BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — What was once Kentucky Action Park for roughly 50 years is now being reopened as Mammoth Valley Park.
The amusement park is also under new management. Robert Reynolds, a Bowling Green native, used to go to the park during his childhood.
When the park closed down, he was devastated to see his childhood playground become a vacancy.
However, an offer to sell the park came to his attention, and after months of deliberation, he decided to buy it.
“I have fond memories of going down the alpine slide and riding the chairlift,” Reynolds said. “I was sad to hear the park had closed down and when the opportunity came up to purchase this place, it was something I was ready for.”
Reynolds and his team want to bring several of those childhood memories back to life for kids to create new memories with this place.
“We have a dozen or so go carts,” Reynolds said.
“We got the one seaters and two seaters. If you’re not tall enough to drive, you can be a passenger and race your buddies around the track here, but this is pretty cool!”
Reynolds and his crew also brought back other well-known attractions, such as the chairlift.
“This is therapy right here: hopping on an 8-minute ride to the top of the mountain, enjoying the scenery, and be at one with your thoughts here,” Reynolds said.
He also opened up the only alpine slide in the state and the duo zipline.
Not only are they restoring the original parts of the park, they are also adding to it.
“We’ve repainted, revamped everything, passed inspection with flying colors,” Reynolds said.
“We plan on being able to do the zipline at night, do everything at night here. So as it starts getting dark earlier in the day, we plan on saying open to 10 or nine at night.”
Even though it’s not a simple task to transform an amusement park, Reynolds says it’s worth it to bring back something that has been a vital part to Cave City’s community.
“Every day those thoughts come across your mind, but at the end of the day it’s such a neat place to be a part of, really just kind of a steward of the property since it’s just been a staple of Cave City for over 50 years,” Reynolds said.
Mammoth Valley Park is in Cave City on the way to Mammoth’s Cave, and opens every day at 11:00 a.m., and tickets for zip lining can be purchased online or in-person.