Tuckaleechee Caverns
The Tuckaleechee Caverns are a popular tourist attraction near Townsend, Tennessee, and lie under the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They are one of the largest and best-rated caves east of the Mississippi River.
People from the Cherokee Nation used the caverns in the 1600s and 1700s. They were rediscovered in the mid-1800s by sawmill workers. The caverns opened for tours in 1931, led by Earl McCampbell, but the business closed after a year because of the Great Depression.
Townsend locals Bill Vananda and Harry Myers reopened the caverns in 1953. The first tours used kerosene lamps, and electricity was added in 1955.
The caverns are famous for the Big Room, a huge chamber that could fit almost a football field. It has many stalagmites up to 24 feet tall and flow-stone formations hundreds of feet long. There is another large room beyond the Big Room, but it is not open to visitors because making it accessible would damage the caverns.
In the 1980s, the Myers sold their shares to the Vananda family, who have run the caverns since. The caverns also feature a 210-foot two-tier underground waterfall called Silver Falls.
The caverns originate at White Oak Sinks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They host SeismicTKL, a seismograph system monitored by the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Geological Survey. SeismicTKL is described as one of the most sensitive seismograph systems on Earth.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:17 (CET).