Tennessee's Mesmerizing Underground Caverns Spark Wonder And Awe With Guided Walking Tour Trails

A state in the southeastern United States with a sprawling expanse of roughly 42,000 square miles, Tennessee is many things. It is unequivocally a land of Music City Nashville, of Dolly Parton, of Elvis' Graceland, of Lynchburg's Jack Daniel's, of humming, euphoric Memphis streets, and Appalachian culture. It's a place known for its barbecue summers, music festivals, historic mansions, plantations, friendly waterfall towns like Pikeville, and, as it happens, it's also a land of caves. One of these is Sevierville's Forbidden Cavern — with a name like that, it's just begging to be explored.

Only a 40-minute drive east of McGhee Tyson Airport, situated just south of Douglas Lake's 550 miles of craggy, fragmented, and feathered shoreline, the Forbidden Caverns provide budding adventurers with an extraordinary guided walking experience amidst its cavernous levels. There, underneath the Smoky Mountains, you'll find an impressive collection of unusual geological features — from stalagmites and stalactites to richly layered and colored columns and flowstone — a subterranean landscape of hardened minerals and deposits that is truly otherworldly.

Access is available four days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The general admission price is $25 for those aged 13 and up, $15 for children aged 5 to 12 years old, and admission is free for children aged 4 and under, as of this writing. There's a maximum group size of 30 people, and it's a very casual affair with several departures leaving throughout the day. Your expert local guide will take you on a well-lit, 55-minute-long hike, both entertaining and educational, with plenty of time to stop and take photos along the way. On route, your host will point out interesting formations that come in all shapes and sizes, while also filling you in on the region's history, once popular with moonshine bootleggers from the 1920s to the '40s.

This unique cave system, discovered on land that was once a mountainous forest shelter in the cold months and a summer hunting ground for the Eastern Woodland Indians, is where you'll descend a few hundred feet for a half-mile reconnaissance mission. The air is dank, musty, and a constant chilly 58 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, with a crystal-clear river ebbing and flowing alongside your careful steps. Torchlight flickers and dances across chimney stack formations, dramatic ceiling arches, and hollowed grottoes that loom from the shadows. It's a wondrous, all-consuming journey that submerges you in an otherworldly realm, far removed from the bright skies and sunlight above.

For fans of caving and the great outdoors who wish to continue their regional adventures, Tennessee offers all manner of geographic landmarks and formations, from the stark beauty of Reelfoot Lake to the bucolic charm of Laurel Falls Trail and the overflowing splendor of rural cities, the likes of McMinnville, with its extensive collection of vintage mansions, caverns, and garden trails. Underground, Tennessee has an assortment of revered destinations, from the Cumberland Caverns and hosting America's oldest cave art at Dunbar to the dramatic interior of the Blue Spring Cave and the Raccoon Mountain Caverns.

But the Forbidden Caverns in Sevierville are certainly a standout. And if you retrace your steps back to Sevierville city afterward, you'll find several dining options to refuel. If you're after classic Southern charm — a hallmark of every small town and green space from the vibrant Johnson City to Red Clay State Historic Park — look no further; there's something for everyone here. Try the no-frills, no-fuss Pinchy's Lobster + Rawbar or recline within the rustic confines of the Five Oaks Farm Kitchen for a plate of local BBQ. If you're a Dolly Parton fan, why not drop by her favorite hometown hot dog joint, Frank Allen's Market & Grill.