Cumberland Caverns

We really enjoyed our trip to the Cumberland Caverns! We have been to several caves before but I have to say this is one of the Best ones I’ve been too. We did the 90 min tour and our tour guide Derek was awesome!! Note- if you want to do the adventure tours you need to book at least a hour or two in advance so they can let you know what you need to wear or bring for that tour!! We had thought about doing one of those but didn’t book in advance. Definitely recommend if you are in the area!

This place is about 2 hours from Nashville. We arrived 5 minutes after the 90 minute tour we wanted had left. Luckily they had a different 45 minute tour starting about 15 minutes later. We came on a Wednesday and were the only ones on our tour, so it was kind of like having a private tour. Our guide was Jay and he provided a ton of interesting history about the caverns. We definitely learned a lot. The pre tour video features some of the staff, and they had us chuckling with their dramatization. There are light snacks available, but no food or drink is allowed in the caverns. We were lucky enough to see a bat, a cave cricket and a crazy looking spider. If you're down for an underground adventure, definitely check this place out!

Justin was an excellent tour guide—knowledgeable, engaging, and fun to be with. He shared fascinating information that made our very first visit to this cavern truly memorable. We chose the 45-minute tour, and it was amazing to be beneath the earth and see the formations. The cave system itself is simpler than some others we’ve visited, yet it was still beautiful and worth experiencing—made even better by Justin’s guidance.

Highly recommend the 10:30 tour on Saturday! We got super lucky and were the only people that joined that tour time. Make sure you arrive early to use the bathroom and watch the into video. Josh, our guide, was fantastic and super knowledgeable! He was super patient answering all of my 7YO’s questions and really made the experience enjoyable! We will be coming back!

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour, learned so many new facts! Derek was our tour guide and he did a great job! Very kind, and explained everything very well!

Our tour guide Nathan was very informative and knowledgeable about the cavern. Fun and witty. It was definitely worth the visit.

My boyfriend and I did the Crucible Tour on 8/31 with Brandon as our guide. We have done walking cave tours before, but never a crawling/adventure tour like this. There is nothing like this where we're from in MA and was the highlight of our vacation to TN. If you are a hiker, that helps a lot, but it's more than that. There were plenty of ropes with knots you use to scale up and down steep rocks, ladders that are sometimes hard to maneuver to, steep, slippery rocks to pull yourself over, and a couple tight squeezes. It was harder than I thought, but it was a good challenge that I don't regret at all. I needed extra help/time a couple times to climb up steep parts, but Brandon was super patient and helpful with describing how to move. We never felt rushed or unsafe. He showed us things we've never seen before -fossils older than dinosaurs, translucent rocks, and so much more. You can tell he's extremely experienced and passionate about caving, and we learned so much from him. Make sure to bring gloves, which is required, (simple gardening ones from Home Depot worked well) and kneepads (optional but very helpful). They provide the helmet and headlamp. If you are on the fence, just do it! It was such a special experience we will never forget. Thank you!!

Brooke is the best guide'ess I've ever had!! Idk if the cave it's self was my fav of all caves, or she's just that much of the sheeeznez!!! But my favorite cavern hike/trip yet!! And like Johnny Cash I've been everywhere MAN!!

Had an amazing time on the adventure tour at Cumberland Caverns!! Our experience was great, and our tour guide, Zoe, heightened our experience to a whole other level. She was amazing and was so kind and friendly!!!!

One of Our guides was Justin and he was real nice, but they are very strict about their rules! My boyfriend got yelled at for touching part of the ceiling that was right in his face. I do not recommend going with little ones or with anyone who has bad knees. The cave has a lot of rock stairs, the floor of the cave is your typical uneven surface. Both were hard for my grandparents to see and navigate. The light show and story is nice! A little less than what we were expecting, but the story and light show was a cool experience.

