Ruby Falls: natural beauty, geological wonder
For decades, barns for hundreds of miles advertised for Rock City and, of course, beautiful Ruby Falls. It turns out Ruby Falls, far from a tourist trap, is Tennessee's very own natural wonder tucked into Lookout Mountain.
Ruby Falls is a must-see attraction, a peak at natural beauty and a geography lesson wrapped into one visit. Viewing the 145-foot underground waterfall takes visitors through a cave filled with geological wonders.
The story of Ruby Falls begins with the original Lookout Mountain cave whose natural entrance is located at the foot of Lookout Mountain on the banks of the Tennessee River. Tales of the cave’s background includes a rich history of Native Americans, cave explorers, notorious outlaws, Civil War soldiers and even an American president. The falls were named after the wife of local cave enthusiast, Leo Lambert, who began excavating the cave in 1928.
Today, a journey to Ruby Falls begins with a plunge into the cave via an elevator. (The Ruby Falls Cave has no natural entrance.) As the elevator descends, the temperature inside the chamber becomes noticeably cooler, plummeting to 58 degrees, no matter the temperature outside. The elevator opens into the pit of the cave, and the journey begins.
Inside the dark, damp cave, a tour guide recounts the history of Ruby Falls Cave and of the longer Lookout Mountain Cave. President Andrew Jackson carved his signature on the wall of Lookout Mountain Cave, which was a tourist attraction long before Leo Lambert.
That cave, located beneath the Ruby Falls Cave, also served as a Confederate hospital. The more mundane Lookout Mountain Cave didn't prove to be much of a tourist attraction once the Ruby Falls Cave opened, and has been closed to the public since 1935. The Ruby Falls Cave was one of the first commercial cave attractions to get electric light. The New York Yankees — including iconic Babe Ruth — visited Ruby Falls in 1931.
The guide also points out some of the more picturesque stalagmites and stalactites and other cave formations that resemble animals and people.
The journey through the limestone cave climaxes when the cave ends at the falls, the nation’s largest and deepest waterfall open to the public. Located more than 1,120 feet beneath the surface, Ruby Falls consists of hundreds of gallons of rushing water that amazes visitors year after year.
Ruby Falls is open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. except for Christmas Day. A variety of combination tickets to other Lookout Mountain attractions are available at Ruby Falls. Your Ruby Falls ticket includes the tour of Ruby Falls, Fun Forest Playground area and the Lookout Mountain Tower view.
Tickets to Ruby Falls are $15.95 for adults and $7.95 for children between the ages of 3–12 years old. Early-morning and late-day tours tend to be less crowded and require less of a wait; weekends are the most crowded of all, when waits for a tour at peak hours can take longer than an hour.
Ruby Falls is not wheelchair accessible.
- by Leah Caudle , Chattanooga Reporter for HelloMetro
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