Russell Cave National Monument

Visited: Sept 2017

Nearby town: Bridgeport, AL; Chattanooga, TN

Our visit to Russell Cave National Monument was one of our biggest “oops” moments in our quest to visit as many NPS units as we can. We went through the visitor center museum, and then took the short nature trail to the main cave entrance. Alright, let’s take some pictures...oops...we forgot our camera in the car.

Paul: “So, do you want to walk back to the car and get the camera?”

Tara: “...No...why don’t you get it?”

Paul: “...eh...(it’s very hot and humid, it’s not a long walk back to the car, but long enough...is it really worth getting a picture?)...No.”

😀

Once we got back to our car and started to head back to the main highway, we did manage to get a picture of the entrance sign (seen above). But...that’s it...the only photo document of our visit to this National Monument. And we’re not even in it (we got the picture from our car)...😂

The thought did pass through my mind...”boy, when I end up doing a blog post on Russell Cave...it’s going to be really lame.”

And...yep...it is. That’s not to say that Russell Cave is not beautiful (it is) or not worth a stop (it is...it’s just a few miles off the freeway), but, yeah, it might be a little underwhelming.

Ok, so anyway, your first stop should be the visitor’s center. It’s got a number of artifacts and information on the people who lived in the cave nearly 10,000 years ago.

Then take the short hike on the boardwalk to visit the main entrance. The distinctive feature of Russell Cave is its gigantic, large main entrance. Here’s a picture from Wikipedia:

So, yeah, it is pretty cool. I should have just gotten my fat butt back to the car to get the camera.

I will say that I was a little disappointed that visitors are not allowed to go beyond a few feet into the cave. I understand it though, there’s still a lot of archaeological excavation going on. And obviously most of it would be destroyed if people could enter, just be aware that you really can’t do any exploring or spelunking in the cave. You can take a guided tour of the “shelter” (the name given to the area right at the natural entrance) and Park Rangers will tell you all about the archaeological significance of the cave.

Experts have determined that the cave was likely used by humans during the winter months, where it provided shelter from cold temperatures and was a great water source. The cave was used and occupied during the Archaic period (about 10,000 years ago - 1000 BC), Woodland period (1000 BC to 500 AD), and the Mississippian period (500 AD - 1000 AD or so). During the Mississippian period, Native Americans started to use the cave less and less, transitioning from a hunter-gatherer culture to a more agrarian culture (the “Mound builders”). The Cherokee tribe occupied the area hundreds of years later, but did not use the cave at all. Because it was relatively untouched for a long period of time, Russell Cave is a great site for the study of these ancient inhabitants of the Woodland and Mississippian period.

So, yes, even though we didn’t take pictures, stop by Russell Cave to learn about the first inhabitants of the continent and enjoy the scenery of northeastern Alabama. For more info: https://www.nps.gov/ruca/index.htm