Cloudland Canyon State Park was just a short drive away from one of Chattanooga's most famous attractions - Ruby Falls. I saw it once with my family long ago when I was a young teenager. That was long enough ago it was all new to me again (I think it probably changed a little in the last 50 years as well).
Fans of the movie Big will recognize the troublemaker below. We didn't want to ask for anything that could be misunderstood and since we already have everything we could possibly want - we moved on.
I thought we were going to be part of a very small crowd, but as our departure time approached, the crowd grew including a herd of loud kids hopped up on sugar and freshly released from a three-hour car ride. I guess you could say they just added another dimension to our underground adventure or you could say "you're just an old grouch".
The cave included all of the standard features we have seen in most of the famous caves across the country including stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, cave bacon and reflecting pools.
This was the one and only spot where touching was allowed and encouraged. It illustrated what the oils from your hands did to the deposits, turning them to a nasty charcoal gray.
The highlight of the cave tour was, of course, the falls. The multi-color lighting was a bit much, but WOW! We only had a few minutes to take it all in and get our pictures before our guide turned out the lights indicating it was time to leave.
Back topside, we climbed to the overlook on top of the entrance building for a nice panoramic view of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River before heading home to our lonesome doggie.
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