[1] The original entrance to the system, Whigpistle Cave, was discovered by Rick Schwartz in 1976.
[3] Surveyed so far to over 66 kilometers (41 mi), the Whigpistle Cave System is ranked as third-longest in Kentucky, 11th-longest in the United States, and 47th-longest in the world.
Groundwater dye tracing has shown that water flowing from Mammoth Cave's Hawkins River emerges downstream at a river within Martin Ridge Cave.
[5] In 1996, Western Kentucky University graduate students Alan Glennon and Jon Jasper discovered a new entrance and eight miles (12.5 km) of cave passage.
Their exploration revealed connections to Jackpot in June 1996 and Whigpistle in August 1996.