If you are an avid cave explorer, then you know how exciting it can be to explore the ins and outs of a cave on a spelunking adventure. With summer in full bloom, now’s the time to load up a new Toyota and head to the hills.
Bristol Caverns
Bristol Caverns is part of the network of caverns within the Great Smoky Mountains. It is expansive and provides visitors with a colorful vista intertwined with formations from large to small. Tours take visitors along the very paths taken by Indians years ago when they used the caverns as a means of escape for raiding parties. Throughout the tour, you’ll traverse three cavern levels and the Underground River located 180-feet below the surface. Bristol Caverns is about a half-hour’s drive from Kingsport and open year-round.
Appalachian Caverns
When you take the guided tour of the Appalachian Caverns, you’ll step back in time to as early as 675 A.D. Historical evidence of habitation dating back to more than 1300 years ago was discovered at the caverns, as well as a log cabin that dates back to 1777. The caverns also served as a hospital, a place for military troops to hide, and a place to make moonshine. The regular guided tour takes a little over an hour for the one-mile journey along gravel and concrete pathways where you’ll experience firsthand the artistic beauty of the many formations. The extended tour allows spelunkers to explore undeveloped areas and requires specific equipment to participate.
The caverns are open daily for tours. There is also a campground, souvenir shop, and a gem mine.
Tuckaleechee Caverns
If you don’t mind venturing a little further for your spelunking adventure, the Tuckaleechee Caverns are well worth the drive. Located in Townsend, the drive takes about two hours.
Open to the public since 1931, the 1.25-mile expanse is a true adventure. The caverns are millions of years old and offer some of the most spectacular examples of living cave onyx formations. You’ll see helictites, cave draperies, stalactites and stalagmites, the Big Room — a cavernous area nearly the size of a football stadium — and the subterranean 210-foot Silver Falls.
The caverns open for guided tours seven days a week at 10 a.m. March 15 through Nov. 15.
Forbidden Caverns
Located about an hour and a half away in Sevierville, the guided tours at Forbidden Caverns offer an up-close look at these ancient caverns with a colorful history.
The caverns were a source of shelter for Eastern Woodland Indians back in the day. From 1943, the caverns became active as a repository for making moonshine due to the crystal-clear water running through them. In 1967, the caverns opened to the public, allowing visitors to witness extraordinary formations of stalagmites and stalactites, picturesque grottos, ornate walls and columns, and resident bats.
Open April through November, guided tours begin at 10 a.m. Enjoy the 55-minute tour and then have some refreshments and pick up a souvenir or two at the gift shop.
While spelunking is an interesting excursion into the dark recesses of caves, it can be a dangerous activity even for the most experienced spelunker. With this in mind, never go alone. Guided tours are the best way to enjoy this exhilarating pastime with friends and family.
Image by LEEROY Agency from Pixabay
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