If you are looking for a place to explore while on a vacation, you may want to consider visiting Dunbar Cave State Park in Clarksville, Tennessee. It is the 280th largest cave system in the world and extends 8.067 miles inward. The park contains limestone bedrock and sinkholes in an area with karst topography. You can even spend the night in the cave! For more information on Dunbar Cave State Park, read on.
The cave itself is 110 acres and is open to the public three days a week. Prehistoric Native Americans used this cave as a place to live about 10,000 years ago. The cave has a unique history and offers an excellent opportunity to see native American Mississippian cave art. Visitors to the park can enjoy nature programs year-round on many different topics. You must bring a handheld flashlight, as headlamps and lanterns are prohibited in the cave.
The Wonderland Cafe is a wonderful place to grab breakfast before exploring the park. It’s located just a few miles away from downtown Clarksville. The cafe features delicious breakfasts with poached eggs and English muffins, or you can try one of the crepes with fresh fruit. Whether you’re visiting the park for the first time or want to explore the cave further, Bill and Jen Parker take their coffee very seriously and blend it with love and science.
Admission to Dunbar Cave State Park is $14 per person and requires reservations. Tours often sell out, so reservations are important. You can also enjoy a guided tour of the cave. The cost of admission is $8 for kids between five and 13 years old and $14 for adults. Visitors under five years of age are not permitted to enter the cave. The cave is a great place to explore and learn about Native American history. If you’re a history buff, you can tour Dunbar Cave State Park and find the cave’s mysterious drawings of stars and a supernatural male warrior.
The park offers three miles of hiking trails, from easy to moderate. The Lake Trail, Short Loop, and Recovery Trail take visitors past the cave entrance and around the lake. The Short Loop and Recovery Trails wind through the forest and over successional fields, and all three trails start at the visitors’ center. There’s also excellent birding at Dunbar Cave, and fishing is permitted year-round in Swan Lake. Just remember to bring your fishing license, as it is required by state law.
There’s no charge to visit Dunbar Cave, State Park. While you can explore the cave on your own, tour operators have strict rules regarding age, gender, and other factors. For example, people under 13 should be accompanied by an adult, and those under five should be accompanied by an adult. Once inside, remember to read all information carefully before you visit. Once you arrive, make sure to get there early enough to make sure the bats are not hibernating in the cave!
The Dunbar Cave is eight miles long and is rich in Native American iconography. It also has seven picnic tables, though they’re not wheelchair-accessible. You can visit Dunbar Cave State Park from May to October but be sure to book a tour ahead of time. Be sure to check the seasonal schedule, as tours often sell out quickly. You can combine a tour with a visit to other state parks in the area.
The Friends of Dunbar Cave State Park recently secured a grant to help it launch a video tour that will let visitors virtually tour the cave without being physically present. They hope to go through Dunbar Cave twice and then shoot additional footage using a standard video camera. For the time being, you should plan on spending a full day in Dunbar Cave State Park, as the cave is cool inside. Enjoy your visit to Clarksville and enjoy a day or two exploring the local history.
The history of Dunbar Cave is also rich, with many ancient symbols found in the cave. Some are believed to be religious symbols, while others claim to be the work of a supernatural warrior. Modern man has only begun to explore the eight-mile-long cave in the 18th century. Thomas Dunbar, a pioneer of the area, first claimed the cave in 1784 and paid for the land surrounding the cave. Robert Nelsen later took the land, which he later turned into a resort. The cave remains cool year-round, with temperatures around 58 degrees.
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