Few experiences thrill a boy like going underground. The air changes, the light disappears, and the ordinary world is replaced by rooms of stone that have been forming for longer than anyone can easily imagine. Tennessee, with its limestone hills and plateaus, is one of the great cave states in the country, with thousands of known caves. A handful of them are open to the public and ideal for a father and son.
Here are two of the best caves in Tennessee to start with, the history you will find inside, and the rules that keep cave adventures safe.
Cumberland Caverns (near McMinnville)
About ninety minutes southeast of Nashville, Cumberland Caverns is one of the longest cave systems in the state, with more than 27 miles of mapped passages. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1973.
The caverns offer much more than scenery. Part of the system was mined for saltpeter, the main ingredient of gunpowder, possibly during both the War of 1812 and the Civil War, and the caverns’ history walking tour tells the story of that mining. Its great underground chamber, the Volcano Room, became famous for hosting the concert series Bluegrass Underground, which grew into a nationally broadcast public television program.
Why it is good for a boy: Besides regular walking tours, the caverns offer adventure tours that involve crawling and squeezing through tighter passages, and overnight stays underground. Check the caverns’ tour details before you plan: each adventure tour sets its own minimum age, from 6 for the Hall Crawl to 16 for the most demanding route, and the overnight packages are built for groups, with a 10-person minimum and no solo travelers. Gather a few other fathers and sons and you have the makings of a fine trip. For a boy who wants more than a guided walk, an adventure tour with his father is unforgettable.
The Lost Sea (Sweetwater)
In East Tennessee, near Sweetwater, Craighead Caverns holds the Lost Sea, described as the largest underground lake in the United States. Its visible surface is about 800 feet long and 220 feet wide, and visitors tour it by boat. Cave divers have explored flooded chambers beyond it without finding the end.
The cave has a long human history too. It was used as a Cherokee meeting place, mined for saltpeter by Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, and later used by moonshiners during Prohibition. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.
Why it is good for a boy: A boat ride on an underground lake is the kind of thing a boy will describe to his friends for weeks.
The history underground
Both caves share a lesson worth telling: saltpeter. Before modern chemistry, gunpowder required saltpeter, and caves were one of the few places to get it. Men worked in the dark, digging cave dirt and leaching it in wooden vats, to supply the armies of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Standing among the old mining works, ask your son what it would have been like to spend a day working by candlelight a quarter mile underground.
Safety rules for any cave
Commercial caves with guides are safe and well managed. Wild caves are a different matter. Teach your son these rules:
- Never enter a wild cave without experienced cavers and proper gear. People get lost, stuck, and hurt in caves every year.
- Always carry three sources of light in a wild cave. This is an old caver’s rule.
- Tell someone where you are going and when you will be out.
- Respect closures. Some caves are closed to protect bats, which in the eastern United States have suffered heavily from a disease called white nose syndrome. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency closed its own caves to public access in 2012 to slow the spread of the disease on clothing and gear.
- Touch nothing. Cave formations grow extraordinarily slowly, and, as the National Park Service explains, the oils from skin can stain them and coat them so they stop growing.
If your son catches the caving bug, organized caving clubs, often called grottos, teach safe caving and lead trips for beginners. The National Speleological Society lists its Tennessee grottos, including one in Nashville.
Pair it with the surface
Caves are part of the same limestone country that produces Middle Tennessee’s waterfalls and springs. Combine a cave trip with a stop from our guide to waterfalls near Nashville, or with the stargazing described in our guide to stargazing near Nashville for a day that goes from deep underground to the far reaches of the sky.
For the broader case for this kind of adventure, see our essay on wilderness education.
From the Meriwether archive: 4 Ways Astronomy Can Transform Your Mind and Character and The Secret Muscle of Your Mind: Your Memory.