Mammoth Cave National Park

     Mammoth Cave is the longest cave in the world.  It has over 400 miles of passageways. Mammoth Cave National Park was established in 1941.  The park was designated a World Heritage Site in 1981 and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1990.
     If you are looking for fantastic formations, Mammoth is not the place.  The cave is covered by a layer of sandstone that acts like a roof.  There are almost no leaks, so there are no stalactites and no stalagmites in most of the cave.  Water managed to penetrate one small area called Frozen Niagara.  Viewing Frozen Niagara is a separate tour.  We chose the Historic Tour, the same one that people have been taking since tours began at the cave.  It's a two hour walk of moderate difficulty.  At one point the pathway gets very narrow and the ceiling is low.  They call that Fat Man's Misery.  After Fat Man's Misery, the way out is 155 steps up with no landings for resting.  To give a perspective - Cape May Lighthouse has 199 steps and Barnegat Light has 217 steps.
     There are various stories about how the cave was discovered.  All of these tales involve a bear and a member of the Houchin family.  Some say John or Francis or Charles Houchin chased a wounded bear into the cave.  Other stories say the bear chased one of the Houchins.
     What the cave lacked in rock formations, it made up for in saltpeter.  When the United States fought the War of 1812, we relied on the saltpeter mined from Mammoth Cave to make gun powder.  After the War of 1812, the cave operated as a private tourist attraction under various owners until it became a national park.
     Mammoth has lots of bats though we didn't see any.  Unfortunately, some of the bats in the cave have been infected with White-Nose Syndrome.  This is a fungus that is harmless to humans but deadly to bats.  The fungus grows on the bats' skin and is spread from animal to animal as they cuddle up during winter hibernation.  The disease prematurely wakes bats from hibernation, and they end up dying from exhaustion, starvation, and exposure because winter is not over.  We had to walk on mats which contained a disinfectant when we left the cave.  We were also advised to wash our clothing before entering other caves.

This area was an easy walk.

Just a gray, rocky place.

This model shows the known passages in the cave - about 400 miles worth.  New passages are still being discovered.