Cathedral Caverns Alabama

We found ourselves driving from Huntsville Alabama to Gatlinburg some time ago. We had picked up a brochure about this cave somewhere on our journey. It sounded interesting form the description.

To be honest, this was a "maybe" on our trip. Its one of those things that looks fun, but because of other things on the schedule, you could take it or leave it.

We had left Huntsville a day earlier than we had expected. Plus, we started seeing a lot of signs for Cathedral Caverns, so we thought what the heck. We had time.

Cathedral Caverns was easy to locate, and it wasn't far off of the main road. There were signs up everywhere, boasting of their many world records (which, I have read on other web sites, are mostly exaggerated records, but they were still impressive).

We got to their main visitor area/cabin. It had a very informal feel. There were a couple of staff people who sold us tickets, and then casually chatted with us while we waited for our tour to start. We set on the cabin porch, calmly talking, and rocking in their rocking chairs.

The main cave entrance is really right next to the visitor center/cabin. It is very convenient. I have been to many other show caves where you have to buy a ticket at a visitor center, and then hike up hill a ways before the tour even starts.

We had a very casual tour with a great tour guide named Penny. She seemed to love the cave, and told us a ton of history on it.

Somehow, there is a sharks tooth stuck in the ceiling of the cave at one point.

There are many cool formations here that look like other stuff. They have a lot of cool lighting too that creates the formations.

Penny told us there was a crystal room that you would have to cross a rocky area to get to, and you would have to be pretty small to squeeze into the opening leading in to the room. The room was not on the tour, and even veteran staff at the cave had not attempted to go there.

There was a Disney film taped inside the cave at some point too.

Oddly, even though this is another of many show caves we have visited, it really stood out. The cozy visitor cabin is a great place to relax while on the road. The walk through the cave was not too strenuous. It was pretty flat compared to most. Also, we didn't have to go out of our way to get here. This was, by far, the highlight of our Alabama trip.