Raccoon Mountain Caverns Reviews

Good tour for a family. If you have trouble walking this isn’t for you. There are some slippery spots, wet steps and many low spots where you have to duck.

Tour guide was informative. It is less commercialized than Ruby Falls and more rustic. I enjoyed the cave and the tour. I would recommend to others.

We had a great tour. Corey was full of information, bad jokes, and careful instructions to make sure we were safe. We saw crickets, a spider, bats, and a salamander. We only did the short tour, but Corey explained the Wild Expedition, I think it wouldn't have been nearly as daunting as it appeared on the website.
Our group of four was the only one scheduled for 2, and when we arrived at 1, Corey took us right away. It was a pleasure to be in a small group and not feel engulfed by other tourists.
Great fun and educational!

By far one of the best cave tours, Ive ever had. The tour guide clearly knew a lot about the cave and loved showing it to others. After this experience want to come back and do the crawling tour.

Me and my girlfriend Rhonda went there for the day. I have been going gor 50 years. I ate at cheddar restaurant. It is a chain but incredibly good. We shopped at some antique shops and enjoyed the day. It was very cold but we enjoy riding and looking at the mountains. If you have never been or seldom seen try a weekend. Stop at the rest area and get some booklets. Enjoy one of my favorite places. Raccoon cavern is fun but we decided to explore the mountains around it.

We were staying at the nearby campground and walked over to see what the tour offered. Landon was our guide and is EXCELLENT! Very knowledgeable and spoke clearly and not like other guides that just speak as quickly as they can like they've memorized a script. If you're in the area, this is worth the visit. Took about an hour. We enjoyed it very much.

Beautiful, natural cave. Our tour guide Juda was awesome. Very knowledgeable with a great sense of humor. Definitely a must see if you are in the area :)

A must do when in the area! Our tour guide Will was exceptional. Very informative tour. It is easy walking but you do have to bend over a few times if you are taller.

We had such an amazing tour experience with Rachel! We had the first tour of the morning and ended up being the only ones on the tour. It was such a fun experience because Rachel was knowledgeable and shared so many fun stories of how the caverns came to be. It was a very easy walking tour and we saw some great sights! I would highly recommend this tour!

This cavern was really cool. We went on day it was raining so the inside was wet and slipper. Very natural habitat. Be prepared to get wet if it is raining outside.

Did the canyon crawling tour with my wife and Lilith, our tour guide. Lilith was great, and the caverns are a lot of fun. You get to crawl through challenging gaps and crevices!

We went on the canyon crawl, and it was AMAZING!!! Our guide Jack was knowledgeable and patient with me(I'm scared of a lot of things so I was slow). The cave is magnificent! There is so much to see and experience! We want to go back and do another adventure someday!

You will absolutely get dirty and want to wear clothes that you're comfortable to move around in. Totally worth it!!!

Very good tour. Our guide Tristan was very personable and related a lot of information about the cave, it's history and much of it owing to Leo Lambert, who found and built out Ruby Falls Cave. We had a fairly small group, 10 total, made up of 4 groups. Having seen Ruby Falls first was a plus since he was very involved with this cave, we knew who Tristan was talking about.

My family thoroughly enjoyed our tour today. Landon was a very passionate and extremely educated tour guide, clearly not simply memorizing a script. My claustrophobic wife felt very comfortable throughout the tour. There were no elevators to ride or passing tour groups along the way. I am so glad we chose Raccoon Caverns to visit.

Visited on a rainy Friday afternoon. Probably because of the weather and school was in session, I walked up and got a ticket. I really liked our tour guide as he took his knowledge of studying archeology at the local university (along with being in the ROTC and National Guard) and applied the knowledge to the features of the cave. He also managed to stretch a typical 45-55 minute tour to an hour, fifteen minutes, getting more for your buck. Would recommend.

A bit of advice if headed to Raccoon Caverns. I-24 east is typically backed up west of Chattanooga, if coming from Huntsville or Nashville, getting off at Exit 161 at Nickajack Lake instead of the advertised Exit 174 gets you to Raccoon Caverns and is a more scenic alternative to being stuck in traffic on the interstate.

A different view of the caves than Ruby Falls, which are all the same cave system. Group was smaller, which we enjoy more. Was able to see some wild life and Diana was a great guide

It is a fairly short, suitable for everyone cave tour. We enjoyed it - nothing spectacular. The guide was fairly knowledgeable and was quit to point out tiny insect life that I would not have seen otherwise. It's brief.

Totally worth it !! Been to many caves and caverns. And we all really enjoyed these ones . Did not feel rushed , nor did it move too slow. Very comfortable pace. With kids and a senior. Pictures don't do it justice...

The caves are beautiful and Landon was a good guide. They decorated the cave with Christmas inflatables which was cute in the beginning but took away from the beauty of the cave and formations. Wish there weren’t so many.

My mother and I came to Chattanooga for a few days, and we are SO glad we came on this tour! Judah was our tour guide - he was hilarious and very knowledgeable about the cavern and it’s history. Bring a jacket, it’s a chilly 58 degrees inside the cavern. The front office has an adorable and very loving resident kitty named Tippy.

Very easy to find and totally worth the time. 10/10 recommend!

(Keep an eye out for the cave frogs 🐸😉)

We toured the cave with a small group which was nice. The cave is pretty with lots of natural formations. Our guide was good and gave us lots of information about the cave.

We typically go to Ruby Falls and decided to try this hidden gem. It was an amazing activity for all ages. Small group guided tours with so much to see. Ava was out guide and did a phenomenal job! Highly recommend!

Some friends and I did their "Crystal Palace Tour" on a whim while in Chattanooga for a weekend. When booking it on the phone I mentioned to the employee that we were also thinking of visiting Ruby Falls. He said "I'll tell you a secret, we're better". That was a serious understatement. If you're visiting the area and want to do a cave tour, do yourself a favor and head to Raccoon Mountain.

They told us before we arrived how seriously they were taking COVID precautions, which we seriously appreciated. Upon arrival we quickly realized we were the only people on our particular tour (they top out at 10, so we wouldn't have been surrounded by people regardless). Our tour guide, Cheyenne, was one of the best guides I've had for any tour. She is insanely qualified, with backgrounds in geology and biology, as well as personable and fun to talk to. We learned a ton, saw some critters, and left extremely satisfied. I'd love to return and do one of their deeper dive tours when it's safe to lift their precautions.

We have taken tours all over the US and overseas and this was the worse tour ever! The guide talked a lot about her experiences trying to be funny but it wasn't very interesting. Also the groups are too large for the cave paths so those in the back missed out at seeing what the guide was pointing out. It was $50 for 2 and not worth it. Save your money!

We didn't care for the tour or the tour guide. We don't recommend this place. Signage was poor. Service was poor. You know almost as soon as you arrive that it's terrible.

The Christmas lights and pop-ups interfered and distracted from the geological wonders of the cavern. Photography was a challenge due to the Christmas decorations and it was difficult to determine if the cave was normally lit for tours.

