Tickets provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Chattanooga peeps, I need to tell you something, local to local: you are under-selling Ruby Falls! I have lived here 4 1/2 years and until last week, my family had never journeyed the 3 miles (seriously…that’s it) from our house to Ruby Falls. In our defense, part of the reason is because we were waiting to have visitors from out of town who really wanted to go. But the other reason? Because more than one person locally had said, “It’s just a waterfall. A pretty one, but just a waterfall.”

You guys. DO NOT BELIEVE THESE LIES!!!! I’m sure local folks were well-meaning, but they were so very, very wrong. Maybe they’ve been to Ruby Falls over a dozen times and the beauty of it is just starting to get lost on them? I honestly have no idea. But in a way, I’m really glad that I had low expectations because I was completely dazzled by the tour (which lasts a bit over an hour…yes, there’s that much to see!).

You begin your journey about 260 feet below ground and you make a very easy 1/2 mile walk through seemingly endless beauty and wonder. These formations are older than you can possibly even fathom (the oldest formation has been dated back 500 million years!). Everywhere you look you see things that are breathtaking and so very unique. There are dozens of formations that get special recognition because they look like things we might recognize above ground (a beehive, an elephant’s foot, or even bacon!).

My only complaint about the tour was that it went so fast! I had to zip past so many things that I would have loved to have stopped to admire for a longer period of time. Can you blame me? Look at this awesomeness!

Alas, we had to stay on the move for most of the trip, as we were walking a half a mile into the mountain so that we could see the most incredible part of an already amazing cave: Ruby Falls. And here we did get to pause for quite a stretch of time and simply take it in. This picture below is a bit blurry due to the low lighting conditions, but it perfectly captures how you might feel when you see the falls.

It was a sight unlike anything I’ve ever seen underground, that’s for sure. Just look!!!

It’s grand, friends. And it’s worth the trip all by itself. But you need to realize that a trip to Ruby Falls is so much more than a waterfall. And after seeing it once, I can tell you for certain that once is not enough. There’s so much to see, and what there is to see is so very special that it should be seen more than once. I know we’ll be back!

If you have never been to Ruby Falls, whether you like a few miles away from it like me or on the other side of the world, I vote that you put it on your bucket list. And if you’ve been before, make arrangements to go again. I’ll bet you see something you never noticed before!

And while you are on Lookout Mountain, you might consider checking out another famous attraction: Rock City. Check out my review so you can see what it’s like to visit with young kids!

Have you been to Ruby Falls? Tell me all about your trip!