While in eastern TN we found that there was a nearby cave to explore. We both planned to go through it but the first thing the guide did was talk about the section that was about 200 feet long, between 5 and 20 feet high and barely wide enough to hold your elbows out by your side. That was it for me! With some mild claustrophobia I didn’t think I could manage that. For a few feet maybe, but 200 feet! NOPE! So I waited in the truck and Jeff toured it without me.
He said afterwards that there were just a few short places that I would have a problem with but it was too late at that point. Oh well!
This cave had lots of formations and they used colored lighting to highlight them. There was a large group and the guide said to only take pictures when the group stopped so Jeff didn’t get as many pics as he sometimes gets. But it looks interesting!
While in eastern TN we drove up into the Smoky Mountains. To get their from Sevierville you drive through Pigeon Forge which appears to be one long amusement center. Several museums like Ripleys, Titanic, and a Wax Museum. Several water and bumper car parks as well as tons of motels and restaurants.
Past that it gets much prettier. We went up to about 5,000 ft and then down a bit to Cherokee, NC. From there we turned north to come back a different route.
We didn’t take too many pictures as a lot of the road is narrow and you have to find viewpoints to get off the road.
We stayed for a week in Clarksville, TN and while there we found that there is a cavern right in town! So we decided to visit it.
This cavern system was used for over 1,000 years by native Americans and they did some rock painting. It is thought that the cavern was used for warrior initiation, where a warrior had to go in a certain distance, probably more than a mile. Some places were very tight and required crawling on bellies. Some of the symbols seem to represent a warrior on his side with a headdress on. Some seem to indicate the sun and moon. The cavern is still visited by native Americans elders who bring young tribe members to connect with their heritage. Because this cavern is still used by native Americans and is considered sacred there is no photography allowed inside and the tour is by flashlight (bring your own or buy one) so they can control the lighting to avoid further degradation of the ancient pictographs.
The cavern was discovered by white men before the Civil War and extensive digging during the war was done to expand parts of the cave to use for storage and for soldiers to rest and hide.
From the Civil War to the 1960s the cavern was owned by various people and visitors were encouraged to break off a piece of stalactite for a souvenior and to write on the walls. Lots of graffiti!
A country singer Roy Acuff, owned it for about 20 years in the 60s and 70s and held concerts at the opening which was enlarged and paved to be an ampitheatre.
The tour had a couple of spots where we all had to stoop over to get through, which made me nervous but I did ok. Unfortunately at one point where there was a slope and it was muddy I slipped and fell onto my left hip. Didn’t really hurt me and surprise! my right hip which had been hurting me for a few weeks stopped hurting! I had seen a chiropractor twice in the past couple of weeks but it didn’t seem to help. After a few days the pain in my right hip came back but one more trip to a chiropractor seemed to fix that, no more pain – so far.
One large room had weird shapes showing in the roof, I thought they were fish fossils. Turns out I was right but 10m years old!
It was very cool and humid inside the cave (around 56 degrees) and when we came out of the cave into the ampitheater where it was quite warm and very humid everyone’s glasses fogged up, so we all spent a few minutes cleaning our glasses so we could see again.
No pictures though! Not even any on the website from inside the cavern. Here’s a picture of the ampitheater:
Clarksville MO is a very small town that has mostly dried up. It has 372 people (as of 2020). A lot of buildings along the main roads are empty and have been for decades. Apparently when a nearby cement plant shut down, the town couldn’t recover.
The town is right on the bank of the miss river. There is a dam on the river with a lock for boats. Look that up.
Right in town is a steep hill that is the highest point right alongside the Mississippi. Until about the 1940s there was a “sky trolley” from downtown to the summit of that hill. There were some little houses and a view point on the summit. The equipment is still along the road but it had to close for the too high insurance costs the town could not afford. We tried to find a road up to the summit but it was impassable.
There is one place to eat in Clarksville – Cherry bar and grill. Good food! I was surprised to see people smoking in there.
There are no gas stations, no grocery stores or even convenience stores. One business is in operation that makes candles and stationary for hotels. It is currently run out of abandoned buildings along the main road and the company is building a new building to house the operation. I heard this from an old gentleman who was walking his dog nearby.
The nearest town with facilities is Louisiana MO, about 10 miles away.
Our RV park is about 4 miles inland from Clarksville, surrounded by corn and soybean fields.
I took a few pics of the river and dam and found a postcard picture showing the Sky Trolley and the dam from the 1940s. Here they are:
Postcard view of the Dam from the Sky Trolley circa 1940s
Dam on Mississippi River at Clarksville
Looking south along the Mississippi River from the Riverfront Park in Clarksville