The caverns are amazing. Exceptional tour with an actual geologist, Landon, who is able to share knowledge of the formation of the caves, the history, and even the wildlife. His enthusiasm is contagious. Everyone was excited to learn more. The caverns are quite pristine. You can expect a small tour group so everyone can get their questions answered and you can hear the guide. You will not feel rushed through. It was very interesting. We would love to return and try the spelunking tour when it reopens. Highly recommend this tour. Great for the whole family.

Zach was our tour guide and was great. The structures themselves are very interesting, but Zach’s knowledge of geology really brought things up a level.

In the words of Zach, our experience was definitely “pretty cool”!

This was a super fun cave experience! You should ask for Lisa, she was full of great knowledge and made it fun for our kids. There were some lighting issues, she made sure we were all safe and had a great time! This cave is really unique and not as "tourist-trappy" as some of the other cave systems around - it even has a campground and some beautiful walking trails! Would highly recommend! We will come back to do a "Wild Cave Tour" this summer!

We took our grandchildren on the walking tour into the cavern. (ages 7-11). Tim, our guide, did an amazing job of explaining the history of the cave, the animals living there and all of the features. Afterwards we let the children do the gem mining. It was a great adventure.

Excellent tour with Lileth! Did the Canyon Crawl with college aged daughter. Highly recommended if you can do a gym class. I think you need some body strength. So fun! Bring a change of clothes for afterwards.

Eric was a wonderful guide and very knowledgeable . Would definitely recommend . Well worth the money .

Raccoon Mountain Caverns definitely needs to be added to your itinerary when visiting Chattanooga. Our guide, Kyland was super knowledgeable and helped make our cave experience even better. We can't wait for the Wild Tour to open back up so we can explore more!

Was a gem of a tour! Small group. Tour guide gave a lot of good information and had a sense of humor. Would recommend. Staying in campground- nice and clean.

Great tour by Landon (or Brandon) can't remember. He was very informative. I was worried about being claustrophobic but I was not at all. There is a walk way, steps, and handrails so it was all pretty safe. This is a must see! We stayed at the RV park next door and that was great too!

What a great experience! My kids were unenthusiastic about another cave tour after Ruby Falls the day before, but as soon as we came out of this one, both were excitedly talking about how much better and more fun this tour was. Our tour guide Kyland was so friendly and engaging, and really knowledgeable about what we were seeing. The cave was beautiful and my son wants to come back another time and go on the wild cave tour to explore further in to the depths. The gift show has some cool items and we were able to buy the gem mining/arrowhead discovery bags to take home with us. All in all, I see why this is a top rated attraction and recommend it to everyone visiting Chattanooga!

PS: they are also working hard to be Covid safe, which I appreciate.

I was disappointed that there were Christmas lights & decorations throughout the cavern. It was difficult to see the natural beauty of the cavern & I couldn’t help but wonder how these 24/7 lights were impacting the salamanders & fragile ecosystem in general. Is this responsible stewardship?

We had some free time before we could check into our hotel and I saw this on Trip Advisor so called and was able to make a Reservation for 2 at 2:00. There was another couple with a young son also. The child was very engaged and well behaved and I wanted to compliment his parents at the end of the tour but didn’t catch them before they left. Landon handled all of our questions and was informative as a geology graduate and he was really good with the little boy also. We enjoyed it very much.

GREAT tour! Affordable, entertaining, and authentic. Our guide, Ava, was so knowledgeable and also funny which made a great balance. The walking wasn't too much or too hard. A little slippery in spots but Ava was great to warn us of any low hanging objects or slippery spots. Definitely worth the stop!

5 Star- highly recommend. Darius was an excellent, knowledgeable tour guide which made the cave experience outstanding for our family of 6 (all adults). Amazing natural geological structures and history. Worth a visit!!!

Raccoon Mountain Caverns is such a hidden gem! The Crystal Palace Cave Tour was so much fun! I took an extracurricular outdoor club of students and they had a blast. Bonus - the cave was decorated for Christmas which made the experience even more special and fun! The staff were all super friendly and accommodating, and they are even in touch with Mr. Grinch himself! ;) We will definitely be visiting again next year. I would recommend this to anyone, but especially school groups and families. It was very educational as well! We had a GREAT time!

This is a comforting and calming piece of Mother Earth. Well kept property, the cutest cabins, and staff were great. Cavern itself is an amazing sight to behold. It was a moist time inside which allows for growth, was a shiny like milky color, so awesome. Patrick was our
guide, he is a true personality, couldn't imagine anyone else to have been more taking through such lovely scenery. Thanks Patrick.

It is a amazing that you walk through a normal door and you are already deep under the mountain in a cool cave. Plenty of stalactites and stalagmites, with a pleasant low key explanation of the caves and the formations.

My husband and I experienced the Raccoon Mountain Cave tour in April 2023. Our guide was excellent as he showed a genuine interest in the subject matter he was showing us. You could tell that he truly did care about the cave that he was showing us. We did not feel hurried and he took time to determine our interests. The guide had a great sense of humor as well. We did another cave tour during our stay but this tour was by far our favorite due to all the information and stories provided. In the other cave tour, which I paid more, I felt like a kindergartner being led in a lunch line with minimal information to peak my interest.

LOVED this cave tour! I debated between this one and Ruby Falls, which is the bigger more popular option. In the end I’m so glad we went with Racoon Cavern! It was a small group tour and until the very end when another tour started we were the only ones in the cave, which was ideal. Rachel our guide was excellent! She was super knowledgeable while still keeping it fun and interesting for even my 6 year old. The cave was beautiful and very cool to explore. Other employees we encountered were very helpful and friends, and we enjoyed letting our son do gemstone mining befire out tour. Highly recommend! :)

This was a fun cavern tour. We have a 13 year old and 10 year old and both had a good time. The tour guide explained all the formations, took group photos, and didn't rush us through. It's not an over commercialized tour that begins and ends in a gift shop. Overall, a great experience!

My husband and I camped at Raccoon Mountain RV Park, and enjoyed seeing the cave at Raccoon Mountain. The guide was friendly and knowledgeable. It is a beautiful cave that has been kept as natural as possible. Recommend if in the area of Chattanooga.

The 2 hour cave crawl was one of the team building experiences on our company trip. I have been to several caves, and this one was by far the best and most exciting one. Crawling through small openings and "exploring" the cave with our guide was awesome. Of note, this is not for claustrophobic individuals, as some of the holes are so small that some people can get stuck (one person in the group in front of us did, but was able to wiggle his way out backwards). Overall we had a fantastic time and I can highly recommend it. I think they also offer a walking tour that is probably fine for all sizes and shapes.

We enjoyed seeing something that you never get to see in real life. The formations are so interesting. It felt like being on another planet. Our guide was great and very knowledgeable, but the “science” and the talking got a little long winded at times. Overall, it was a good experience, and I’m glad we got to experience a cave up close and personal. My kids are teenagers, so they were fine, but it’s probably not the best place for little children. The family that was with us had small children, and they were scared.

