Cathedral Caverns

Cave tours are a great choice when dealing with the summer heat. And Cathedral Caverns in Alabama is one of the best I’ve visited! I’ve been to several lately, including Raccoon Mountain in Tennessee and Cave of the Winds and Glenwood Caverns in Colorado. The temperature in these caves stays around 58 degrees, so you’re assured a break from the sun and hot summer weather.

Cathedral Caverns State Park

Cathedral Caverns is located inside Cathedral Caverns State Park, about 30 minutes southwest of Scottsboro, around 40 minutes east of Huntsville, and less than an hour and a half from Chattanooga, TN. It’s not a big park – there’s the cave and a large gift & snack shop, campsites, cabins, and about five miles of hiking trails.

I met my brother and his family while they were camping there, and most of the campsites are for RV hookups, with a small field for tent camping. The bathhouse is pretty nice, though it’s about as far a walk from the tent camping as you can get. I think there are some backcountry campsites as well.

Cathedral Caverns

As for the cave itself – it is HUGE. There is a huge entrance to the cave, and it just keeps being huge all the way back. These caverns really put the emphasis on “cavernous.” (That might have made more sense in my head…)

As such a big cave, tour groups are large, I think around 30 people or so. The whole mob troops through the broad entry and through a metal gate. The first section is a fallen boulder area. I think they call it “big rock canyon.” An easy and wide walkway wends its way through the boulders and through the length of the cave. And while there are no steps involved, it’s too steep in places to be wheelchair or stroller friendly.

Goliath

The first big “WOW” sight is Goliath, a massive column 40 feet tall and 240 feet around its base. A large crack in it gives the tour guide an opportunity to speak about an 1800s earthquake that changed some of the dynamics of the cave.

Walking around Goliath, you soon come to a large bridge over “Mystery River.” This river flows near the path for most of your journey, and at times can form very deep pools. Looking below the bridge, you can see older and far more treacherous pathways that explorers and tourists used during the early days of the cave. I rather like my sidewalk, thank you.

Frozen Waterfall

Past the bridge is a “frozen waterfall,” smooth, rounded shapes that formed as water cascaded over the edge. Below the waterfall are terraced pools like something you’d see at Yellowstone National Park.

Walking past huge flowstone and other stalactites and stalagmites, your tour guide points out several named formations. You’ll see an old man, a unicorn, and various other conjured images. And I’ll take this opportunity to say that corny jokes are the mainstay of your average cave tour guide, this tour included. They all seem to be auditioning to be a Jungle Cruise Skipper, even down to the “if you enjoyed this tour, my name is Todd. If you didn’t, my name is Bill” final shot.

Cathedral Room

If you can endure the silly jokes, you’ll be rewarded with the best part of the tour – the stalagmite forest. This is where Cathedral Caverns really lives up to its name – the towering formations look like some sort of dripped-water sand castle scaled up to enormous proportions. The path winds through and among the stalagmites to a drop-off which signals the end of the tour. At this point, the crowd makes its way back to the entrance at their own speed with your guide taking up the rear.

Admission & Hours, etc.

To visit Cathedral Caverns costs $20 per person over 13, $18 for military with ID, $9 for kids 5-12, and free for children four and under, though you still need a ticket for them. If you’re staying at the campground or cabins, there is a $2 discount per ticket. Tours last around 90 minutes, and the distance to the end of the cave and back out is a mile and a half. No pets are allowed.

Try to make reservations ahead of time, though you’re only allowed to reserve two days in advance and only during office hours. There’s no online purchase option. Their website warns that large school groups tend to dominate the morning tours, so afternoons might be preferable.

Tour times are generally on the hour from 11 am-4 pm with Monday-Thursday tours dropping the 3 o’clock tour. Tours are held daily except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.