Join us as we return to one of Tennessee’s longest and most voluminous caves, boasting over 40 miles of passage! On today’s adventure, we’ll be tackling an epic 10-mile loop through this incredible underground landscape.
Our journey begins at the entrance, where we’ll navigate the infamous BO Crawl, squeezing through over a quarter mile of tight passage. Along the way, we’ll encounter ancient paw prints left behind by an extinct jaguar an estimated 10,000 years ago—a humbling reminder of the cave’s deep history. As we continue, we’ll be surrounded by stunning formations, including gypsum flowers, delicate gypsum crystals, and rare formations like gypsum beards and needles.
Beyond the breathtaking formations, this cave also features some of the largest passages in Tennessee, making for an awe-inspiring trek. When we reach the Third River Crossing, Jason and I will be stepping into completely new territory. From there, we’ll navigate our way through massive borehole passages, discovering intricate mud cracks, fascinating mud formations, and unique ceiling chert before successfully completing the loop.
This is going to be an unforgettable trip—come explore with us!
Thank you to the landowner, who discovered/explored this cave and allows Cavers to visit.
This cave was first written about in Tom Barr's 1961 book, Caves of Tennessee. It was noted as being a single room cave that was 6 foot wide, 6 foot high, and 500 feet long. Later, in 1989 a group of cavers pursuing a windy lead near the back broke through and they had discovered nearly two miles of cave that consisted of mostly huge walking borehole passage. Within the next two years, it was noted they had surveyed 26.4 miles of cave, making it the longest known cave in Tennessee at that time. Fast forward to November of 2007, the cave was now at over 34 miles long and currently in 2024 is it listed at 40 miles long. The cave is located at 1,100 feet above sea level near the Mississippian Age Monteagle Limestone. In the area we visit in the cave known as the NA passage, this actually passes under a small lake on the surface. The cave is overlaid by almost 800 feet of clastic rock, which consists of 300 feet of limestone & sandstone, followed by 500 feet of minor dolomite, shale, and sandstone.
This cave has three entrances, one is a spring and is only enterable by cave diving equipment. The other two entrances are both gated and permission is required by the owner for visitation.
To watch the video from our previous trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaZIgoQa1aM
To see another passage inside this massive cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON9X-bojkyU
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