Ruby Falls, Tennessee, United States

4Jeffrey Koslowski 5:00 PM Dec 19, 2022

Forced March vs. Underground Waterfall
Chattanooga prides itself on its caves and Ruby Falls is perhaps the most tourist-friendly cave of them all. If you're looking to do the major attractions of a city, this is the one to do. The parking is ample and on an incline. It may be tight depending on when in the day you go (we were later in the afternoon so it was busy but not too bad). I would recommend buying your tickets ahead of time and arriving early because there are some nice overlooks to check out plus it will get your legs warmed up for the trip inside the cave. You'll get in line a few minutes before your entry which is about every 20 minutes. The guide will lead you through on what feels like a forced march. Stay close to your guide as you'll be able to hear them better up front. I don't know how anyone in the back of our group heard anything. There are recordings that are playing but if you're in the front they are either not timed right or you're moving so quick that you won't be able to stop and really take in what you are seeing. The whole walk leads you to Ruby Falls itself. Despite the single file walking and difficulties in hearing your guide or the recording, it truly is worth it. There will be plenty of people around to take pictures and you'll get enough time to take whatever pictures or recordings you want. The lights within the falls are also really pretty. Once you're done, you'll be led back to the gift shop. There are plenty of trinkets, stone and rock-related souvenirs, and anything else with the Ruby Falls name on it you could imagine. Once you're done, enjoy the drive back down the mountain. Overall, this is one of the major attractions of Chattanooga. What it may lack in science and learning about cave life, it makes up for in sheer attractiveness. If you want to really learn about cave life, perhaps a different guide than the one I had could help but check out Raccoon Caverns for that (not that our guide was bad, he was more of the entertainer which was fine). Just make sure your phone is well charged and your camera has plenty of batteries because the photos will be worth it.

4Renee D 5:00 PM Jun 29, 2022

Nice tour that needs to be slowed down
This is a nice tour to get some cavern experience. Our guide, Melissa, was very nice and informative. I also really enjoyed the introductory video before you entered the caverns. It is helpful to know some basic background information. The falls themselves are amazing and when they put it to music and lights, it is a beautiful spectacle to see. Since they are doing appointment slots, we did our best to pick a time. But we arrived 30 minutes early. Since it was the morning, they still had slots available and gave us no hassle switching to a different appointment slot 30 minutes earlier. My negative is that I felt rushed. I wish they gave everybody even just 30 more seconds to look at a couple of the things they tried to highlight. They mention what they want you to observe and then immediately start walking. Every picture I took was while I was walking. On that same note, if you were not at the front of the group next to the guide, you sometimes missed information because they had you in a long single file line since the caverns were skinny. That means that the people at the back couldn’t always hear. Perhaps this means that some of the groups are too large. Maybe they should allow less appointment slots for each of the times.