The Crumps Cave Research and Education Preserve is located approximately 25 miles northeast of the Western Kentucky University campus near the town of Smiths Grove, KY.  The 2.1-acre preserve protects the entrance to a two-kilometer-long cave system known for its large passageways and significant archaeological deposits. In 2008, Western Kentucky University purchased the property, then known as Cave Spring Caverns, from a private landowner. Since acquisition, a world-class research facility has been established at the cave, which allows for examining epikarstic processes and the impacts of agricultural activities on the quality of karst groundwater partially through USDA funding. An extensive monitoring network has been established both in and outside of the cave to measure atmospheric/weather conditions, soil moisture, episkarst water transport, water chemistry parameters, and cave microclimate.