Raccoon Mountain Caverns is a cave located in Chattanooga, Tennessee in a band of Mississippian Period limestone, part of the Cumberland Plateau. Parts of the cave system was discovered and documented as early as 1853, by 1929 Leo Lambert, a local caver who had recently discovered and opened Ruby Falls expanded the known cave passa…
Raccoon Mountain Caverns is a cave located in Chattanooga, Tennessee in a band of Mississippian Period limestone, part of the Cumberland Plateau. Parts of the cave system was discovered and documented as early as 1853, by 1929 Leo Lambert, a local caver who had recently discovered and opened Ruby Falls expanded the known cave passages. Prior to Lambert's arrival, the property was owned by the Grand Hotel and used as a farm for their restaurant. On hot afternoons, it was said that the farmers would relax in front of several cracks in the rock at the base of the mountain and enjoy the cool air that was blowing out. In 1929, Leo Lambert was invited to explore the source of the air. As an experienced cave explorer, Lambert realized that in order for air to blow out of a crack in limestone rock, there must be a large cave beyond the crack to supply such a volume of air. Lambert enlarged the cracks and was rewarded by discovering several hundred feet of well-decorated cave passage in a cave that was close to U.S. Highway 41. He developed a series of trails, installed electric lights, and opened the cave to the public as "Tennessee Caverns" on June 28, 1931.
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