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Maybe it’s their unusual formations or the intriguing legends about their pasts. Or perhaps it’s the wild creatures that live in their nooks and crannies. Whatever the reason, most of us are simply fascinated by caves.

With more than 8,000 documented caves, Tennessee offers plenty of spelunking opportunities for both novice and experienced cave explorers. In fact, Tennessee is home to more caves than any other state, according to the National Caves Association.

Most of Tennessee’s caves line up along the west side of the Appalachian mountain chain in East Tennessee, though caves can also be found sprinkled around Middle Tennessee. While many are located on private property and can be explored only with permission from the owner, several others are open to the public for tours.
Forbidden Caverns

A cool 58 degrees year round, Forbidden Caverns in Sevierville offers a welcome respite from the summer heat – that is, if you don’t mind keeping company with American brown bats, cave spiders, crickets, frogs and plenty of slippery salamanders.

Opened to the public in 1967, the limestone cave attracts nearly 70,000 visitors annually during its eight-month season, which runs from April through November.

“People are intrigued by things they haven’t seen – it creates mystery,” says Bob Hounshell, general manager of Forbidden Caverns. “Caves especially attract nature lovers and people who like the out-of-doors.”

Forbidden Caverns draws its name from an ancient Indian legend that tells of the Indian Princess Nutah, who was trapped in the cave. When the princess died, Indians believed angry gods closed the gates to the mountain forever.

“This cave has a lot of history,” says Melinda Williamson, a tour guide. “In the 1800s, Woodland Indians used it, and in the early 1900s, moonshine was made in the cave. There’s an underground river, and the water has been tested to be 99 percent pure. So not only was the cave a good hiding place for the Indians and the moonshiners, it also provided good drinking water.”

Evidence of the cave’s earliest inhabitants has been found in various parts of the cave, from Indian arrowheads to the ramshackle remainder of a moonshine still.

A tour of Forbidden Caverns leads visitors 600 feet below the mountain and reveals striking formations. Huge stalactites hang from the cave ceiling, and giant stalagmites grow upward from the floor.

Forbidden Caverns is also the site of the largest known onyx wall in the United States, which resembles an enormous wall of dripping candle wax, and a three-ton rock chandelier that appears to be suspended in mid-air.

Though the formations entice visitors to touch, touching generally isn’t allowed, because oil from human fingers causes the centuries-old formations to stop growing.

“Our goal is to preserve, protect and keep the cave as pristine as possible while letting people enjoy it,” Hounshell says.

Forbidden Caverns is located on Blowing Cave Road off U.S. Highway 411, about 15 miles east of Sevierville. Tours last one hour and cost $12 for adults and $6 for ages 5-12.

For more information, visit forbiddencavern.com or call 865-453-5972.
Tuckaleechee Caverns

Tuckaleechee Caverns in Townsend also served as a hiding place for Indians more than a century ago, but it wasn’t until 1953 that the limestone cave’s beauty was revealed to the public.

Farm boys Bill Vananda and Harry Myers played in the cave as children, and when they became adults, they decided to share their hidden treasure with the rest of the world. Today, Tuckaleechee Caverns is run by Vananda’s sons, Phillip and Steven, and their families.

“Tuckaleechee Caverns is the top rated cave by AAA in Tennessee,” Steven Vananda says. “It’s a huge cave with large waterfalls, a stream and lots of large formations.”

The cave features a “Big Room” with a 150-foot ceiling that Vananda says is large enough to fit a football field in. But the cave’s crowning glory is its 200-foot-high waterfall.

“Visitors see 120 feet of the waterfall on the tour,” Vananda says.

Located near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tuckaleechee Caverns attracts 60,000 visitors each year.

“Caves are a natural phenomenon, and they’re always cool in the summertime,” Vananda says. “Every cave is unique – you can find a lot of beauty in a cave.”

Open from March through November, Tuckaleechee Caverns offers a one-mile round-trip tour that lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. The cost of the tour is $12 for adults and $6 for ages 5-11.

For more information, visit tuckaleecheecaverns.com or call 865-448-2274.
Bristol Caverns

Bristol Caverns has been a tourist attraction since 1944, but it was known about long before then.

“In the late 1600s and early 1700s, before Tennessee became a state, the Cherokee Indians used this cave as an escape route,” says Jeff Bolling, a tour guide at Bristol Caverns. “As settlers came into this area, the Cherokee tried to run them off the land. They would raid their settlements, and then disappear into the cave.”

Perhaps the most unusual aspect of Bristol Caverns is the fact that it has three levels.

“Each level is very different from the others, which is unique for caves in this area,” Bolling says.

Visitors from all over the world have explored the depths of Bristol Caverns.

“We just had a group from Berlin, Germany,” Bolling says.
Bristol Caverns offers a one-hour tour on which visitors learn about how the caverns formed, the history of the cave and the cave’s stalactites, stalagmites, massive columns and other formations. For daredevils, Bristol Caverns also offers “Wild Tours,” where groups can venture away from the cave’s paved walkways with a trained guide and a flashlight to explore parts of the caves not shown on the regular tour.

For more information, visit bristolcaverns.com or call 423-878-2011.

Other caves worth a visit:

Cumberland Caverns
McMinnville
cumberlandcaverns.com
931-668-4396

The Lost Sea
Sweetwater
thelostsea.com
423-337-6616

Racoon Mountain Caverns
Chattanooga
raccoonmountain.com
423-821-9403

Ruby Falls
Chattanooga
rubyfalls.com
423-821-2544

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Magazine:
Tennessee Home & Farm, Summer 2010 Edition Edition

Headline:
Secrets of the Earth

Summary:
Tennessee has more caves than any other state.

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