I found a delightful pit stop off the I-24 highway when I was headed south. You see quite a few signs for Ruby Falls when you’re on the highway and might think that its a tourist trap but it was actually pretty cool. In 1928, Leo Lambert and a team of excavators found a breathtaking waterfall located over 1,120 feet below the surface of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN. Lambert named the falls after his wife, Ruby, and opened the area as a public attraction in 1930. Today, Ruby Falls welcomes thousands of visitors each year. Come tour the falls for yourself and see why it has been one of the best Chattanooga attractions for over 85 years. – Via www.rubyfalls.com
The cave when you walk in is so low that I could touch the ceiling without being on my toes. I am 5’6 but it was very easy. I know that my Dad who is 6’4 would have had some issues walking around and even getting to the waterfall.
Ruby Falls Cave, unlike Lookout Mountain Cave, had no natural openings and could not be entered until the 20th Century; it therefore does not have the various artifacts which are often associated with caves in the southeastern United States. In 1905 the natural entrance to Lookout Mountain Cave was closed during the construction of a railway tunnel. In the 1920s a chemist and cave enthusiast named Leo Lambert thought that he could re-open the cave as a tourist attraction, and formed a company to do so. He planned to make an opening further up the mountain than the original opening and transport tourists to the cave via an elevator. For this purpose, his company purchased land on the side of Lookout Mountain above Lookout Mountain Cave and in 1928 began to drill through the limestone. In doing so, they discovered a small passageway about 18 inches high and four feet wide. Exploring this opening, Lambert discovered the formerly hidden Ruby Falls Cave and its waterfall. On his next trip to visit the cave, Lambert took his wife Ruby, and told her that he would name the falls after her.
In 1954, the pathway around the basin was cut in order to allow tourists a better view of the falls. This began the tour-related quip regarding not drinking the falls’ water. Though pure and thus safe to drink, it has large concentrations of magnesium from the strata of the mountain, which makes it a natural laxative. Via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Falls
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