sunglasses, and rubber band.

Crystal Lake Lost Items After ...

1536 x 2048
0.8 MB

A muddy black camera bag, camera, worn out flashlights, flash cubes, plastic bouncy balls, white golf ball, white plastic spoon and a toy turtle figure laid out on display.

Large Items found in Crystal L...

2883 x 3844
2.7 MB

A pair of black cat eye shaped eyeglasses covered in mud.

A Pair of Cat Eye Glasses from...

3024 x 4032
2.2 MB

Tiny dirty brown items that look like rocks laid out on a piece of white plastic.

Chewing Gum from Crystal Lake

4032 x 3024
4.0 MB

Muddy flashbulbs from film cameras shaped like squares, long rectangles, and bulbs are laid out on a piece of white plastic.

Flash Bulbs of All Sizes in Cr...

3024 x 4032
3.8 MB

Nine old glass bottles covered in mud on a display table.

Glass Bottles Found in Crystal...

3024 x 4032
3.2 MB

Back to top | View All

Tags

Mammoth Cave National Park Resource Management and Science Cave Restoration National Speleological Society Habitat Restoration Crystal Lake Mammoth Cave Volunteer