Posted by on March 15, 2013 in On Vacation - 1 Comment

Mammoth Cave National Park – Edmonson County, Kentucky

Entering Mammoth Cave National ParkMetro Detroiters heading south on vacation by way of U.S. Interstate 65 are afforded an extremely convenient opportunity to make a super-short hop off the freeway to explore one of the world’s most unique geological formations at Mammoth Cave National Park in Edmonson County, Kentucky. With over 400 miles of explored and charted subterranean territory, Mammoth Cave is the world’s longest known cave system and has been a staple of North American tourism Inside Mammoth Cave 1since 1816. It’s open year round, with a surprisingly wide variety of tours that will satisfy curiosities ranging from couch potato-esque to scientific. The photo album that accompanies this post shows some of what you’ll see on the Park Service’s “Historical” tour, including its most compelling features, the nearly impassable ordeal known as “Fat Man’s Misery” and the grandiose “Rotunda Room”. Should you schedule this tour be wary of our guide, a well-informed but no-Fat Mans Misery 1nonsense type of guy that we nicknamed “Surly” Ranger Joe. If you happen to slow down “Surly” Ranger Joe as he guides you through the labyrinth that is the Historical tour, lingering just a bit too long to photograph the impressive interiors, he WILL let you know how much he appreciates it which is exactly not much at all. We here at I Love Detroit Michigan are Inside Mammoth Cave 5offering a fat twenty dollar reward to our first reader who posts a YouTube video of themselves telling “Surly” Ranger Joe that, “I am a taxpaying American citizen and I will take as Surly Ranger Joemuch time as I like photographing the inside of this hole in the ground since I am one of its owners. Good day, Sir!” ~I♥DM

Leaving Mammoth Cave

About the author

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Dale Carlson grew up along the northeastern shores of Lake Michigan, where at a young age Detroit called out to him in his dreams. In 2008, after extended stays in ten different Michigan cities, the author settled permanently in southeast Oakland County where he currently lives and works in various capacities within the local real estate industry.