We passed through Asheville; stayed one night there and one night in Chattanooga. I needed to fly for work on Monday, so we needed to be in Huntsville by that afternoon. We didn’t see anything in Asheville, we were too exhausted to go anywhere. The camp we stayed at was nice, it had a small lake. We walked around it with Cody. He gets tired of being in the truck also.
On a previous visit to Huntsville, we’d stopped to see Lookout Mountain. It was December and a foggy day, so we didn’t see much. Ben wanted to try again, only this time he came across Ruby Falls. We went on a tour of them Sunday night. It is the largest known subterranean (underground) waterfall in the United States. It is 145 feet of cascading water in a cavern.
Leo Lambert found the waterfalls in the late 1920’s. Not ideally, he cut his way through Lookout Mountain hoping to open up caverns for tourists. He found the waterfall and named it after his wife, Ruby. The photo below shows the route they followed and how narrow it was
The tour took about an hour and a half. First, you ride an elevator 260 feet down. Then, hunched over (if you’re tall like Ben and me), you follow a tour guide and large group of people on a very long “2/5 mile” trek through the caverns. It was really cool to see all the formations, but it definitely took a long time to walk to the falls. Especially behind a mom that told her kids to “touch this” and “look here” and “let me get a photo” because they would never be there again. Yes, it’s true; maybe just don’t need to say it 20 times. I know, she was excited. I took several photos of the whole family and that made her very happy.
But I digress. Most of the rock is limestone. There were some formations with color from other rock and ores.
They time the lights at the waterfalls so that they turn on for 10 minutes once the tour group is there. I do agree with that previously-mentioned mom that they could give you more time in there instead of shuffling us around like a pack on a schedule. Yes – 1.5 hours “on tour” and 10 minutes at the falls. We did get some good photos, but not much time to just stand and enjoy them.
I’m glad we saw them. It was a fun experience. If you’re ever in the area, Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls make a great side trip.
Ben and Megan Travel the World 