Cherokee Caverns in Tennessee is a small abandoned exhibit cave that I visited in the 1970s on a duty call to Oak Ridge Labs. The tour of the water filled nuclear reactor was more exciting than the cave tour. The owner at the time was trying to get me to explore more of the cave for him so he could get more customers. Jim Whidby, a member of NSS, tried to help the owners keep the cave open by organizing guided tours of the haunted cave each year the week before Halloween. A team of volunteers works day and night to adorn the entire cave with carved pumpkins, props and so-called scare sequences. Visitors have to find their way through the cave, with some parts of almost total darkness, uneven terrain and a typical cave atmosphere. The cave is equipped with strobe lights and lots of artificial fog. The cave in 1947 was even named Atomic Caverns, after the nearby Oak Ridge Labs.
Whidby has been involved in the preservation of the cave since 1989. The cave was discovered in 1854 when farmer Robert Crugdington stumbled upon mist rising from the ground. The cave was opened to the public in 1929 under the name of Gentry’s Cave.
The cave is open with a fee of $8.00 for ages seven and up, for a ‘Cool Down’ event in August and two weeks of events around Christmas and Halloween. Groups of 12 or more can also make reservations for tours year-round two weeks in advance. The main attraction of the cave are the mud volcanoes that form when water dripping from the ceiling mixes with the mud below the floor, creating pressure and eventually erupting.
Lost Sea in Sweetwater, Tennessee, was one of the most unusual caves I’ve ever visited, for a wild or show cave. The lake was really big and the fish were always hungry, after all the only food they get is what the tour guides bring them! I thought they did a great job with the underwater lighting and it really showed the lake well and how clear and calm it was. The Lost Sea is part of Craighead Caverns, named after the former owner, a Cherokee, Chief Craighead. The caverns were used by the Cherokee as a meeting place.
The lake was discovered in 1905 by thirteen-year-old Ben Sands. The surface of the lake is 800 feet long and 220 feet wide. The boat tour uses glass bottom boats with underwater lights to view the large trout that they stocked the lake with. On each boat you can see a feeding frenzy and the guide throws food around the boat. Adult rates are $17.95, ages 5-12 $7.95, and 4 and under free.
They also offer a wild cave tour every Saturday. Saltpeter was mined there during the Civil War with dates on the walls of 1863. 20,000-year-old jaguar bones and footprints have been recovered from the cave and are on display at the American Museum of Natural History and the visitor center in Cave.
Lost Sea ranks very high on my list of caves to visit. The caverns have seen everything from bass and cockfighting, to a dance floor in the early 20th century.