Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN

Ruby Falls is a tourist destination on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Specifically, it is a limestone cave featuring a 145-foot tall waterfall located 1120 feet underground.
In the 1920's, Leo Lambert dug an elevator shaft down to the caves. He built Cavern Castle over the shaft with the rock that was excavated.

The inside was once used as a dance hall. Now it is the ticketing office and gift shop.

You take a quick elevator ride down, down, down into the cave. There you will see many geologic wonders.
Columns...

Stalactites...

Stalagmites...

Stalag-lights...

Stalag-coins

And even a Stalag-TV

Okay, just kidding about the last three. Ruby Falls is a nice cave, but as you can tell it is not very pristine. According to their website, a lot of the formations were broken off and sold by the guides during the Great Depression.
Here is a curtain formation that remains called "Bacon." Does it make you hungry?

But really what you squeeze through the caves for (and some places are quite squeezy) ...

...is to see the beautiful Ruby Falls.

They trick you with the lighting! The falls are actually named after Leo Lamberts' wife, Ruby, not because they are red or because there are rubies in there! But they are pretty, nonetheless.
Here are more photos of the falls.


There is one other area where they use artificial lighting on water. It was beautiful, too.

But most of the time the cave features well-lighted paths, plenty of tour guides, and interesting formations on all sides. This is a photo of the ceiling.

If you are in Chattanooga and don't mind some tight spaces in order to see some beautiful cave formations, then check out Ruby Falls. You will like it!





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