We had hiked at a waterfall earlier in the day so by the time we got to the Caverns we were tired so took the short tour. Markie was an excellent tour guide describing the history and names of formations. She always asked if we had questions. We really enjoyed it and then drove into McMinville for an affordable, clean and modern motel room at the Best Western Tree Inn. We had been camping for 10 days, so the standup shower & washer/dryer down the hall was very welcomed.

Hidden gem in middle Tennessee! I've lived in TN almost my whole life and only recently learned about this place. It is an incredible site to behold! Caves are already cool, but when they are this big, it's hard to believe it exists without seeing it with your own eyes! Our tour guide (Macy) was great and I loved how small the groups were--you could easily ask your guide questions. They have a wide variety of tours so if you want a more mild 45 minute tour you can or if you want a 4 hour crawling adventure that's possible too. Highly recommend!

We loved our tour today! Our guide, Macy, was amazing!! Made the whole experience so fun. The cave is so beautiful. My tennis shoes did ok, but next time I'll wear more of a hiking shoe. Some spots are slick but they have hand rails. Highly recommend!!

Everything what you would expect! Great tour especially the lantern deal. Very informative

This is a great tour! Highly recommend. Our tour guide Markie was so informative and did a great job getting us the through safely.

Such a wonderful tour! Markie was our tour guide and was very informative and took her time explaining the cave. The cave light show was unbelievable. Thanks Markie for such a great time!

It's been over 30 years since I've been in this cavern. Such a unique place with lots of history and checks off lots of boxes for the adventurous at heart. Admission cost was reasonable $22 for the walking tour (adults). I was surprised to know there is an overnight option & different tours to take. Summertime concerts in the cave.. wow! I had no idea! Highly suggested checking it out online to see all thy have to offer to plan a unique adventure experience. It's a must see if you're planning on exploring Tennessee.

Such a great visit here!! I loved it and am looking forward to my next visit already! The tour guide was personable, the caves were incredibly beautiful, the price for the experience was acceptable, and I got a great workout lol. Overall, great experience! Why not 5 stars? The light show in the cave wasn't functioning. Such a bummer!

Great adventurous and natural wonder experience! Truly impressive what Mother Nature creates, very impressive. We had a tour guide named Sebastian, who was very personable and knowledgable about the caverns history. They offer more adventure tours with exploring deeper into caverns or not too easy access areas. This Cumberland Caverns experience is worth a visit! Enjoy :-D

Went on this tour on Friday, April 14, at 2:30 PM. I really wanted to like this adventure and came with an open mind. I have been to many cave/carven tours through this country and overseas. This cavern is average but still wanted to check it out. The lighting of the formations is average compared to others but the lighting to show your foot placement on the unpaved, uneven and slick ground was challenging and you really needed to focus. The guides explained that there are 2 types of tours. One focuses on the history of the cavern and the other is a focus on the scientific and geological aspects of the cavern formation. The guides gave some info but said they are instructed that they can not give any info concerning the timeline of events. When asked about how long ago the cavern or a specific formation or a chamber was carved out by nature, all they are allowed to say is, "a long time". When asked to give a ballpark, as 10 years, 500 years, 1 million years, a billion years or a week, they said that due to religious beliefs, they are not allowed. WHAT? I thought this was the science/geology tour. How ridiculous! My other issue is the tour guides did not enunciate and I could not understand most of what she said. The folks on the tour came from all corners of the country and the guides regional accent was not accommodating to understanding those not from the area. The 2 guides were not very engaging with the group. Example: At the start of the tour, we were outside and had a 5-10 minute walk to the entrance. The 2 guides had minimum eye contact. They asked where we were from but then turned away and did not even try to appear to listen to the responses. It was because the group members talked amount ourselves, that we got a sense of where we all came from. The 2 guides mostly talked and chatted to each other more than engaging the tour group. We were given very basic info in what sounded like a script memorized and delivered in a blasé manner. I was thinking to myself that the guides did not find much joy in engaging with their group and rather chat with each other. I would have enjoyed if there was a fixed fun broadcast, with more detailed info that they could have played and they just were there to meet the safety regulations. Things that other experienced tour guides know how to do instinctively were missing. For instance, on 2 occasions there was something very evident and glaring to see along the way but appeared to be overlooked in the guides delivery. They stopped talking and began to move/walk on and so someone would ask about it. It would have been nice if they indicate that if you were wondering about ..., we will address that in the tour later vs what appeared to be a stupid question and just wait till I get to it. Felt like I interrupted her script and it was an annoyance. Perhaps the guides needed more training on how to interact with the public to make the experience more interesting.