Very cool! Hannah our guide, was extremely knowledgeable and quick witted! Enjoyed the entire tour of the cave. Would definitely go gain!

I’m a homeschool parent, and I brought my kids for a tour. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing and very knowledgeable on caves. I believe his name was Kevin Dean, (the one with the beautiful long hair.)

We had a wonderful time and learned quite a lot. I expect we will visit again in the future. Kids also had a blast panning for gemstones. The staff was all super friendly and welcoming. Great place for little learners and adults alike. I wish I could live in the cave it’s so beautiful lol.

My teen daughter and I stopped by raccoon cavern on a road trip and absolutely loved it! We did the Crystal Palace Tour and our guide Lilith was amazing. She was so funny, extremely knowledgeable about the cave minerals, formations, and critters making this experience top notch.

We chose this cave over the more widely known sister cave after comparing reviews about experiences both places. This was exactly what I’d hoped for! We were a small group of 11 (max is 12 on the website) and had the cave to ourselves as we explored for about an hour. Loved this experience and hope to go back in the future for a longer crawl tour. I’d highly recommend ignoring the road signs for the other cave and head straight here instead! So glad we did!

Beautiful cave and amazing tour guy! Loved the experience ❤️ My husband and I were looking for something to do in the area and they were close from the highway. It is an impressive cave.

Landon was our guide. He was knowledgeable (geologist schooling) and ran a nicely paced and educational tour. Unlike Ruby Falls (see my review), these caverns haven’t been damaged. The tour group was small (about 10), and you gained knowledge about formations and history.

When we went, they were just coming out of Covid restrictions so the tour was limited to one area, mostly a large room and the surrounding passageways. It would be interesting to check out other areas when they open. Covid protocols were mask optional for vaccinated people and encouraged, but not mandated for others. Spacing wasn’t as confined and crowded as Ruby.

Parking was free and you get a discount if you stay in the adjacent campground, which was nice.

Landon was a great tour guide! He was very informative and definitely knew his geology. There weren’t any really tight places that made you feel claustrophobic so it was comfortable. I would suggest good walking shoes since the ground is uneven and wet in places. Less people to deal with than Ruby Falls so way more enjoyable.

This is an easy and fun cave tour. Well lit, clear air and sporting some really interesting formations. We learned a lot and our tour guide (Kevin) was knowledgeable and entertaining. The tour is roughly an hour or so and is slow paced and educational.

Zachary was our tour guide and was very knowledgeable of the cavern and its history. Presented it very well. We will recommend to others.

IF you've never done caverns, or if you have kids, this isn't bad. It's 58 degrees inside the cavern year-round.
Our guide was excellent and provided good information that he tailored to the group. We had 3 grandkids with us from age 6-14 and they found it very interesting.
It's a little pricy for the 50 minute guided tour, but enjoyable.

Our tour guide, Ava, shows a great passion for the cave and other aspects of geology. She went into great detail about different types of formations, how they’re formed, and always had great answers. We learned a lot about the cave and look forward to returning for a longer tour!

This place is a wonderful treasure in the hills of Chattanooga. It’s an easy, relaxing walk with a small group. Landon, our guide, was personable and engaging, funny and truly excited to share the amazing sights inside the cavern. He was knowledgeable and engaged- even genuinely fielding all of my 7 year old’s questions.

My suggestion is to bring a flashlight. Young children may need some warm layers.

We only had 24 hours to spend in Chattanooga. I’m so glad we chose this as one of the things we wanted to spend time at.

This is a great small tour of the caverns located right at Raccoon Mt campground. Eric was very informative and learned a lot. Great caverns beautiful and easy for a family. A must see if in the area.

My 3 children (10, 14 and 15 years) and I visited Raccoon Mountain Caverns today for the first time. We loved it! Tristen was our trail guide and he was just great. Not only was he highly entertaining but his knowledge of the history of the caverns was impressive. This evening my kids were telling someone about our trip and I was amazed at the details they remembered from the tour. I recommend this attraction if you want something not too pricey and family friendly.

Definitely recommend, especially if you're going on one of the tours with guide Judah. He wasn't only thorough and informative, but he also made it fun. 10 out of 10 in my book!

We didn’t know what to expect, so we were very pleased with our one hour cave tour. Scooter was very informative and made the tour fun…the cave is beautiful and we enjoyed it immensely!

Kevin Dean did a wonderful job; funny and informative. Smaller tour groups gave it a personal feel. Highly recommended!

Landon was a great guide! Very knowledgeable and friendly. He answered all of our questions and helped us take some breath taking photos.The cave was beautiful and left in an almost untouched/natural state. It seemed not as touristy which was very refreshing! Be sure to wear shoes with some grip like tennis shoes. We had a blast and cannot wait for the cave adventures to open back up!

This was an awesome cave experience!!! My family enjoyed it very much. Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We also did the gem mining which my kids loved!!

What an awesome place to see. My husband, brother, and I were the only people on our tour. The guide Judah was awesome. He had a lot of knowledge and even showed us some of the cave dwelling critters he had seen earlier in the day. It was a great time. Next time we're there we are going cave exploring. Thank you Racoon Mountain and Judah for an amazing experience.

It was quite a cool experience! Hannah was a wonderful tour guide who had many interesting stories and made the journey a ton of fun. It was not a difficult trip and is good for all ages. The caves themselves have beautiful formations and neat creatures like salamanders. I highly recommend this place.

This is a small but impressive living cave. Our guide Tommy was so enthusiastic and interesting. He was always willing to answer a question and shine his light again on a formation for us to take a picture. There are some “critters” like salamanders that we saw because it is a natural entrance cave.
If you are in the area, tour it! Only takes an hour or so.

We visited with our 5-year-old grandchild, and we all had a great time. Our guide was super cool and found small creatures to show the kids. For the adults, she provided interesting information about the history and science of the cave. The cave lighting is well done to provide visual intrigue. Highly recommend this tour. Book in advance if you can. We had to wait 90 minutes to get an open tour.

My husband and I went here with our 6 & 8 year olds - our guide was not only knowledgeable but made it a great experience for all of us. There was just one other couple on our tour today. They were careful to observe COVID-19 restrictions which I appreciated. We really enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it! It was a perfect length for our kids too (about an hour).

Jordy was very knowledgeable and witty. He made our experience very worthwhile. The caverns we filled with various types of life both breathing and growing - stalagmites and stalagmites; ribbon or curtain formations; bacteria, salamanders, crickets, a crystal cavern spider that is not found anywhere else in the world and pools filled with manganese. The caverns were at the entrance to the RV park we stayed at. I would highly recommend it as well.

We had such a fun adventure touring the caverns! Ally was a fabulous guide - agile, knowledgeable, and adventurous - and we had so much fun crawling, climbing, and squeezing through the cavern. We got muddy for sure, but it was totally worth it!!!

Eric was such a great tour guide! This is a hidden gem off the beaten path. We were in a small group of 4 on our tour. We saw crickets and cave salamanders up close in addition to many formations. We ended up visiting Ruby Falls after our time at Raccoon Mountain and if you can only choose one…I’d choose Raccoon Mountain every time for the very authentic and natural experience. We hope to come back for the crawling tour next time!

