Travel To Tennessee For A Glass-Bottomed Boat Ride On America's Largest Underground Lake

Tennessee is filled with beautifully scenic waterfalls, national parks, and hiking. But did you know that 140 feet below the surface in Sweetwater, Tennessee, awaits an otherworldly adventure? Those looking to head off on a historical adventure can hop aboard a glass-bottomed boat and sail back in time through America's largest underground lake, the Lost Sea, via the aptly-named The Lost Sea Adventure. The portion of the lake visible by man is 800 feet long by 220 feet wide, however, divers have spent countless years and tools trying to uncover the full extent of the lake, with no end in sight.

The lake is part of a long, twisty, historical cave system called Craighead Caverns that extends from Sweetwater to Madisonville, Tennessee. The lake portion of the caves was discovered in 1905 when a 13-year-old boy by the name of Ben Sands decided to head off on an exploration of his own. According to an interview at CBS This Morning with tour guide Savannah Dalton, Sands crawled 40 feet through a hole the size of a bicycle tire before dropping down into the lake below. Thanks to Sands' discovery, today more than 150,000 tourists a year flock to this mysterious travel destination to immerse themselves in a rich history left behind by explorers past. 

The Craighead Caverns themselves have had many lives. Named after Cherokee Chief Craighead who owned the land in the early 1800s, the caverns have seen eclectic groups of people (and animals) enter its doors throughout the ages. Archeological digs in the caverns have opened the door to discovering even more about this area's unique past. In an area named The Council Room, a diverse range of Native American artifacts were discovered, such as pottery, weaponry, and jewelry.

Some 20,000 years ago, a jaguar somehow found itself trapped in the caverns, and unable to escape, died below the surface. Its bones were discovered in 1939 and are now on display at The American Museum of Natural History in New York, while plaster casts of pawprints can be seen at the Lost Sea Visitor Center. During the Civil War, the Confederate Army mined the cave for minerals needed to manufacture gunpowder, and during the Prohibition Era, parts of the cavern were even used to brew moonshine.

A visit to the Lost Sea begins with a semi-steep guided tour down a man-made tunnel, into the cavern's twisted pathways. Tour guides share an interesting blend of history and geology as they take visitors through different sections of the cavern. At the bottom of the cave are the glass-bottom boats, taking travelers on a ride through history. The uncovered part of the lake spans more than 4 acres and is recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a Registered National Natural Landmark due to the natural phenomena of the lake and the presence of cave flowers. These are rare crystalline structures and are found in only a few of the caves throughout the world. Explorers will float along crystal clear water, watching as rainbow trout splash by underneath.

A tour of the caverns, including the boat ride, takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Visitors should also pay a visit to the Lost Sea Village, also referred to as Old Sweetwater Village, which has a general store, sweet shop, and glass-blowing station. Looking for even more to do? A 1/3 mile round-trip self-guided nature trail located just outside the cavern entrance takes visitors on an enchanted forest walk past different plants and animals. For the incredibly adventurous individual, a wild cave tour takes groups through undeveloped cave rooms, where explorers get to climb their way through cracks and crevices and spend a night camping in the caves. Whether your ideal adventure is discovering bits of history, exploring the largest underground lake in the U.S., or taking a pleasant stroll through nature, Lost Sea Adventures has you covered.