Hi there!
Throughout Mammoth Cave, there are sections of the cave that are called different names.
And, there is one section of Mammoth Cave called Fat Man’s Misery.
Presumably, it’s called Fat Man’s Misery because walking through this section of Mammoth Cave is miserable for a fat man.
Or so the early people who wanted lots of people to visit Mammoth Cave wanted tourists to believe to attract more people to be interested in going inside Mammoth Cave!
While it is called Fat Man’s misery, a park ranger did indicate that a “fat man” can get through just fine.
No matter what size you are, you might be side stepping at times as you walk through Fat Man’s Misery of Mammoth Cave.
It’s fun!
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According to the National Park Service:
Located about one mile from the Historic entrance, you will find yourself entering Fat Man’s Misery.
Fat Man’s Misery is a winding keyhole shaped passageway, the lower part of the passageway is about as wide as your hips or a little wider, above your hips the passage widens to about 5.5 feet or more, at the very end, the floor comes up 2 feet for a 20 foot stoop walk, the passageway is a little over 100 feet long.
The park ranger of my tour also noted before we started walking through Fat Man’s Misery that the path was naturally made.
So while it may seem like it was carved out, it was all naturally formed!
Walking through Fat Man’s Misery in Mammoth Cave
I walked through Fat Man’s Misery as part of the River Styx tour in Mammoth Cave National Park in May 2022.
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All Mammoth Cave tours start at the Mammoth Cave Visitor Center.
And then from the visitor center, there are some cave tours that enter the cave from the historic cave entrance, which is where my tour started. (The historic entrance is something to do if you want to do Mammoth Cave without a tour, you just need a ticket.)
Then, after about 50 minutes since entering the cave through the historic entrance, we arrived at Fat Man’s Misery!
👆 Starting the underground walk through Fat Man’s Misery in Mammoth Cave.
And that’s a bit about Fat Man’s Misery in Kentucky!
See more about planning a trip to Mammoth Cave:
- Best Mammoth Cave tours
- Above ground: Things to do in Mammoth Cave National Park
- Mammoth Cave discovery tour
- Mammoth Cave lantern tour
- Mammoth Cave frozen niagara
More national parks with caves:
HAVE FUN WALKING THROUGH FAT MAN’S MISERY!
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