Lookout Mountain Caverns (Lookout Mountain Cave, or Lower Cave) is the second-longest known cave in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Its mapped length of 2.481 miles (3.993 kilometers) places it at 361st on the United States Long Caves List. Unofficially, anecdotal reports of cave expeditions have exceed 12 miles with legends exceeding 82 miles. The cave is closed and public access is forbidden. Entrance The Lookout Mountain Cave entrance was at the base of Lookout Mountain along the Tennessee River at Moccasin Bend. The original opening was natural unlike manmade access to Ruby Falls. The opening is visible from "right-of-way boundaries" of the Railway and Interstate 24, although it is widely considered to be sealed inside the tunnel. Despite the closure, the cave is bisected by a tunnel on a second railroad just south of the main entrance forcing one to emerge on the railway inside the tunnel and then accessing the rest of the cave from there. Officially the cave is closed, therefore accessing the cave is regarded as illegal trespassing. A 400-ft elevator shaft was built in 1928/1929, but it was closed and sealed in 2005. Legend tells of an entrance at Noccalula Falls Park in Gadsden, Alabama (near that state's Lookout Mountain) about 82 miles away from Lookout Mountain. The entrance may have been closed in 1870 by dynamite due to moonshining, the legend has received significant attention by geologists and others. Attractions Several miles of the lower cave is mapped and developed with wooden steps and lighting. Rock Formations Mystic Cove Solomon's Temple Devil's Seat the Oriental Palace the Winding Serpentine Trail The cave floor contains 13 square stone boxes. The history of the boxes are unknown and have been speculated to have been involved in either Masonic or Ku Klux Klan meetings. Moonshiners and outlaws also utilized the cave. History Prehistory The cave is estimated to be 240 million years old. A 2005 expedition in Lookout Mountain Cave identified bones that dated back to the last ice age (Pleistocene). A 1992 expedition found three jaguar skeletons, and in 1982 other animal remains were found and transferred to the Louisville Museum of Natural History. 1800s The cave served as a campsite for the indigenous Native Americans. David S. Butrick from the Brainerd Mission, established in 1817, was the first to document visiting the lower cave in 1823. Lookout Mountain Cave was owned by Robert Cravens during the American