(gentle music)
Jenna: On this episode of Travel Dares: Season US,
I'm digging below the surface
to learn more about the country's tallest
and deepest underground waterfall.
(upbeat music)
Last episode, I received a clue about
where I'd end up on this episode.
You'll have to go underground
to see this tall beauty in person.
So now I'm here in Chattanooga
to go see one of its most iconic destinations, Ruby Falls.
As you can see,
the views are incredible from the Edwin Hotel,
looking over at the Walnut Street Bridge.
While the views are stunning from above,
I can't wait to learn more about this Appalachian wonder
that sits below the surface.
So this is my first time in Chattanooga.
I am loving it.
I have been to a cave.
I've been to a waterfall,
but I've never been to a waterfall in a cave.
I am so pumped to see what that is all about.
- Hi, I'm Grant. I'm gonna be your tour guide today.
Jenna: Hi Grant. I'm Jenna.
Grant: Welcome to Ruby Falls. Nice to meet you.
Jenna: Thanks for having me.
Grant: Our pleasure. We're excited to have you.
So right now we are standing on top of the 80-foot
Lookout Mountain tower.
We'll go 260 feet down into the cave,
and then it's about a half mile walk.
And by the time we get to the falls,
we'll be at 1,120 feet under the summit
of Lookout Mountain. Jenna: What!
Grant: Yeah. Jenna: That's amazing.
Grant: Ruby Falls is the
tallest and deepest underground waterfall
that's open to the public in the United States.
And we were discovered by accident by our founder,
Leo Lambert in 1928.
He was actually digging into the mountain
to find another cave that he knew about, below Ruby Falls
and they accidentally ran into the vein through the mountain
that led them to Ruby Falls.
And so it was just kind of a happy accident.
Jenna: Yeah, that's a cool thing
to stumble upon. Grant: The rest is history.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
And then he named it after his high school sweetheart,
Ruby, his wife, who - Jenna: Oh! That's so sweet.
Grant: - he followed from Indiana here. Yeah.
Jenna: Oh my gosh. I love that.
Grant: As a matter of fact,
when Leo Lambert and his crew first discovered Ruby Falls,
they actually had to crawl for six hours
before they got to a point
where they could even stand up in the cave
and altogether it took them about 17 hours
to get there and back.
So it's much easier for us today,
only takes about an hour and a half.
So you're ready to do this? Jenna: I'm so ready.
Grant: All right, let's go. Jenna: OK.
Grant: All right. Let's go.
We are now descending at 260 feet deep
into the heart of Lookout Mountain.
This rock you see in front of here is limestone
and cool thing about that,
the limestone that was excavated out of this elevator shaft
is what was used to build the cavern castle
that we were just in.
Grant: Here ya go Jenna: Oh, these are for us.
Grant: Yeah, absolutely. Pick one.
Jenna: Pretty excited about getting to wear this.
Grant: Today's your lucky day.
Lights on. Ready to go?
Jenna: Yes. Grant: All right, let's do it.
So this whole cave at one point,
water was flowing through it
and it's what carved out most of it.
Now, again, probably about waist down,
you can see where they had carved out the path
so we can walk upright comfortably
and I'm for one, I'm very grateful that they did.
(Jenna laughs)
Jenna: Oh, what's that?
Grant: That is our cactus and candle formation.
Jenna: I was gonna say it looks like a cactus.
Grant: Yeah, yeah.
So it was basically formed by water dripping
through the limestone cap in the ceiling
and it slowly deposited minerals here for hundreds of years,
just very slowly, about a half inch every hundred years.
It's also kind of translucent.
It's made of calcium carbonate
but if you hold the flashlight up to it like that.
Isn't that cool? Jenna: Oh, wow.
Kind of reminds me of like the Himalayan salt lamp.
Grant: Oh, yeah, yeah.
So this is beautiful.
We're coming up on our mirror pool here.
Our mirror pool is what's called a rim pool.
You ever heard of that before? Jenna: I have not.
Grant: A rim pool is formed when constant dripping water
hits the ground and pushes away the sediment
causing a little rim.
They're really small at first and when hundreds
and then thousands of them just get bigger and bigger,
they end up forming something
as large as our mirror pool here.
Jenna: This is beautiful.
Grant: All right, well, we've got a lot more to see
so let's go.
So now we're entering the hall of dreams.
Jenna: Hall of dreams? Grant: Yeah.
It's actually a legend that Ruby, Leo Lambert's wife,
this was her favorite spot in the cave,
so much so that she would come down here
to sketch and daydream.
If you look directly above you,
you see all these thousands of baby stalactites
that are nicknamed 'soda straws' actually
because in their infancy they are hollow in the middle.
So the waterfall is just ahead. Shall we?
Jenna: Oh yeah. Grant: All right.
(water rushing)
Jenna: Oh I think I hear it.
(water rushing)
Grant: Here it is. Welcome to Ruby Falls.
Jenna: That is amazing.
Grant: So, cool thing.
This room that we're in is called Solomon's temple -
Jenna: Yeah.
Grant: - and it's believed that the waterfall carved out
this room started at this end
and work its way back because over millions of years
and they call it Solomon's temple just
because of its grandeur and beauty.
Jenna: Yes. Grandeur and beauty.
This is spectacular.
Grant: So right now we've come just under a half mile -
Jenna: OK.
Grant: - and we are a total of 1,120 feet under
the summit of Lookout Mountain.
Jenna: Wow. That is breathtaking.
Grant: Yeah.
And it's cool to think that people live up there
and this is just below their feet.
Jenna: And they have no idea. Grant: Yeah.
Jenna: I had no idea. This is spectacular.
And it's right here in the US.
Grant: Yep. Right in our backyard.
Jenna: What's your favorite thing about coming down here?
Grant: My favorite thing is just,
every time I come down here, I see something new
be it in the rock formations
or just in the look on people's faces.
Jenna: Yeah.
Grant: And again, that just makes the job worth it to me.
Jenna: Thank you for showing me this -
Grant: It's been my pleasure Jenna: - amazing waterfall.
I gotta ask. Grant: Yeah?
Jenna: Before I leave, can I take one of these home with me?
Grant: Of course, we have these for sale in our gift shop.
Jenna: Yes! Grant: They're very stylish.
Jenna: Who knows when I'm going to come upon
another waterfall in a cave.
(upbeat music)
Jenna: I had such an amazing time at Ruby Falls
and to think how long it took Leo to trek through
that cave for the first time
and come across that waterfall? It's such an incredible
visual and just gets my imagination ignited.
Chattanooga has been incredible,
but I'm curious where we're going next.
I think I see a clue that might point us in that direction,
time to build music in the city. Hmm.
I know how to make music.
I'm not sure what build music means,
but I am very curious to find out what it's all about.
Tune in next time.
(upbeat music)