How a Hoosier With a Dream – and a Surprising Amount of Financing – Found the Largest Underground Waterfall in the Country and Opened It to the Public
As a former Hoosier myself, I often joke about the effect that the siren song of the mountains of East Tennessee has on the people of Indiana. Time and again, when researching some Tennessee adventure of happenstance, there’s a Hoosier right there in the middle of it.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Meet Leo Lambert, a chemist and cave enthusiast who heard about the Lookout Mountain Cave located in Lookout Mountain right on the Tennessee-Georgia state line. The natural entrance to the cave had been closed during the construction of a railway tunnel in 1905. But Lambert had a vision of a commercial cave that would draw visitors from all over.
He raised over $250,000 from investors. Evidently there were a lot of people willing to put their money into caves back then. And he went to work tunneling into the mountain to create what would become one of the southeastern United States’ top tourist attractions.
Did Lambert know the falls existed when he purchased the land?
It does not appear so. The goal at the time was to access Lookout Mountain Cave, a massive underground cave that was fairly well known before the natural entrance was closed. Per the Ruby Falls website, in 1928 Lambert and crew were slowly working their way through the limestone. At a depth of 260-feet – they hit a void and felt a rush of air escape.
Lambert and a small group crawled through the chasm to see what they had found. There were gone for 17 hours …. SEVENTEEN! And returned with tales of flowing underground streams, geologic formations and the plunging waterfall Leo named after his wife, Ruby.
The commercial cave Endeavor was going To be a success
Lookout Mountain Cave was opened to the public – as was Ruby Falls Castle, which was built with the limestone excavated from the cave – in December 1929. Ruby Falls Cave was opened in June 1930. This was not a fantastic time to be opening a tourist attraction thanks to the Great Depression. However during the economic downtown, it turned out the Castle – which was used for social events and as a restaurant – provided the necessary revenue to keep the enterprise afloat.
After the Depression and the war, Ruby Falls became part of the national consciousness. It was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Southeast. The See Rock City & Ruby Falls advertising campaign, featuring ads painted on barns across the south, became one of the best-known marketing campaigns ever.
In the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, Ruby Falls was designated as a Civil Defense Fallout Shelter. The cave was filled with food, water and medical supplies to sustain 720 people for several weeks. Gregory Cave in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was also similarly equipped. I’ve wondered about the procedure of people getting into any of these caves in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.
In reality, 750 people wouldn’t be a lot. Was it first come, first served? Were these shelters given lists of people allowed to come in? I can’t imagine the chaos of thousands of people striving to be the first to make it up Lookout Mountain to safety. It seems like something out of the Twilight Zone. I suspect these plans were mostly in place to provide comfort to a frightened populace.
About the Falls
Ruby Falls is located in an 85-foot recessional gorge. Lookout Mountain Cave and the Ruby Falls Cave were not naturally connected, Lambert and his crews did that. The Ruby Falls Cave is located higher up in the mountain. It features more of the expected type of cave formations like stalactites, stalagmites and more.
The Ruby Falls Cave itself was not naturally open. It is likely Lambert and his crew were the first to ever see it. The water for the falls is fed by rainwater, which means during times of heavy rain the cave may have to be closed to the public because of flooding. Eventually the water works its way to the base of the mountain. It then returns to the surface as a natural spring feeding into the Tennessee river.
Because the falls are fed by rainwater, the waterfall is artificially augmented during dry times of the year.
Ruby Falls today
In 1985, Ruby Falls was added to the National Register of Historic Places. You can access the waterfalls first, via elevator which takes you through the shaft carved by Lambert and his team. The path to the waterfall is not stroller or wheelchair accessible due to natural formation along the trail which forms roughly a one-mile round trip. There are roughly 30-35 stairs along the way, broken up into sets of four or five each. The walk itself is fairly easy. But guests should be comfortable standing and walking for up to two hours without seating.
There are a variety of tours to the falls from which you can choose. Tickets must be purchased in advance online. You can also purchase a combo ticket with nearby Rock City to see the best view above and below the mountain.
In addition to the falls, the site remains home to the famous castle with its Castle Café. There is a zipline and climbing tower adventure, for an additional fee that provides amazing views. You can even spend the night at one of Ruby Falls’ luxury treehouses.
Have you visited Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls? If so, let us know in the comments! Are you planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains soon? Make sure to check out our coupons page before your trip!