Booth's Amphitheatre - Beneath Your Feet

Booth's Amphitheatre leads to opening of Gothic Avenue.

NPS Photo/ David Kem

Quick Facts

Location:

Mammoth Cave, KY 42259

Significance:

Early tourism

Designation:

World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Booth’s Amphitheatre, named after the 19th century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth (brother of the infamous John Wilkes Booth) lies 169 feet beneath your feet. Booth’s Amphitheatre is where Gothic Avenue intersects with Main cave. This is a large canyon passage, very wide with a high ceiling, there is a set of stairs that go up into Gothic Avenue, an upper oval shaped passageway; located near the stairs are also a second set of salt petre leaching vats.  

Booth and a group of actors visited Mammoth Cave in 1876. He wrote about his joke-telling cave guide in a letter to his daughter: 

“We went laughing at his weak jokes; for it was funny to us actors to see this fellow throwing his wit at us, and our appreciation of his acting made him very happy.” 

Legend has it that Edwin Booth recited from Hamlet from a high natural stage within the room, thus the named Booth’s Amphitheatre.   

NPS Mobile App Users: Click here to watch a video of a ranger at Booth's Amphitheatre. 

Duration:

37.767 seconds

Join Ranger Mary as she shows you Booth's Amphitheatre, 169 feet beneath the surface.