Which State Has The Most Caves

With close to 10,000 caves, Tennessee has the most caves on record of any state in the USA. The majority of these caves can be found in eastern Tennessee, west of the Appalachian mountains.

Others Tennessee caves are located in middle and western Tennessee. A large portion of these caves are found on private property but many are open to the public and can be seen and explored.

Advertising Disclosure: What States is a for profit reference website, supported by advertisements. Thank you for supporting our mission to make geography fun for all!

Caves are one of the things Tennessee is known for. Cumberland Caverns, The Lost Sea, Ruby Falls, and The Bell Witch Cave are just a few of the more notable caves in Tennessee are open for exploring. Ruby Falls is a large tourist attraction in Chattanooga and has guided tours the other three are open for spelunking.

Tennessee is part of what the caving community refers to as the TAG corner, which stands for Tennessee-Alabama-Georgia.

View of Ruby Falls cave in Tennessee
The famous Ruby Falls Cave

The below quote is from an article in National Geographic published in 2009.

These three states compose the southern end of a belt of limestone laid down hundreds of millions of years ago when the region was covered by an ancient sea. Where there’s limestone there are bound to be caves, because limestone is susceptible to corrosion by slightly acidic water. Over millions of years this slow dissolution has riddled the bedrock with tunnels and chambers, creating a subterranean world in which the potential for exploration is almost limitless. There are more than 14,000 known caves in TAG—9,200 in Tennessee, 4,800 in Alabama, and 600 in Georgia—and there is a subculture of single-minded cavers eager to probe them all.

Refer to more articles:  Which Of The Following Is Not Considered Rebating

source: National Geographic

Since that time hundreds more caves have been discovered in Tennessee (a state sometimes known by its nickname “The Volunteer State”).

Cookeville, Tennessee was also the location of the NSS (National Speleological Society) convention in 2019. The area is a goldmine for cavers with seemingly unlimited opportunities for exploration. Tennessee is home to 9 grottos which can be found on caves.org along with other useful information and a caving forum.

Trivia Time: Can you name the official two letter abbreviation for the state of Tennessee?

Related Posts

Which Research Approach Is Best Suited To The Scientific Method

Surveys As a research method, a survey collects data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions, often in the form of…

Which Ankle For Ankle Bracelet

Which Ankle For Ankle Bracelet

An ankle bracelet, or anklet, can be worn with a casual, formal, or any other kind of outfit. Slip an ankle bracelet on whenever you want to…

Which Is Not A Function Of Epithelial Tissue

What is the epithelium? The epithelium is a type of body tissue that forms the covering on all internal and external surfaces of your body, lines body…

Which Animal Has The Best Memory

Memory is the brain’s ability to encode and recall the needed information. In other words, memory – the capacity, which enables the remembrance of events, thought, feeling,…

Which Of The Following Genotypes Is Homozygous

What is homozygous? In genetics, the definition of homozygous is when you inherit the same DNA sequence for a specific gene from each of your biological parents….

Which Lines Are Parallel Check All That Apply

Which Lines Are Parallel Check All That Apply

Parallel lines are the lines that do not intersect or meet each other at any point in a plane. They are always parallel and are at equidistant…