Lookout Mountain Caverns facts for kids

Lookout Mountain Caverns, also known as Lookout Mountain Cave, is a really long cave in Hamilton County, Tennessee. It's the second longest cave known in that area! It stretches for about 2.48 miles (almost 4 kilometers). This makes it one of the longest caves in the United States.

A Cave with a Past

During the American Civil War, Lookout Mountain Cave was owned by Robert Cravens. He made a deal to provide saltpeter to the Confederate government. Saltpeter was a key ingredient for making gunpowder. In 1862, he rented the cave to a group called the Confederate Nitre and Mining Bureau. They continued mining saltpeter there.

Federal forces, who were fighting against the Confederates, even attacked the cave! On June 7, 1863, forces led by General Ornsby Mitchell shelled the cave. This attack showed that the cave was still controlled by the Confederates at that time.

Exploring the Cave's Secrets

Lookout Mountain Caverns isn't open to visitors anymore. For a while, researchers could get into the cave through an elevator shaft. This shaft was built between 1928 and 1929 by the people who manage Ruby Falls.

Because of this access, researchers found new parts of the cave. They also discovered prehistoric bones! These bones date back to the last Ice Age, called the Pleistocene period. Many old names and dates written inside the cave are also very interesting to historians. For example, an old map of the cave shows "Andy Jackson's Signature" inside.

Unfortunately, the cave became completely inaccessible in 2006. State inspectors required the Ruby Falls operators to seal the part of the elevator shaft that went down to Lookout Mountain Caverns.

Why the Cave Closed

A book from 1961 by Barr explains why the cave was closed to tourists. A railway tunnel was built through the cave. This caused a lot of soot (black dust from smoke) to build up inside.

Exploring the cave became very unpleasant. People had to wade through water, crawl, and climb. They would also get covered in soot. This soot coated almost every surface that faced upwards, stretching for more than a mile into the cave.

Images for kids

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  Lookout Mountain Cave