Amazing! A must see if you visit Chattanooga. Rachel, our tour guide, was great. We learned a lot about the history and formation of the cave from her. Definitely a 5 star experience!

This was a great tour. We did Ruby Falls the next day and this is so much better! Tristan our tour guide was funny and informative yes

If you’re cave-atating between booking this tour or not, DO IT. This isn’t one of those walk-in, take-a-pic, and leave kinda deals. This is the real, muddy, scrambly, heart-thumpy caving experience. You're not just seeing the underground world... you’re climbing into it, crawling through it, and emerging from it feeling like a part-time geologist, part-time action hero.

But the real gem of the tour? Maria.
Equal parts hype woman, safety ninja, and underground comedian, she kept our small group of 9 feeling confident and calm the whole time... even when we were contorting our bodies into shapes we didn’t know we had. Her energy was infectious (in the best way), and her ability to read the room -er, cave- meant everyone felt supported, no matter their comfort level.

Also, her puns were almost as solid as the limestone we were climbing through. Almost. Maria’s a pretty spelunky gal, and we mean that in the highest praise possible.

Whether you’re new to caving or just looking for a tour that doesn’t treat you like a tourist, this is it. We left with dirty clothes, sore muscles, and big grins :) and we’d do it again in a heartbeat.
Thanks, Maria, for the rock-solid memories!

So. Good. We weren’t sure we needed to do another cavern tour since we had done Ruby Falls (and weren’t impressed); we were all SO glad we did. We have actually been on many cavern tours and all agreed this was by far the best. Easy walking and SUPER informative but not boring at all. You get to see rock formations, critters, and fossils. Both adults and kids (8 and 10) loved it! Also, love that they keep the groups small, so you really get to see/hear everything and can ask lots of questions.

Nice surprise..great tour! Ava was a great tour guide...she was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about this cave system.

Most amazing experience! Judah was out tour guide and he was knowledgeable as well as funny. My son loved his puns and all the sculptures he pointed out in the cave. He also made sure my 4 year old could see a salamander. He was so full of interesting facts about the cave. My only wish was that it was longer! Definitely better than Ruby Falls. Such a hidden gem!!

Great history around this cave. This is the second time I’ve taken this tour and it did not disappoint. There are live active formations and they do a great job explaining everything about caves. Tristan was our tour guide. Not only was he informative but was also hilarious. The entire family really enjoyed the 45 minute walking tour. We would consider the wild cave tour next time. The gift shop is small, this is a no frills operation. But it’s well worth it.

We enjoyed both the RV park and the cavern tour. Tristan was our cave guide. He was informative and cracked a few jokes which made the tour enjoyable. The cave was a lot bigger and more impressive than I had expected. The 45 minute tour seemed to fly by, but was just enough for my young children's patience.

Lilith was so cool tbh, I just saw me as a person in her.

The cave was amazing! (I knew ruby was a fraud >:<)

The cats were friendly too. ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

My friend and I were in the area for vacation and found Racoon Mountain Caverns in a google search. We called ahead to schedule a tour and found out we were the only ones for the time we selected. Landon was a wonderful tour guide and pointed out the cave life (mostly salamanders) and fossils throughout our tour. He answered all our questions and joked around with us. I would highly recommend visiting these caverns and having Landon as a guide would be a great bonus!

Raccoon Mountain tour was better than Ruby Falls. Jordy was an awesome tour guy and handled the adults and kids well. It was a much smaller group than Ruby Falls and really felt submerged in the cave. Tour was approx 45 minutes, parking right next to the cave entrance. Really enjoyed it! My husband definitely wants to do the more involved tour when they allow for it again.

We are so happy with our stay. Enjoyed the day relaxing by the creek in our hammocks. By lunch time we went on a beautiful trip through the cavern and hannah was a wonderful tour guide, very knowledgeable and nice. Patient with taking questions and showed excitement with her answers. All around give this place two thumbs up and recommend staying a night

We decided to do this instead of Ruby Falls and are so glad we did. We ended having a private tour because we were the only ones. Emily did a great job and everyone was very friendly. We saw a lot of salamanders as well as some fossils and a bat. We also saw a lot of cave formations. The price was about $35 per person with tax.The tour we did had no falls but other then that we really enjoyed it.

We had a wonderful cave tour experience. Our tour guide, Judah, was very knowledgeable. We enjoyed learning all about Raccoon Mountain Cavern! Thank you!

Darius was our tour guide and his knowledge of the cave and the cave eco-system was amazing. Would highly recommend it for families visiting in the area.

Landon is an amazing tour guide and so knowledgeable and friendly! My husband and I will definitely come back, and bring friends, just to learn more from Landon!

What a fantastic tour of a beautiful cave! Kylend was a fantastic guide and had so much knowledge of the cave, the history, and all the formations. He explained the various formations in a way that we could all understand (our five year old was excitedly pointing out pillars by the end of the tour). He even made sure my 6'7" tall husband didn't hit his head once.

We were very glad we took this tour before visiting Ruby Falls so we could enjoy the features we were whisked by in there (the Ruby Falls guides will not take time to educate you on the formations at all).

I highly recommend booking this tour!

So cool! This cavern was an excellent way to spend our last morning in Chattanooga! Great experience. Our tour guide, Ava, was fantastic! Super knowledgeable and very entertaining! Excellent with our kiddos! You can walk right into this cavern…no elevator! That was what drew us to this particular attraction, and we were not disappointed!!!

We visited here in October where, I assume due to Covid, they were limiting reservations. They were also offering a lantern light tour, which was the only one available at the time we booked so we didn't really have another choice if we wanted to see this.
Our tour guide was very good and informative and really enjoyed his job. We didn't like the lantern light aspect of it because other than when the guide used his light, you couldn't see anything (our lights were just these little LED's that really only lit what was directly in front of you). It was meant to add to the experience and make it feel more haunted (being close to Halloween) but I feel like we missed out on seeing what the caverns really looked like since the lighting was so limited.
If we visited again, we would want to do the 'normal' cavern tour.

Tristan was AMAZING! We visited the caverns 2 years ago and came back again with family for our annual vaca to Chatt and loved it even more! The tour is informative and beautiful and HILARIOUS! The tour guides are incredibly knowledgeable and add their own flair to each experience. We love Raccoon Mountain Caverns and will choose them over Ruby Falls every time!

I have been to close to a dozen caves in my days, more so when I was a kid. It’s shocking how many of those same caves have become shockingly commercialized over the years. Equally as shocking is the inexperience and lackadaisical approach many of the young staffers offer while conducting the tours. With that said, having learned of an adjacent cavern tour to the campground we are staying, I thought “well, this’ll be a good way to pass some time”. Enter from stage left, Hannah. I thought “here we go again”. I was shocked at the expertise and care she showed my family and guests during the tour. Shockingly knowledgeable, shockingly outgoing and shockingly entertaining. She knew about each formation, pointed out many obelisk-like formations, which happen to be the favorite amongst my group, and even shockingly allowed us to point out some other formations that hadn’t been named as of yet. Definitely shocked at the shockingly fabulous time we had. Visit this place, ask for Hannah and ask her about the special formation that shocked us all!