Wonderful window into an underground world with lots of weird formations to admire! We did the 90 min walking tour. There's enough room to not feel trapped or anything. Once you get to the strenuous part with the stairs -- optional -- get ready to have layers you might be peeling off. Tour guide was a young man whose name I have forgotten but he charmed us all by catching on that we were there to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Lord of the Rings movies. He had plenty of anecdotes and jokes and good information about caves!

Bri and Rob (I'm pretty sure ), are wonderful tour guides! I just left, and they were splendid with our group's questions. Although I was expecting a bit more from the cavern, I did get what I was looking for; stalagmites and stalactites! I chose the historical tour, and it was super interesting learning about the cave's history. (We were even treated to two teeny-tiny adorable furry bats, no bigger than a McDonalds chicken nugget!) All in all, this is a great place to go with family, and an overall enjoyable experience!

This caverns at Cumberland are a great family destination. The walking tour guides you through multiple large caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites, underground pools and interesting rock formations of all types. There are large caverns, different colored rock formations, a small waterfall and even a historic chandelier. The history lesson given during the tour adds to the intrigue and out tour guide was interesting and genuine. They offer a monthly concert series inside one of the larger rooms in the caves that we will try to attend the next time we are in Tennessee as it looks like a really fun experience. They offer every level of tour from the modest walking tour we took to the crawling on the ground through tight spaces legitimate spelunking tour and they even do overnite campouts in the cave. Be aware the walking tour has over 300 stone steps for which the railing is not the best and many of the steps are slick and miss shaped. The seniors that went with us were able to enjoy the tour but it was rough at a few points and we had to help them through. All in all a great trip to a fun destination.

This was a fun day activity. The tours run on the hour and as luck would have it we arrived at 12:05 so this gave us time to hike the trail on the property...nice hike in a treed area. Our tour guy was Justin. We were the only two there for a tour so he took just us. I highly recommend getting there in the afternoon and perhaps a personal tour! Justin was knowledgeable and personable. We walked the caverns and it was super cool and interesting. They have concerts also in the caverns and over night activities where you can sleep in the cave! We loved the experience and went home to book the concert that is later this month. You have got to say you went to a concert in a cave once in your life.

the touror it was 1hour 25mins it good familys there is lots walking inside cafe and have night touror and camping wonderful

Okay.. wow.. so me and my gf did the extreme tour, and didn't really read thoroughly what that entailed lol but we found out rather quickly ... i was reluctant at first, having no experience, nor my gf, but she's an adrenaline junkie so i went forward, or id never hear the end of it.. however.. our guide, a young man named justin, was the greatest... super knowledgeable, funny(if u like corny jokes jk), and just great at what he does... Side note.. i have somewhat of a bum knee and shoulder, and he got us through there even when i was ready to go back. Justin was extremely helpful as well as my gf.. In all honesty.. there was some scary parts especially bcus im not an experienced "splunker" but i was super happy that i did it.. i most definitely recommend it... I'll never forget it.. THANX ALOT JUSTIN! -charles sharon and bethanie wolodkin

What a neat place. We did the 1.5 hr walking tour and thought it was fascinating. We loved the chandelier in the volcano room and would love to go to a concert here. Our guide was Nick and he was both informative and entertaining. I highly recommend visiting the caves if you're in the area.

Justin was a great tour guide for the deep underground tour. We definitely would've gotten lost on our own! Came out filthy and muddy which is always the sign of a GREAR cave tour!

