by Ruby Falls is a 145-foot waterfall located about half a mile inside a cave in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.
The original entrance to Lookout Mountain Cave was sealed off in 1905 when the Southern Railroad Company constructed a tunnel. But people still wanted to access the miles of cave system, so Leo Lambert, a local cave enthusiast, began working on discovering an alternative entrance to the caves, hoping to turn them into a tourist attraction.
Lambert obtained investors and began drilling an elevator shaft from another point on the mountain in 1928. At 260 feet down, they discovered a small opening –- but they were still 160 feet above where the cave they were looking for was! A new cave had been discovered.
A small crew entered the open and began exploring. On their 17-hour excursion they found many interesting rock formations, passages and stream beds, before coming upon the stunning waterfall, which they named in honor of Lambert’s wife, Ruby.
The crew kept digging their elevator shaft and eventually found the original cave they were looking for.
In 1930 Lambert began offering tours to both the original Lookout Mountain Cave and the newly discovered Ruby Falls Cave.
By 1935, though, it was clear that the public was more interested in Ruby Falls and the other cave was closed.
The tour today starts with being stuck in the gift shop waiting for your tour to start. There are not even any seats, they are so serious about your shopping experience!
Next, groups are herded onto an elevator ride that takes you 260 feet down to the cave system.
After taking the obligatory pictures they hope you will buy later, groups reassemble to watch a video and then start the approximately half mile walk through the cave.
There are some formations highlighted along the way, but overall the focus is on getting to the main attraction.
Eventually you reach the waterfall, but everything is dark…
at first…
and then the music starts…
…and the lights flip on…
and everyone oohs and aahs. It’s oh so very dramatic!
The waterfall is impressive even without the lights and music, with a stream of water falling in an enormous vertical canyon.
For about ten minutes there are lots of color changes, and plenty of opportunities to take pictures and selfies, and then the group begins the trek back to the start.
Opportunities to tip your guide, buy your picture, and purchase more souvenirs and postcards in the gift shop are also on offer.
In the 1960s Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison co-wrote “See Ruby Falls.” The title is a reference to the extensive marketing campaign of caves but the song is about a girl named Ruby.
Doug and I are huge fans of the band Guster, who also have a lovely song called “Ruby Falls.” I had to do a deep dive into reddit (shudder) to confirm that the song is about the same Ruby Falls.
On the site, I found Ryan Miller, the lead singer (or someone pretending to be Ryan Miller), answering questions. In response to this very question about the origin of the song, he responded, “Brian Rosenworcel [the drummer] wrote those lyrics! I think he went there and then saw it as a metaphor for hell or something.”
I read that to Doug and he said, “Yep, sounds about right.”