The adventure was fascinating. Never knew what to expect. That was my first experience with that type of cave exploration.

This was the BEST cave adventure! Our guide Patrick was so friendly and knowledgeable about the cave and surrounding area. It was beautiful inside and I loved the smaller group number! One way in and 1 way out of the cave was great! I would recommend this adventure!

We had a very enjoyable tour of Raccoon Mountain Caverns. It is a beautiful cavern with an interesting history. It is surprisingly untouched with a number of quite impressive geological formations. Our guide, Tristen, was knowledgeable and entertaining.

We did the Waterfall Dome adventure Erik, the guide did an awesome job. Offering us challenges and pointing out things along the way. He offered easier routes as well but nobody in the out group took the easy way out since we were all there for the adventure

Kylend, our tour guide, was great! He was very knowledgeable on caves and very friendly. Awesome cave, we plan to come back when they open back up the deeper tours! Thanks!

Just had a great tour with Hannah. She was very informative and it was clear she has a patient for sharing her knowledge of these caves. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the cave. It was a wonderful opportunity for our 8 year old to learn more about caves and their formation!!’

Patrick is not a professionally, educated geologist nor slick tour guide. Yet, he is perhaps more knowledgeable, passionate, and interesting about caves and specifically the Racoon Mountain Cavern than trained experts. My wife and I enjoyed this personal tour immensely. (PS, I must have been on the same tour as "Redbird" who recently posted a review).

Rachel did an amazing job guiding us through the tour! Definitely money well spent, it didn’t feel rushed at all. It was neat to learn the history about the caverns and information on the formations.

I was so impressed by Emily, our cave guide. She was knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. The cave was beautiful and I enjoyed how personal the tour was compared to the Ruby Falls tour. There was also a bat sleeping on the cave wall, so cool!

If you’ve been to a cave before this is no different. I like that it was only 4 of us in a group. They will take no more than 12 at a time which is good. The bigger the group the harder to hear and perhaps to maneuver. Tristian was a good tore guide. I thought it was a bit pricey but what isn’t in Chattanooga.🙄 Thank God parking was free! I had a light jacket but wasn’t too cold. There will be some dark moments if you or someone is afraid of the dark. A few spots to duck down so if you’re close to 6 feet be prepared.☺️ Wear comfortable shoes that you don’t mind getting a little dirty. Certain areas were a little wet. If you have trouble walking, climbing steps or standing for long periods of time this is not for you. Only one restroom available in the check in trailer. I guess that’s about all.

Pretty cool place to visit while in Chattanooga! Tour through the cave with a guide. All paths are lit up for easy walking. A must see during your stay! They also gave us a first responder discount which was appreciated.

Quite impressive and very informative guide
it’s a must see and stay it’s pretty cool
OK if it’s 50° do you need a sweatshirt if you’re adventurous you can go for longer tours on your belly through various channels of the cave it’s been around forever there’s tons of salamanders spiders baths crickets it’s a pretty big cave it’s a must see

It was a very nice tour with a great guide who knew her stuff! A bit of sticker shock since the price I was online was $14.95 per adult but it was actually $25..08 per adult (which includes tax). Still, worthwhile to walk through this part of the cavern!

Very good cavern and tour. Not fake or commercialized like other close by. Guide staff were very knowledgeable and super great personality.

This was so much fun! We chose this one over Ruby Falls because it’s a lot less touristy and is still very much a “live” cave. We have two teenagers and they loved it, which is really saying something. Ally was a fantastic guide! She really knows her stuff and clearly loves giving these tours. The cave itself was already a neat experience, but she really made it come to life! We would highly recommend it!

My family of twin 10 year olds, 4.5 year old, my 72 year old dad (who is 6 months out from being cancer free but a little hobbled), 68 year old mom, my husband and myself took this tour today. My parents didnt have much for expectations but my kids were excited to see a cave for the first time…and we we were ALL so impressed.

Will was our guide and I think he was a huge reason we had such a fun time. He was so knowledgeable about the history, the eco system, the formations and had a ton of fun jokes that had us laughing the whole time. We left having had a fun time, being amazed, taking a few awesome photos (with no flash of course) and learning a ton of interesting stuff.

This is highly recommended. We made some great memories!!

Loved the caverns! Had a teen and 3 7 year olds who loved it! Ended up in a private tour because we went early. Guides are great. So much to see that is awe inspiring. I've been into many caverns and it never gets old.

Amazing stalactites and real spelunking experience with an incredibly knowledgeable guide who knew how to put safety first, while keeping it fun.

Real spelunking, lots of squeezes and stalactites everywhere.

Incredible waterfall!

Everything was exceptional. Our tour guide, Landon, was extremely knowledgeable and informative on the features and fossils of the cave and was very friendly, offering help with pictures. He definitely made it as fun as it could be. We enjoyed ourselves and found everything we wanted from a local cave tour!

Maria was our tour guide. She was very friendly and helped spot many of the highlights of the tour. It was a great tour for a hot day since the temperature was about 60 degrees in the cavern! Definitely worth the trip!

This tour is the best cave tour in Chattanooga. Trust me, choose this instead of Ruby Falls.

First of all, the tour size was perfect during the pandemic. There was about ten of us (versus Ruby Falls’ whopping 24) which made it so easy to move around the cave, take pictures, and enjoy the beauty.

Our tour guide Camille was very knowledgeable and personable! She is a geology student and she shared a lot of cool information about the cave.

This tour was educational, fun, and super cool. There is also a lot of respect/enforcement of cave rules. This cave is beautifully naturally preserved.

There are some cave cats that roam around outside. I got to pet a cat, that’s always a plus.

The gift shop has crystals and stones for rock lovers.

10/10 would recommend.

This was an amazing tour! Hannah was the shockingly greatest tour guide. She showed us the most amazing natural rock formations. I give her no less than 7 shockers out of 7.

We stopped for a tour on our way to Florida. Our guide Zachary was outstanding. He was knowledgeable and friendly and eager to answer our many questions.

If only doing one cavern tour in Chattanooga area, all 4 in our family recommend this over Ruby Falls, though the falls there are fantastic. This has more the feel of a cave, and with the smaller tour group is much more intimate, and we learned more about caves here than at Ruby Falls.

I do not recall the name of our tour guide, but he was very patient with questions and very knowledgeable of caves and the history of these caves. Highly recommend.

I am writing this specifically for the Wild Cave Canyon Crawl Tour. Just want to be clear since a lot of these reviews are for the walking tour.

Canyon Crawl was an amazing 2 hour experience with my 2 teenage daughters. They were a little anxious about the tour but ended up having the best time. They truly loved it. You crawl, climb, slide and slither thru areas that you don't think you can...but you can...it was amazing. Our guide, Emily, was fantastic and helped my daughters thru some tight spots and I could see their confidence grow the deeper we went into the cave system.

