Craighead Caverns

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Craighead Caverns is an extensive cave system located in Sweetwater, Tennessee. It is most well known for containing the United States' largest underground lake, The Lost Sea. In addition to the lake, the caverns contain an abundance of crystal clusters called anthodites, stalactites, stalagmites and a waterfall.

[edit] History

Located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, the caverns are named after their former owner, a Cherokee native american, Chief Craighead. The caverns were formerly used as by the Cherokee as a meeting place and later they were mined by Confederate soldiers for saltpeter, a commodity necessary to the manufacture of gunpowder.

In 1939, explorers found the remains of a Pleistocene jaguar.

The Craighead Caverns were added to the National Park Service list of National Natural Landmarks in 1973 and the United States Department of the Interior to designate the Lost Sea as a Registered National Landmark.

[edit] The Lost Sea

The lake was discovered in 1905 by a thirteen-year-old boy named Ben Sands. As the story goes, Sands, who often played in the cave, happened upon a small opening and crawled through. The room was so large he was unable to see the ends of the room with his lantern, so he threw balls of mud in all directions and heard splashes. When he went back home and told people of his discovery, they were hesitant to believe him. By the time they went back down to explore it with lanterns, the water had receded, leading to the name "The Lost Sea."

The full extent of the lake is unknown even today. Divers have mapped out approximately 13 acres and have discovered several rooms that are completely filled with water.

Tours are still given today in glass-bottom boats inside the cave.