Ruby Falls
by rmajor
To visit Ruby Falls, I took a hike underground.
Ruby Falls was discovered by accident. Its discovery resulted from an effort to make a new entrance to the well-known Lookout Mountain Cave, whose entrance had been closed off by railroad construction. A local cave enthusiast named Leo Lambert decided to drill an elevator shaft from another point on the mountain to reopen Lookout Mountain Cave to the public. He calculated he needed to drill 420 feet to reach the cave. At the 260 foot mark, the drilling hit an opening which released a gush of air. Further inspection revealed an opening 5 feet wide and 18 inches high. Lambert and a small crew entered this opening to explore it. Seventeen hours later they returned, telling tales of unusual and beautiful rock formations and a magnificent underground waterfall. On his next trip, Lambert took his wife Ruby and told her he would name the waterfall after her.
Workers finished the elevator shaft to Lookout Mountain Cave, and for a time both caves were open to the public. But the Ruby Falls cave proved so much more popular that in 1935 the Lookout Mountain Cave was closed to the public.
I was joined on my tour of Ruby Falls by my friend Roger Dowiat. Roger and I are both long distance members of the Atlanta Astronomy Club. He lives in Fort Payne, AL and I live in Piedmont, SC. I met him a few years ago while attending the club’s annual star party, the Peach State Star Gaze.
From the visitors center, an elevator took us 260 feet down to a .2 mile tunnel which leads to the falls. We were treated to views of numerous rock formations, such as the one above.
In some places it is possible to see marks left by the dynamite used to enlarge the tunnel and make it accessible to the public.
This formation resembles a fish.
This formation is referred to as the north end of a southbound donkey.
There was also the food section, containing bacon…
…and a potato chip.
And finally, the waterfall itself. The water drops 60 feet in a natural cavern. No one knows where the water comes from or where it goes. Although the tunnel leading to the falls is pretty level, the mountain above is not. So after starting out 260 feet underground at the elevator shaft, we were 1000 feet underground at the waterfall.
This was a trip well worth making, and I would encourage anyone planning to be in the Chattanooga, TN area to check out this natural wonder.