Note (because I see a bunch of conflicting reviews): The Canyon Crawl is perfect for novices. It will challenge you but it's not going to break you. You are not crawling thru waist high water or looking down at a 35ft drop. It is fun if you listen to instructions and just enjoy yourself. I am 53 and my kids are both 14 and we had a blast. Now that we have completed this tour, we can't wait to get back (once they are a little taller) to do the 3.5hr tour to go deeper into the cave.

Tip...wear sturdy long pants (or leggings) and a long sleeve shirt. They supply everything else. Also, leave your phone in the car or in the locker with the guide. You can leave your car key in the check in / gift shop. You'll be moving the whole time and it's best not to have to worry about taking pics or losing your phone (Emily was kind enough to take a great pic of us in the cavern with her phone and text it to us afterwards).

I would say this is one of the best parent/children experiences you could have if you're in the Chattanooga area.

Exceptional tour led by Kevin Dean. He was informative, funny and provided great insite at the caverns. It was well worth our time. The caves were very interesting and a cool 58 degrees underground. Excellent experience and I would definitely recommend Kevin.

Very cool cavern! Tristan was an excellent guide! Very active and still growing, also with salamanders!

Loved the caverns and the tour! Our tour guide, Hannah, was awesome! It was a fun educational way to see these magnificent caverns. Hannah makes the trip fun with anecdotes and stories and tons of useful info, she makes it personal. The tour is an hour long, but Hannah had so much info and jokes that it took a little longer. Definitely a must! If you have to choose to visit one of the local caverns in the area I totally recommend Raccoon Mountain Caverns over any other one!
And ask for Hannah to be your tour guide, it is worth it! 😊

Just recently went on the Crystal Palace Walk Tour with our guide, Jasmine. She truly engaged with our crew of growing boys and us adults from FL. She shared the apparent love and knowledge she had for geology. The cave walk was just AMAZING. Having visiting Ruby falls also this was by far a better experience if you are really into caves and the wonders of it all. Jasmine helped making it more personable when we asked questions relatable to FL and she did not disappoint, truly a wealth of information.

Lilith was a great tour guide! She knew so much about the caves history and formations. She even called us when we missed our 10:00 tour and got us set up for the 12. I loved it bc it was less commercial feeling than ruby falls. Loved being in a living cave. The gift shop was small but had cute things in it

Our guide Ava was amazing. She was funny and very informative. She really knew her stuff. The caves were really cool to see and the way everything was lit up was beautiful. My husband and son did gem mining at the end and loved it. Highly recommend!

Wonderful experience you should NOT MISS! We got a private tour since the season was so slow and the guides are super informative and friendly. The salamanders were so cool to see. The caverns were significantly better than Ruby Falls which seems more tourist trap-y honestly. Definitely put this place on your list!

A great tour with Kyland! We can’t wait to come back once the wild tours are open again, but definitely still worth it for the walking tour until then.

Very friendly staff. Great experience Caverns much better than going to Ruby Falls . Our guide Judah was great. More knowledgable than anyone at Ruby Falls. Definately will be back.

The cave tour was short, but it was so packed with great information and important knowledge about the precious nature of the living eco systems of caves. Our guide, Eric, was a gift of wisdom. He used great metaphors about how caves are formed and clever ways to remember the names of the formations. If we had more people like him in our educational system, our school kids may have a chance! Thank you for a really cool tour!

Great summer activity. Cave is nice and cool. We brought a small flashlight but you could use your phone flashlightb if you need but most people do not need one. We were the last in the group and tend to walk a bit slower. The staff was super friendly and very knowledgeable. Not a place I would bring a baby but maybe 1st grade up. Path is uneven, narrow in places. Not for strollers, wheel chairs, walkers, or those who require a Cain. There are several sets of stars. We had a really good time and recommend

We took our grandchildren ages 9 and 14. They loved it! Our tour guide Jody, was very knowledgeable and interesting. He handled the kids questions well as he pointed out several of the caves unique features. There are lots of steps, but handrails are provided. My husband struggles with his vision and he made it, but it was a challenge. Would highly recommend.

This was a great experience. Our guide was exceptional, very knowledgeable and friendly. The cave is wonderful and not so touristy. We took the Crystal Palace Tour. The tour was about an hour. It was not rushed and we could stop to take pictures and ask questions. It was great. We highly recommend it.

What a great day with our friends that were visiting from out of town. Eric was our tour guide …he was extremely knowledgeable! We’ll be back with other friends as they come visit. Five stars all the way! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Incredible tour of the caverns with excellent guide Zachary. We had also been to Ruby Falls but Raccoon Mountain is a living cave and just spectacular! We even saw salamanders.

We came to Chattanooga without a real plan...just for last minute weekend away before going back to school and work. Unfortunately, when we got ready to go to Rock City and Ruby Falls, we realized they were sold out of tickets due to COVID-19 limiting ticket availability. We looked online for other options and these caverns popped up. We weren’t quite sure what to expect but it was a WONDERFUL experience. Our tour guide, Landon, was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He made the tour fun for all of us. Personally, I would have preferred no Christmas decorations but my 7 year old LOVED them and said it was the best part, lol. My 11 and 15 year old daughters are interested in coming back when they resume the wild cave tours.
I’m actually glad Ruby Falls was sold out because we probably wouldn’t have taken the chance on Raccoon Mountain Caverns otherwise.
I highly recommend this tour.

My wife and I decided to stop on our way home to take in some sights. I couldn't get tickets on line for Ruby Falls so I looked for the next option. We found Raccoon Mountain Caverns. I purchased the tickets on line and that was very easy. We arrived more than an hour early and asked if we could get in the 10am tour. It wasn't an issue because we were the only two there. The gentleman that gave us the tour was wonderful. He was very knowledgeable and had many interesting stories to tell us. I would definitely check this place out if your looking for something a little less Comercialized yet very interesting and beautiful to observe. I hope that your experience is as great as yours.

Highly recommend! Great tour for multi-generational group. Easy to access from Chattanooga. Super friendly and knowledgeable staff, with a great tour guide. Cute gift shop and gem panning. Very authentic experience!

Our expectations were EXCEEDED. My family and I visited on a busy weekend. Landon and Samuel helped us in the gift shop and helped our kids pick out cool gems as souvenirs. Jasmine was our tour guide. She was the most knowledgeable guide we've ever had on a cave tour and it is clear that she is meant to teach. I was so impressed at the time she put into making sure what she was saying had value to the topic at hand. It's been a week and my oldest is going on about how she wants to be a geologist too when she grows up! If you would like to learn from someone who has a true passion and takes ample time to answer all questions (no matter how silly or difficult) then you need to request Jasmine for your tour! 10/10 will go again.

