Tennessee Is Home to the Nation’s Largest Underground Lake

If you have visited Mammoth Cave or Lost River Cave, you're already familiar with how it feels to ride on a body of water with a ceiling over your head. It's fascinating experience, but it's certainly not unique to Kentucky cave country.

When you plan a getaway to East Tennessee, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is usually the target destination. But just a little WEST of the foothills of the Smokies lies an amazing feature that no tourist commission can claim. That's right. Sometimes it's just good old Mother Nature that gets a traveler's attention. While Tennessee doesn't have a "cave country" like Kentucky does, it can boast of the largest underground lake in the nation.

They don't, however, CALL it a lake.

Those mountains in Sweetwater TN "hide" a not-very-well-kept secret, don't they? And who would WANT to keep The Lost Sea a secret? It is the largest underground lake in America, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and the caverns have been in use going back to the days when the Cherokee lived in this region. In fact, a large chamber known as the "Council Room" is packed with artifacts and is located about a mile from the entrance.

And talk about the perfect adventure for summertime. The cave has a constant temperature of 58 degrees, making those popular boat rides very comfortable. Some might even bring jackets.

The boat tours last one hour and fifteen minutes, and the hours The Lost Sea is open are the longest in the summer--9 AM to 7 PM. If the Smokies are on your itinerary this year, you might want to take a little detour.