I had to get out of the house—we’d been trapped inside all morning waiting on an appliance technician. The 3.5-year-old wanted to explore and was still on a cave kick after seeing Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky.

Loaded in the car, we took the 45-minute trip down the road, to the Northeast corner of Alabama, to go 10,000 years back in time.

Russell Cave became a National Monument in 1961 because of the sheer volume of artifacts found inside the cavern—tools and spears—vital information about the past that had been found nowhere else in the Southeast on such a scale.

The cave is a quick walk from the visitor’s center along a boardwalk–seriously, quick. It only took about twenty minutes to get there with two distracted toddlers.

You can’t walk inside but the view is gorgeous.

We only needed an hour total at the cave and the boys were ready to go. If you want to explore further there is a 1.2 mile nature walk right off the boardwalk.

The 3.5-year-old was fascinated that people once lived in caves and I realized we’d never once had a conversation about our ancient origins.

So, tonight I will spend an hour on Amazon trying to find the perfect book to read to him about the early cave dwellers of the world.

Suggestions welcome.

Click here for a list of the caves you can explore with a kiddo under two.