The Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN is one experience you really won’t want to miss. This one is unforgettable. If a crystal clear lake, a glass bottom boat, cave flowers, and a guided tour through amazing geologic features sounds like your kind of adventure, then put America’s largest underground lake on your bucket list.
The Lost Sea is the country’s largest underground lake, which you get to see when you tour the extensive caverns in Sweetwater, TN. And take a boat ride on! The caverns are huge and have been in use since the days of the Cherokee tribe, who often used the caves to hold councils. Many Cherokee artifacts have been found that point to this history.
It wasn’t until 1905 that a 13-year-old boy, Ben Sands, set out to find the rumored lake at the bottom of the caverns. He did end up finding it but no one believed him until decades later when explorers found the same lake. To this day, no one knows how big the lake is.
The visible part you see on the tour is 800 feet long by about 200 feet wide and around 75 feet deep. Divers have attempted to explore underground tunnels that protrude from the lake but have not been successful in mapping out how big the lake is.
The majority of the tour is on solid ground amongst the vast cave system that is part of Craighead Caverns. There are all kinds of rare formations throughout the caves that your guide will show you and point out. Many of these formations have taken thousands of years to grow to their current size.
Parts of the caverns have massive rooms and ceilings. If you love geology, you’ll certainly enjoy the tour. The prevalence of rare “anthodites”, which are called more commonly, “cave flowers” are abundant in these caves. Most caves do not have these anthodites and because of this, these caverns have been designated a Registered National Landmark by the US Department of the Interior.
The Boat Tour: A Glass Bottom Boat
The caves open up into this huge room that is dark except for the lights shining underwater, illuminating the perfectly clear water. The fish all start swimming up to the dock once you reach that area. Now, these are no ordinary fish. These are all Rainbow Trout (no, you cannot go fishing here) that are stocked here every couple of years and are enormous.
The lake is so clear and untouched that no microbes or algae grow that fish can feast upon. They can’t even breed here. Therefore, they get to live pretty sweet lives being coddled and fed several times a day.
According to kiddingaroundgreenville.com. Source of photo: internet
