Ruby Falls – Chattanooga, TN

While visiting some friends in Tennessee, we decided to tour Ruby Falls in Chattanooga. It is a 145-foot high underground waterfall located within Lookout Mountain. The Falls are located at the end of the main passage of Ruby Falls Cave, in a large vertical shaft. The stream, 1120 feet underground, is fed both by rainwater and natural springs. It collects in a pool in the cave floor and then continues through the mountain until finally joining the Tennessee River at the base of Lookout Mountain.

While Ruby Falls Cave combines with Lookout Mountain Cave to form the Lookout Mountain Caverns, the two caves were not actually connected by any passage. Ruby Falls Cave is the upper of the two and contains a variety of geological formations and curiosities which Lookout Mountain Cave does not have.

Sadly, Lookout Mountain Cave was closed in 1935 since it was not very popular with tourists, who were much more impressed with the upper cave. However, public tours began again in 1930 after electric lights were installed in the cave, making it one of the first commercial caves to be so outfitted. Motorists travelling on I-75 in the 1970’s were subjected to dozens, maybe even hundreds, of billboards along their route with the words “SEE RUBY FALLS” beginning hundreds of miles north and south of the falls itself. Ruby Falls remains a staple of Chattanooga tourism. Some of them are still there today as we saw quite a few as we were driving around.

It is an incredible attraction and we were so glad we did it. The only down side was that they only turn on the light for you to see the Falls for 5 mins with about 30 people trying to take pictures and such. I felt it was too short of a time.  After the tour we spent some time enjoying the view from our Lookout Mountain Tower.  It was an amazing view.  Of course they also have a gift shops with knick-knacks and souvenirs. They take a picture of your party before you enter the falls, and this is also available in the gift shop. If you have kids with you, they also have a playground for them to play around in.

The Falls have been made famous through the following musician and bands: Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison co wrote a song with the title “See Ruby Fall,” in the mid to late 1960s, an all-female American indie rock band based in New York City called Ruby Falls was active during the 1990s, is the title of a song by the indie rock band Guster, which appears on their 2006 album Ganging Up on the Sun, the hard rock band Mastodon filmed the performance footage of the music video for their song “Colony of Birchmen” from the album Blood Mountain inside Ruby Falls (the waterfall itself can be seen in the background), and Ray Stevens performed a song entitled “Ruby Falls”.

We had a great time time  on this almost hour and 1/2 tour. It is 4/5 of a mile, but it is not fast paced to ensure everyone stays with their group. The elevator down was quite interesting and I felt like it was never going to stop, lol.  However it was beautiful and getting to the actual falls was half the fun. I loved all the formations and original entrance into the cave. If you are in the area, this is definitely a must see.