The guide was very professional, friendly and knew her stuff. The cavern section we toured was not that big (about an hour tour), but it was interesting to see the salamanders, cave crickets and hear about what creatures live in the cave system.
The bummer for us was that there was a few small children on the tour that were disruptive and the guide spent a good portion of the tour nicely telling them not to touch anything. I would not recommend this tour for small children. My husband didn’t care, but my teen and I were a bit annoyed because we felt like it affected the quality of the tour because every time she started to discuss something interesting she was interrupted by the kids. That was just our experience. I’m sure it varies depending on the group you go on the tour with.

Raccoon mountain caverns surprised us; very interesting cave system that gets much fewer visitors than Ruby Falls. The 3 people in our party were the only ones on our particular tour. Our tour was made even more exceptional by our guide, Ava. (I hope I have her name correct.) Her enthusiasm and sincere interest in the caves were infectious, and her depth of knowledge was impressive.

We had the pleasure of experiencing Raccoon Mountain. My family and I had the best experience with Berlin. She was informative, caring, kind, knowledgeable and honest. Raccoon Mountain isn’t much to look at on the outside but it’s magical inside. The people that run/own Raccoon Mountain care about the environment and preserving the caverns as well as the little critters that live there. I would highly recommend this experience. Do not be fooled by the hype at Ruby Falls. We did both in the same days. Ruby Falls in a very expensive walk to a waterfall. You stand there for maybe five minutes, take pictures and walk out. Go to Raccoon Mountain if you want to see something truly memorable and amazing.

Lilith did a great job guiding our tour through the mountain. Very smart and professional. This felt like a much more cave like experience than Ruby Falls. Less corporate and Uber-touristy. The cave itself was really neat. They have a “crawl tour” as well if you want to crawl through the tiny cracks and such.
I would recommend. Good way to spend an hour. Especially if you are here on a cold rainy day or something. 😊

Judah was an amazing guide, great with all ages and very knowledgeable about the cave. The trip was very good. The only reason I didn't rate it at 5 was the price compared with the length of time. Good experience overall.

The 2 hour cave exploration was absolutely amazing! We had to crawl, climb, and slide all over the cave. It was so exciting! We got to see many salamanders during this trip, which was really neat! Emily was our guide through the cave and she did awesome! She was so enthusiastic about all the creatures and cave structures. You could really tell she enjoyed what she does! Great activity to do to satisfy your adventure side!

The cave is amazing. If you aren't interested in caves, you will be after this. My only complaint is that I wish the tour was LONGER! I'd love to see them open up more areas for regular tours.

Our guide was Landon and he was awesome. He was engaging and very knowledgeable! I have already recommended him to a friend. He was an excellent guide for our family.

A fantastic small-group tour that was enjoyable & educational. Our guide Corey was knowledgeable, and spoke to us as individuals (as opposed to the usual recitation of a memorized script).
I highly recommend it!

My son and I went and had a great time. The bats had just started their habination and we got to see quite a few of them we also saw the salamanders it was so interesting. We learned a lot and had a great guide He knew alot about the area and about the cave inhabitants. We enjoyed the more intimate one on one with the guide then you have at Ruby Caves. I will try and upload some pictures once my son gets home...lol It was really a great time and I would go if you are at all interested in caves.

We had an amazing tour with Landon our guide. It was very relaxed and not rushed. We learned so much about the cave formation and our imagination was tested as we viewed different areas of the cave. Love the fact we were able to view and appreciate the cave and ask questions. Definitely recommend visiting if you are in the area!

Very interesting cave and no crowds which makes it amazing! Maria , our guide, was very knowledgeable and friendly, she absolutely took this tour from great to excellent!

Where do I begin!
Our tour guides Tristan and Will were AMAZING!
Very helpful and very accommodating to newbies/ anxious people (like myself) lol.
My husband and friends will return 10000%

We had a great time! We had just our family on the tour which was delightful. Our guide was knowledgeable and we actually enjoyed this tour more than Ruby Falls.

Our tour guide even told us the best place to take photos!

This is a hidden gem! We took the 45 minute cave tour. Our guide was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the cave. We went during the off season so most of the activities were closed. There's a small trailer that they used as a gift shop and information center. There is also a peaceful campground tucked away in a beautiful wooded setting. I'm sure this place would be excellent to stay and relax during the warm season.

Touring the Racoon Mountain Caverns was a pleasant surprise. We were only in Chattanooga for a day and were lucky to get two cavern tickets. Michael was an amazing tour guide with his wit and knowledge. The tour lasted about an hour and 15 minutes.

Spectacular views of the Crystal Cavern. The lighting made the cavern so beautiful. We had a great tour guide that provided lots of education. Need closed toe shoes and the floor is wet and muddy in places. I would request a flashlight. I notice the tour in front of us had them however our group was not offered. Lots of low hanging rocks. Be careful. This tour has lots of steps.

My husband and I just did the cavern tour with Landon. We cannot tell you how pleased we were. Landon is very friendly and knowledgeable. We did not feel rushed and were able to have ample time to enjoy and ask questions. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting.

We visited the morning after a heavy rain, so there was lots of water flowing. The flowing water was definitely an enhancement.

I would have given 5 Stars, except the caverns were excessively (and dare i say obnoxiously) decorated with Christmas lights and inflatables. The decorations distracted from the beauty of the cave and often blocked viewing. The caves could be significantly enhanced by (professional) strategic placement of lighting throughout (not random Christmas light strings).

We only did the short tour. No doubt the extensive tour would be great, we just didn't feel like crawling around, getting muddy and spending 3 hours in the cave.

A little effort could make these caverns spectacular.

Our guide Nick was very knowledgeable and personable. We were sad to learn Nick would soon be leaving, very unfortuate for the caverns.

This was such a fun short family adventure as we were passing through town. Landon was great and informative! Perfect Sunday adventure.

Raccoon Caverns is a small operation, you won’t see dozens of billboards for it. The entrance to the caverns is unremarkable. But what it lacks in flashiness, it more than makes up for in heart and beauty. Our guide was enthusiastic about each and every salamander we encountered, and it was contagious. She kept my teenager interested and curious, which is no small feat (poop stories always help!). The caverns themselves were gorgeous, lit just enough that we could appreciate them (while still respecting the salamanders vision). We both loved it and would absolutely recommend!

This was a great tour. Our guide Emily was very knowledgeable and let us take our time to enjoy the spectacular cavern. Highly reccomend.

We thoroughly enjoyed both the park and the cavern tour. Tristan was informative, funny and handled a group well. The park was very well maintained and we will likely stay there in future. On this trip we simply enjoyed the tour.

This was an unassuming trip that turned out to be the best attraction in Chattanooga. My wife and I had a great tour with our tour guide Landon who was both comic, geologist and scientist. We learned a lot about the cavern dynamics, history, animals and all our questions were answered. I would recommend this tour over more overrated attractions. If you want an intimate cavern tour this is it.

Raccoon Mountain Cave was an awesome experience! Landon was an excellent tour guide with tons of knowledge.

Zachary was a knowledgeable informative guide. He presented the tour thoroughly. The cave tour was worth the visit.