One of the coolest things I've done by far! My fiancé is from McMinnville and has been in the caves many, many times! I was so lucky that he took me here because I thoroughly enjoyed it!! This looks like a ride you'd see at Disney, but this was all natural! Sometimes you felt like you were on Mars! Our tour guide was Jay and he was really awesome, even his corny dad jokes! I'd highly recommend this to anyone in the area. Be sure to bring a light jacket and wear tennis shoes.

I was visiting family in Tennessee and my brother suggested we check out Cumberland Caverns. I love adventure so it was an easy choice to make and I am so glad we went. Jay,our tour guide,was a lot of fun and full of good information. The 3/4 mile hike to the end is not super difficult except at the end but you are given a choice to avoid the very last part ..but you will miss the great light show at the end. It is well worth your time. The gift shop has lots of interesting things and all of the staff that we met were wonderful. The history of the caverns is interesting and it is a great excuse to get some exercise. We got there in time for the 4pm tour and we were the only ones. Thanks Jay and Cumberland Caverns!

Worth the drive from Nashville. When we arrived, there were a number of big yellow school buses and tons of kids running around. Lucky for us, they finished their tour, so the bf and I got a personal tour. Our guide's name was Mark or Matt; whoever he was, he was fantastic and knowledgable. Truly amazing. You have to see to appreciate the size. Would love to return for a show.

Austin was our awesome tour guide for the caverns. My family had a wonderful time exploring and seeing these amazing caverns. Our tour was almost 2 hours long! Way longer then most of the cavern tours. We had such a fun relaxing time with Austin as our tour guide. I love how easy it was to sign up online and have our spots ready when we showed up. Perfect rainy day activity!

I've been on many cave tours and really enjoyed this one. Our guide, Nick, was fantastic. I hope to get back and watch a concert, a very unique setting.

First time being here and had a great experience! My boyfriend and I did the daily walking tour, a 1.5 mile tour, took about 1.5-2 hours for complete tour. Loved that it was a small group. Markie was our tour guide and did a great job!! Highly recommend.

Briana was our tour guide! She was super knowledgeable and down to earth! We did the Guts and Glory tour, and it was physically challenging and not for the faint of heart. We left dirty and exhausted, with great action pictures that Briana took for us, and amazing memories. Highly recommend!

We had a blast! We went with our tour guide Colin. He was so knowledgeable about the tour and made sure we all had a great time. We did the Higgenbotham's revenge, there was some pretty tight spaces I didn't expect, but ended up loving it!

Great family fun all around! Planning to go back and do the next level up! They even have night overs in the cave for $47 Our adventure 1 was $40 for about two hrs!

We were in the area and decided to stop and check this out. Great time! Great tour guide and friendly staff! Jenny was a great tour guide

Great post Christmas family experience! Had a blast! Truly a majestic wonder. We will be taking all our future guest to Cumberland Caverns!

This was an amazing experience and Berlin was by far the best guide!! We took the VIP tour and it was worth it!!

We did the overnight adventure in celebration of our youngest daughter's 13th birthday. It was an awesome experience, in large part due to our guide, Brianna. She was knowledgeable, energetic, and good at managing a large group of scouts. The overnight adventure included the walking tour and Rocky Topper. Highly recommend as a family bonding experience!

This place is seriously beautiful. I've been doing a series of hikes with my friends, and this place popped up as a place where you can explore the caves in a hiking expedition. I purchased it a few months in advance, for the Rocky Topper tour. It was about 2 hours, and it was deemed "moderate to challenging." I would say my fitness level was average at that time. I exercised 3-5x a week and was in pretty decent shape. This tour proved to live up to its hype. We had several people in our party, with varying levels of fitness and struggles to complete the tour. Personally, I broke out in a sweat, but it wasn't that difficult. Someone else in my party struggled a lot, and the guides were very patient with her. They suggested that I not bring a little backpack I've taken on other tours, in other caves, but I regretted not taking it. I'd say you definitely can bring one, but it has to be pretty small, and should be waterproof. I would have liked to bring some water on the trip, because it was a good workout. We trekked through small crevices (they have you do that before even going on the tour, to make sure you can fit into the crevices that are there on the tour), through mud, and elevations. The cavern was beatiful. From the entrance where they do concerts, to the more intimate, smaller parts of it. I highly recommend checking it out.

