GSMNP Spelunking

“There's a thread on the other side requesting someone to tell a photographer where the caves are in GSMNP. People are mentioning Townsend's commercial cave, but woodzie I think mentioned some caves in the Cades Cove area. Anyone been to any of the caves in GSMNP?

I think a spelunking trip in GSMNP would rock.”

“Yes, but I've been to some. But let the other side find their own!”

“yea fo shizzle. leave da caves to da gsmnp gangstaz. its hard to miss the commercial ones in townsend, they're like 3 miles off the main hwy”

“Some are blocked to keep the rift-raft(sp.?) out.”

“Cave locations should never be made too public. Too many ignorant people to go into them and destroy the cave decorations that took hundreds and hundreds of years to form.
Join a local grotto of the NSS and learn cave conservation before taking hordes of tourists into them.”

“SS is right. A caver would never expect someone to post the directions on a web site. You might get one to take you to a cave, but you just don't ask directions.”

“I am a former Chairman of the Smoky Mountain Grotto, National Speleological Society (NSS).

http://www.caves.org/

Grottos In Or Near Tennessee:

Appalachian Grotto
c/o Curtis Ellison
1410 Monroe St
Morristown, TN 37814-3033
Forbidden Passage

Chattanooga Grotto
PO Box 11506
Chattanooga, TN 37401-2506
The TAGLine

East Tennessee Grotto
PO Box 4802
Oak Ridge, TN 37831
Speleotype

Nashville Grotto
PO Box 23114
Nashville, TN 37202
SpeleoNews

Sewanee Mountain Grotto
c/o Glenn Mills
PO Box 682
Sewanee, TN 37375

Smoky Mountain Grotto
Box 8297 UT Station
Knoxville, TN 37996
SMG Newsletter & Speleotype

Southport Chronic Cavers
c/o Brian Roebuck
94 Magnolia Ln
Normandy, TN 37360-9504
The Southport Digs

Spencer Mountain Grotto
c/o Rosemarie MacDonell
231 Spencer Dr
Spencer, TN 38585
Mud & Rope

Tennessee Central Basin Gr.
PO Box 2458
Murfreesboro, TN 37133
TCB Passages

Upper Cumberland Grotto
c/o Kristen Bobo
1624 Linda Ave
Cookeville, TN 38506
winged messenger

Central Alabama Grotto
c/o Michael Gilbert
1175 Fulton Gap
Sylacauga, AL 35150-7877
Alabama Underground

Dogwood City Grotto
200 Arizona St Suite 108
Atlanta, GA 30307
Georgia Underground

Flittermouse Grotto
PO Box 288
Asheville, NC 28802
Der Fledermaus

Golden Pond Grotto
c/o Tom Willoughby
8369 US Highway 68 E
Benton, KY 42025
GPG Journal

Hart of Kentucky Grotto
PO Box 273
Horse Cave, KY 42749
Salamander Gazette

Huntsville Grotto
PO Box 1702 W Station
Huntsville, AL 35807-0702
Huntsville Grotto Newsletter

Mountain Empire Grotto
c/o Paul Gaskins
381 Beechwood Circle
Bristol, TN 37620
Underground Mountaineer

Pine Mountain Grotto
PO Box 460
Pineville, KY 40977
Pine Mountain Fault
last edited: 7/01/05 2:35:44 PM”

“Gregory Cave in Cades Cove can be found on old USGS topo maps. It's gated and you must get permission from the Park to go inside. There are also three or four caves clustered in a relatively small area of the Park, but I'm not tellin' where!!! I believe they are now gated too though.
last edited: 7/01/05 6:04:10 PM”