This book is a sequel to my last book, “Caves of Chattanooga”, in that it follows the same format. The book describes 14 caves that are either currently commercial caves or that were commercial caves at some time in the past. The commercial caves in the book that are still open are Alum Cave, Appalachian Caverns, Bristol Caverns, Cherokee Caverns, Forbidden Caverns, Gap Cave, Indian Cave, The Lost Sea, and Tuckaleechee Caverns. The caves that are closed are English Cave, Gregorys Cave, Meredith Cave, Morrill Cave, and New Mammoth Cave. Note: Alum Cave is only a rock shelter, but it is a favorite hiking destination in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and has a fascinating history.
The title is a little misleading, but was done to leave room for a photo on the Front Cover !!! The title could have been “Caves of Knoxville, the Great Smoky Mountains, Cumberland Gap, Bristol, and Other Areas In Between”, but we didn’t think we could fit all that on the spine !!!
The book is 304 pages long and features wonderful cave photographs by Bob Biddix, Ken and Lisa Storey, Cheryl Pratt, and others. Long-time East Tennessee cavers, including Laurie Adams, Jeff Bowers, David Irving, Marion O. Smith and Jim Whidby, provided lots of fascinating information on these fourteen caves. Editor Tom Rea informs me that the retail price will be $24.
Commercial cave historians Gary K. Soule and Gordon L. Smith provided wonderful old commercial cave brochures, postcards, and other memorabilia for the book. Like the “Caves of Chattanooga” book, this new book features the work of many, many NSS cavers over the past 50 years, compiled to cover the caves of this specific area.
The book is already at the printers and is expected to be back in time for sale at the NSS Convention in Florida. For those of you not going to the Convention, it will be available from the NSS Bookstore. All proceeds from this book go to the NSS.
Larry E. Matthews