Torghatten

It would take a bigger gun than anything humans have invented to shoot a hole through a mountain, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know what it would look like, thanks to the natural tunnel that runs through Norway’s Torghatten mountain.

Torghatten is an imposing mound of granite that rises up out of the surrounding Nordlands like its own island. It would make for a lovely, if an uninteresting geological feature in itself, but it is the natural tunnel that runs straight through it that really makes it something special. The short shaft looks like it was drilled or blown through the rock, but the tunnel is actually a naturally occurring phenomenon. Or if the legend is to be believed, a supernaturally occurring phenomenon.

As the local myth surrounding the cave hole goes, it was created out of a troll’s hat. An amorous troll was chasing a woman and she was getting away. Rather than let her live free, the troll tried to shoot her with an arrow, but the troll king threw his hat in the arrow’s path to block it. The arrow left a hole in the hat, and then the hat turned into the mountain now known as Torghatten. Sometimes, myths are just plain weird. 

Visitors to Torghatten can follow a path up the base of the mountain and pass through the incredible tunnel. It may be one of the only places in the world where anyone can waltz straight through a solid mountain.