My family and I recently visited Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky and my dino-loving four-year-old had the BEST time. The drive is 3 hours 26 min from Knoxville, Tennessee. While there isn’t much to do in Cave City other than Dinosaur World, you pass through a few cities such as Bowling Green and Glasgow. Dinosaur World is open daily 8:30AM to 5:00PM (CST) and it’s a ton of fun!
Upon arrival, we parked (they offer free parking) and entered through the gift shop, which is where we purchased our tickets (you can also purchase them online and in advance). As we exited the gift shop, there was a fun dinosaur themed playground with picnic tables. If you want to bring lunch, it’s a great place to eat. You will follow the sidewalk path where the fun begins.
You will see over 150 life-sized dinosaurs with a surprise around every corner. The prehistoric museum has collections of dinosaur claws and eggs, mammoth bones, and more!
You can add on special activities such as the fossil dig and dino gem excavation, where you purchase a bag or bucket of minerals and gems or dinosaur bones and coprolite. You will take it to the mining sluice, and watch the water wash away the dirt to leave your finds. There is also a geode cracker where you will choose from four sizes of geodes. Everything is extremely affordable. The geode cracker ranges from $5.95 to $16.95. The fossil dig activity is $3 plus tax and the gem excavation prices vary from $11 – $39.50.
Ticket prices are $15.75 per person plus tax. Seniors (60+) are $13.75 plus tax. Children (3-12) are $12.75 plus tax and children under two FREE. Plus, active duty military receive FREE admission with a valid active duty ID.
Parent expectations are important. This is a smaller park with a very affordable entrance fee. It only took us an hour to walk through the dinosaurs. We had to stop and take a picture with what felt like every single dinosaur that there was, but for a very imaginative four-year-old, this was “the best day ever.” He went back to school to tell all his friends about the cool dinos he saw.
Dinosaur World is a must-add to your summer bucket list!