This is one of my favorite cave tours that I have been on. Our tour guide was informative and down to earth, answering questions from seniors on our tour and also bantering with the three kids who were hanging onto her every word. Her name was Jaime. This cave doesn't have that overly "commercial" feel that other nearby caves have. The tour is labeled as being moderately strenuous as you do need to climb stairs (quite a few, over 120 in a row). These stairs can be slick as they are carved from stone in the cave and caves are damp. We had someone on our tour who was having a tough time and it slows down the group. The rooms were vast and for a majority of the time we were the only ones in the cave. It was very cool. All in all, this was worth the money and a great day trip for our family.

It's true the acoustics are pretty good in here. On a recent visit a few things struck me about Cumberland Caverns: It's easy to get to. No, I'm not talking the winding roads. I'm talking about after you arrive and you go through will-call for your tickets. Basically it's a straight walk to the mouth of the cave and another straight path down through the cave to the concert space. Easy. The food seems yuck. Mostly hot dogs and nachos-type stuff. Overpriced. If they invested in some BBQ you bet these picnic tables would be filling up fast. Everyone is 2x friendlier than normal. Maybe because you're in an enclosed space. Maybe it's the happy music. But everyone seems to relax and smile more and who knows?..you might meet your new best friend here. The chandelier is cool. Keep scale in mind. It looks smaller than in pictures. But then, you are in a huge cave, right? The bathrooms aren't that bad. I mean, bathrooms are always gross. But if you are wondering about the bathroom situation for a 1+ hour concert then there you have it. I enjoyed my time. And the music was fun. But now that it's done I'll simply check it off my list. No need to come back. I left about 20 mins early to beat the traffic and catch a waterfall hike at Fall Creek Falls nearby. Your best bet for dining is in McMinnville. Skip the hot dogs. Please.

This place was really cool. It was the first cave I've explored too. We were the last group for the day and were lucky enough to get a private tour since we were the only ones. I want to say our tour guide was Justin and he was just the best! He was fun and made our tour interesting. There's a pretty spring inside and one of our friends pretended to get ready to spit in it (he wouldn't really), and Justin's face was priceless. We got to joke with him the whole time. Great workout too, there a crap ton of steps to take. You won't feel bad if you eat for 2 people afterwards. There is a pretty mini lightshow after the steps. You get to catch your breath briefly! The girl working the counter was friendly too. So go workout and see some cave formations.

Berlin was the guide excellent service and it was very interesting I loved it I think I will return and the tour lasted 2 hours

DO NOT go on the Hall Crawl. You could have any old bored teenager drag you through a mud pit and get more out of it. The advertising does not prepare you for what it is in the slightest. They say you'll need to bring extra shoes for after, but don't tell you that it's because you're going to be wading through knee-deep water and clay slip. If you go, bring a flashlight; the tour guide doesn't carry one, and this area of the cave is not lit. You would think that for $50 per person that they would provide half-decent equipment, but the helmets didn't stay on, and the headlamps barely lit up anything. Shelby was a terrible tour guide. I have never met a less enthusiastic person. She gave no history or geology spiel. All our questions were answered with yes, no, or a few words. She misidentified common cave formations and fossils. I felt she didn't care for visitor safety in the slightest. There were multiple times one of us could have fallen behind and she wouldn't have noticed. I know this, because it happened to me. I was last in the group and struggling with the "lemon squeezer." They got so far ahead it was completely dark and I could hardly hear the rest of the group. Her two stories were vague and disjointed (I'll save you the time: one guy got stuck for 3 days and his hair turned white, and some kid fell down a hole you cant see from the tour path and his boots are allegedly still there), and nothing she did added to the tour in the slightest. The tour is advertised as 2.5-3 hours. Due to the lack of content and break-neck speed, round trip was under 2 hours. Overall I've never visited a cave less concerned with conservation. On the Hall Crawl tour, we were encouraged to touch cave formations, knock on them because they are hollow, and there is no way to traverse the terrain without manhandling every formation. There was graffiti everywhere; I saw as recent as 2010. Their practices are devastating a delicate cave ecosystem. There was no mention of white-nose syndrome, they bring food and drink into the cave, and do nothing to mitigate their affect on the cave. Cumberland Caverns, you are privately run, so it's up to you and you alone to ensure this cave exists long after your bottom dollar. Do better.

