Caves:
Full of rare and unique species of animals, including Indiana and Gray Bats that form large colonies to hibernate, Tennessee has the largest number of known caves in the United States. Tennessee caves also offer visitors many opportunities to explore the hidden treasures they contain. These are eight of the state’s most popular caves.
Raccoon Mountain Caverns:
Discovered in 1929 near Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, and considered to be the most geologically active cave in the southern United States, the Raccoon Mountain Caverns, previously known as the Crystal Caverns, the Tennessee Caverns, the Crystal City Caves, the Crystal Cave, and the 41 Crystal Cave, contain more than five and a half miles of well preserved passageways, guided walking tours, stalactites, soda straws, flow stones, stalagmites, natural bridges, eco-expeditions, and “get muddy” tours that view life inside the cave.
Ruby Falls Cave:
One of the first caves outfitted with electric lights, and part of the Lookout Mountain Caverns National Historic Landmark complex, the Ruby Falls Cave features a rainwater and spring-fed stream located 1120 feet underground that joins the Tennessee River at Lookout Mountain, guided tours of the famous Ruby Falls, the country’s deepest, largest, and most popularly visited waterfall that is opened to the public, and was the first United States tourist attraction to receive the Green Globe International Certification.
Nickajack Cave:
Famous as the location where Country Music Legend Johnny Cash had his spiritual experience in 1968 that caused him to stop using drugs, and located five and a quarter miles southeast of Nickajack, at the eastbound I-24 rest area before crossing the Tennessee River enroute to Chattanooga, the now mostly underwater Nickajack Cave is a wildlife refuge that houses more than one hundred thousand Gray Bats.
Hubbard’s Cave:
Part of the Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, and located ten miles southeast of McMinnville, Hubbard’s Cave is ecologically significant as the largest Indiana and Gray Bat hibernaculum in the state, containing more than half a million of these creatures, with three entrances found at a seventy-five foot wide sinkhole surrounded by an oak-hickory forest, fifty foot tall rooms full of scenic gypsum formations, human signatures from throughout history, Prehistoric pieces of canes, and troughs, bridges, and ladders from the Civil War.
Dunbar Cave:
Part of the one hundred and ten acre Dunbar Cave State Park in Clarksville, Dunbar Cave was inhabited by Prehistoric peoples who left behind more than thirty enigmatic cave wall drawings, and was owned by Country Music Hall of Fame member Roy Acuff, who used the cave for musical entertainment performances including Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman, however, on March 24, 2010 the cave was closed by the State of Tennessee because of White Nose Bat Syndrome.
Cumberland Caverns:
Featuring the “God of the Mountain” retelling of creation, and located eight miles southeast of McMinnville, Tennessee’s largest show cave, the National Natural Landmark known as the Cumberland Caverns, contains more than thirty-two miles of area, the famous Ten Acre Room, the Great Extension into the adjoining Henshaw Cave, daily walking tours, overnight adventure trips, group tours, school field trips, spelunking, waterfalls, and a 400 seat underground Ballroom with a three quarter ton crystal chandelier.
Craighead Caverns:
Found in Sweetwater, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, the Craighead Caverns produced the remains of a Prehistoric jaguar, and a mushroom farm in the Big Room northeast of the Historic Entrance. The Craighead Caverns also contains a nightclub with a wooden dance floor, the Wild Cave Tours, the Cherokee Council Room, indian artifacts, arrowheads, jewelry, and weapons, glassbottomed boat tours on the Lost Sea that was discovered in 1905 by thirteen year old Ben Sands, and measures approximately 220 feet wide and 800 feet long, although it may be as large as thirteen acres or more, a mystery that remains unsolved because no one has been able to find its end, and has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as America’s largest underground lake, and the second largest underground lake in the world.
Big Bone Cave:
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and located on the Cumberland Plateau in Van Buren County, Tennessee’s sixth longest mapped cave is famous for the 1811 discovery of the fossilized remains of a giant ground sloth with a complete pelvis, the only one known to exist, and for the finding of a Prehistoric jaguar. Artifacts found in the cave’s Skyway and Musterground Arch Cave Entrance have included wooden water pipes, catwalks, ladders, ore carts, railways, woven mocassins, and a woven fiber bag.
Sources:
This Article was compiled from several websites that provide much more information about the caves of Tennessee including:
raccoonmountain.com
rubyfalls.com
nickajackcave.com
southeasternoutdoors.com
dunbarcave.org
cumberlandcaverns.com
thelostsea.com
trekaroo.com
