Hubbard's Cave facts for kids

Hubbard's Cave is a cool natural cave and a large outdoor area. It covers about 50 acres (0.2 square kilometers) of land. You can find it in Warren County, Tennessee, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of McMinnville. This special place is looked after by The Nature Conservancy, a group that helps protect nature.

Hubbard's Cave: A Special Place

Hubbard's Cave is very important for nature. It is a winter home, called a hibernaculum, for many bats. Two types of bats that live here are especially important: the gray bat and the Indiana bat. These bats are considered endangered, meaning they are at risk of disappearing forever.

Home to Amazing Bats

Hubbard's Cave is the biggest winter home for gray bats in all of Tennessee. More than 500,000 gray bats spend their winters here! Five other kinds of bats also use the cave for hibernating. When bats hibernate, they are in a very deep sleep. They save up just enough energy to last through the cold winter months.

Protecting Our Bat Friends

It's super important not to disturb bats when they are hibernating. If they wake up too often, they use up their stored energy too fast. This can make it hard for them to survive the winter. To keep the bats safe, the entrances to Hubbard's Cave have special gates. These gates help protect the bats from being disturbed.

The cave has three entrances. They are located at the bottom of a large sinkhole. A sinkhole is a dip or hole in the ground. The area around the cave is a forest with many oak and hickory trees.

A Look into the Past

Hubbard's Cave has a long and interesting history with people too. It was used a lot during the Civil War. People mined the cave for a mineral called saltpeter. Saltpeter was used to make gunpowder.

Civil War Secrets

The western part of the cave still shows signs of this mining activity. Researchers are working to record all the old signatures found on the cave walls. Sadly, some of these historic writings have been covered by modern graffiti. This graffiti was caused by vandals.

Old tools and items from the saltpeter mining have been found throughout this passage. One amazing discovery was a ladder. Sadly, vandals burned and almost destroyed this ladder in 1997.

Ancient Discoveries

People also used Hubbard's Cave a very long time ago, even before recorded history. Pieces of cane torches have been found throughout the west passage. These torch fragments are incredibly well-preserved because the cave is so dry. Scientists have used a method called radiocarbon dating to figure out their age. These torches are about 2,000 years old!