We have been to a few caverns and love them. This one did not disappoint! It was awesome inside with some unique things. Also our tour guide Andi was great! She did a great job giving us the history of this cave and information on caves in general. We had a wonderful time and picked up some nice things from the gift shop.

Awesome experience with the family. The tour was well worth the drive from Nashville. Ray was the best! Very engaged and knowledgeable of the caves and its history.

Our guide was witty and knowledgeable. I used a cane and was able to make it most of the way for the regular cavern tour. Pics don't show up well due to the lighting, but that's just FYI, not like it should be lit up. The gift shop is great! Be sure to look around before or after your tour. They had some very nice geodes, jewelry, and other locally made items for reasonable prices.

I went here on a field trip in grade school and then just recently with my son on a school field trip. Aside from the fact that I'm so out of shape and there's quite a few steps, I think I had an even better time as an adult! There are so many interesting formations to see and so much history to hear about that I think even though you enjoy it as a kid, you just don't fully appreciate it until you're older. One of the neatest parts is when you get to the area where they have the light show. It is a presentation of God creating the earth and is simply amazing! It will give you goose bumps! Since you're underground the temperature stays around 56°F year round, so be sure to bring a jacket or hoodie.

Our tour guide was Candace and she was phenomenal. I learned a lot about caves and splunkers than I ever knew. It was like being at school on the weekend. It was a very good family event. They have concerts in a cave and a lot of pretty geodes. The Gift Shop prices are not too terrible. I learned I never want to be in a cave when it's dark without a light source. That's really freaking scary.

Neat place. Literally stumbled upon it and decided to give it a try. Good public tour. Tour guide Justin was great. Need to come back for an adventure tour some time.

LOVE Cumberland Caverns!!! Big shout out to Berlyn she's a FANTASTIC guide! I highly recommend you stop in and take the tour. You'll love it!

If you get to take a tour, ask for Christa or Sebastian! Great jokes! It is a real journey through the cave and the OCD in me wanted to lay out a giant tarp and clean the chandelier in the Volcano Room! It is a gorgeous venue, where, with the right event planner, would be magical. The footing is a little dangerous , so definitely wear good hiking boots or shoes, also, it gets chilly but not uncomfortable, so layers are good and long pants. You will also want your own personal small flashlight so you can look in the nooks and holes that are all throughout the caverns. Worth the drive and worth the experience. Our 4 year old loved it, the baby in our group cried most of the time, so each child will have their own experience. You can take water in with you, but we just bought some later after the trek. I hope they open up spelunking adventures (beg-adv) because there is a huge area that is dark and looks very interesting.

Had a great time with our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Justin. He took time to answer everyone's questions and made sure we all had a great time. The tour was just the right length and kept us interested and engaged.

We did the Legacy Adventure Overnight Tour and had a great time. It was a lot of climbing up and down rocks and getting muddy. Justin was a great guide even with his cheesy jokes. He allowed us to rest when it was needed and pushed on when we were good to go. Even if you a clumsy or nervous, you can take your time to complete the tour. Would highly recommend to anyone looking for an adventure.