Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tidbits About Cumberland Caverns

By Lynn Coleman

This past month my family and I were on vacation in Eastern Tennessee. One of our activities was to visit the Cumberland Caverns. I've given you a link to the website so you can follow up with more information.

This history of this cavern dates back to 1810 when they were discovered by Aaron Higgenbotham. Of course, they were probably known before then by native Americans. Inside the cave it was a cool 56 degrees with temps as low as 50, which was wonderful when it was in the high 90's outside.

The cave was mined for it's nitrates during the civil war and donated to the Southern cause.







Here's a pic of the opening of the caves as our family waited to go in: We're not all there but 13 of us went through the Cumberland Caves.









Here's a picture of some of the interesting rock formations inside the cave. You can see the Gypsum in the rock formation here.







Here's one of the pools inside the cave. Note this picture was taken by my granddaughter.





•Originally known as Higgenbotham Cave, after Aaron Higgenbotham discovered it in 1810.

•Trail of Tears goes around the Cumberland Cave and can be walked today.

•The Cumberland Caverns is what you would call a dry cave.

•I also learned that when a stalagmite and stalactites connect they are now called a column.

•There are 7 miles of passages within the cave, we experienced only 2.

•You can camp overnight. One school group visited the caves years ago back in the 70's and spent ten days in there. I asked what time of year was it? July was the answer. And I answered that explains why they stayed so long with temps that remain 56 degrees.

Now the tour we took was easy without any gear and reached by most. Unfortunately there was a series of stairs that prevented me from seeing one section of the cave. But it did give Paul and I a moment to experience the darkness of the cave as the timed lights went off. It wasn't completely dark as there were some lights that stayed on in the distance. However, our children and grandchildren experienced placing their hands up to their faces and not being able to see them when they turned the lights off in the section I couldn't climb to.



Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 41 years. Lynn's latest novel "The Shepherd's Betrothal" is the third book in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series.

Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.

10 comments:

  1. I've visited several caves but not the Cumberland Caverns. I enjoyed the quiet and the interesting natural beauty of them.

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  2. The first time and last time I visited a cave or cavern was in 1955 when I had to crawl on my hands and knees through a narrow opening into a short winding tunnel into the most magnificent sight I've ever experienced - Carlsbad Caverns. Enjoyed everything about the cavern except the crawl in and out. I understand that now the entrance is high enough to walk through. Maybe Cumberland should be on my list. Thanks for your interesting post.

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    1. I wouldn't want to crawl through to a cavern. Of course, with my knees I do as little crawling as possible. hehe

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  3. We have visited several caves in our travels-Carlsbad Caverns is like Disneyland, Jewel Cave has a beautiful pink stone, Lehman Caves in Big Basin NP, NEV is very dark! Interesting to hear about Cumberland Caves. sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  4. We have visited several caves in our travels-Carlsbad Caverns is like Disneyland, Jewel Cave has a beautiful pink stone, Lehman Caves in Big Basin NP, NEV is very dark! Interesting to hear about Cumberland Caves. sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  5. I think a virtual tour ,just like being there not clips or pictures,and it be narrated should be available to anyone who is curious wants to view but possibly is disabled or maybe even fearful.They could charge for it as well ,
    Where can i find more info on how the caves were formed ,and what were they used for more history on the caves.

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  6. I loved the Cumberland caverns and I had to do a presentation on the Cumberland caverns in 7th grade

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  7. The Cumberland caverns is a nice place and in 7 grade I had to do a presentation

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  8. The Cumberland caverns is a nice place and in 7 grade I had to do a presentation

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