We visited December 2020 and it was our first post-COVID overnight trip. We ended up having a private tour and our guide was very knowledgeable. The part of the Vance set up with Christmas light la want really our cup of tea, but the parts that were “natural” were very interesting. We want to go back for an adventure tour.

I did a last minute call about 2 1/2 hrs before they closed to see if they had any available spots for a tour (have to schedule tour spot in advance). The young man answering the phone was so pleasant and got us on the last tour. My husband and I got there about an hour before, just to chill and check out the little gift shop. I found some lovely crystals, a cute sticker for my computer and also purchased a cool cut of amethyst.

Met our tour guide, Hannah and with our small group (about 10 people), she took us through the caverns. She’s very knowledgeable, has a great sense of humor and took the time to answer any questions.

The tour was worth the $$ and I’ve already recommended it to my family and friends. Oh, and it’s definitely nice to tip your guide. So glad I called!

The wild cave tour was by far the most fun cave tour I’ve ever experienced. You can feel like a kid on an adventure and there’s nothing to be scared of- you won’t get stuck or anything. There was always an easy option or a more challenging option to choose at different points along the path-and the whole group doesn’t have to agree- our guide took the time to help everyone have fun and feel comfortable

Wonderful tour with Lilith! Her knowledge and passion for the caverns was very refreshing. Her sense of humor was enjoyable as well. I highly recommend it.

Much better than Ruby Falls! Eric, our guide, was welcoming and knew lots of facts about the Cavern. We had a group 8 and throughly enjoyed the tour.

This cave is phenomenal!! It is very active with little “baby” formations sprouting up all over the place. It also has the coolest little salamanders. Landon was our tour guide and was so interesting and informative. Highly recommended!!

Zachary was our tour guide and he was so knowledgeable of the cavern! He told us so much information about how certain spots were formed and the history of it all! Would highly recommend a tour here! Absolutely beautiful and very interesting to learn some geology!

Hannah was very knowledgeable and entertained us with her sense of humor as well. This was a great way to spend a hot afternoon. You may want to bring a lightweight jacket, however my husband was comfortable in a T shirt. People with mobility issues may struggle with the uneven steps and terrain. Check the schedule for tour times as we didn’t and had a 50 minute wait.

Raccoon mountain caverns is a very well maintained cave!!! Our tour guide Kevin was awesome and very knowledgeable!!! Ok pretty darn funny to! The caverns are located on a campground, if your camping there you’ll get a discount!

Absolutely loved our experience!! Our tour guy was super great. He was knowledgeable and friendly. We had a wonderful time. 10/10 recommend!!!

Tour is lead by educated, excited about their job young people. I have been in many caves all over the world. This is a nice cave, but the young man who shared his love and knowledge of rocks, caves, the bugs and reptiles in the cave was what made this tour exceptional. Our group was outnumbered by children under 5. Parents, this is not for kids that age. Adults can't hear when your 2, 3 and 4 year olds have no interest in dark damp areas. You must let your child walk because of an accident when a parent slipped carrying their child. Well worth the time and money again because of the guides, but you do see some very nice things in this cave.

We stayed at the Raccoon Mountain campground which is a great campground. We had gone to Ruby Falls earlier in the day and came back and went on the Raccoon Cavern tour and thought it was great! Nit as commercial or crowded as Ruby Falls. No big waterfall here but the rest of the tour is as good if not better, smaller groups, more intimate and you can hear the tour guide. We didn't take the crawling tour but a group of Boy Scouts came out after 4 hours and were so excited about there tour as well.

So if we were to came back this way this would be our first choice

Zachery made this trip! He was very informative and you could tell he loves what he does. It was not as "polished" as say Ruby Falls, but I learned more at this one.

Absolutely amazing experience. Our tour guide Hanna was awesome. Very knowledgeable, answered questions and was great with the kids. Allowed us to stop and take pictures as we wanted. This was so much fun to do with the kids. And both kids (8&13) had a good time. One of a kind experience. If your in the area this is an absolute must!

The Cavern tour was great. The formations and features are well taken care of, and you really get a cleaner, more natural cavern experience than some other locations. Our guide, Patrick, was informative, entertaining, and all-around awesome. I would definitely recommend Raccoon Mtm Company, but as a heads-up - kids need to be able to walk on their own between stops

We had a great tour with Zachary! He was very knowledgeable and we learned a lot. This was a highlight of our trip!

Had a great time with our guide, Emily. She was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. Loved the one on one tour especially compared to the touristy vibe of Ruby Falls. Thank you Emily for a wonderful time!

Reviews suggested this was the better cave tour in the area our experience suggests the reviews were spot on. We didn’t feel like cattle being rushed through a tour nor did we feel jam-packed with other tours on top of us. Instead we had an incredible tour guide (Timothy) and a wonderful small group (9 of us in total) from different walks of life to share this experience. I have toured Mammoth Cave several times and like a previous reviewer preferred this experience by far! Next time I’ll bring my daughter for one of the crawl tours and request Timothy. Thanks to the entire team and especially Timothy for a wonderful experience! We will be back!

Zack and Tristan were great, informative guides during our walking tour in the caverns. This is a very interesting thing to do and surprisingly I never felt claustrophobic. The caves and walkways are very open and airy. Everything is well lit although it might be a good idea to bring a small flashlight to take pictures after the guides flashlight moves on, since no flashes are allowed. The guides pointed out several species of salamanders, and encouraged us to be very careful where we stepped. They pointed out several structures as we walked through the cavern making sure everyone understood what they were looking at and asked often if EP we had any questions. All in all a wonderful experience. One nite. The caves are about 58 degrees Fahrenheit so a light jacket or sweater is encouraged!

Our guide was highly informative and friendly. Great tour and an easy walk. If you've never been in a cave this one is not to challenging and has many formations.

Six of us went here. Although we did not see any raccoons. 🤣 it did not disappoint
Lilyth was our guide. She was very informative, we learned a lot from her. We would go back.
Only suggestion. Expand gift shop merchandise to include, Kids tshirts, shot glasses.

Very educated tour guide with lots of terrific stories. The caverns were stunning every step of the way. It felt like a long tour as well - not rushed at all.

If you are camping and traveling on your motorcycle, avoid this place!
We arrived on our BMW touring bikes, fully loaded, and asked specifically for sites close to a restroom due to medical reasons. The camp personnel disregarded this request. At 3 AM, and after running to get to facilities, their camp guest soiled themselves and their gear. You need a code to defecate.
The campground claimed a valet service to show us to our site. By the time I had turned my bike around on their gravel drive, the so called valet was gone. Took off without his guest in tow. When I did find the site, the " valet parked his 4 wheel cart across the entrance to the sites. We had to maneuver our bikes around him in leafy sandy ground. As my buddy was trying to turn his bike around, the valet walked in front of him and wants to talk. The camping fee was high, the toilet needed a code to enter, and, as I voiced my complaint about this treatment, the person at the desk pulls out a map and says your problem is, I stopped them and said I don't have a problem you do. This is totally unexceptable customer service. No refund, or partial refund was offered. No curtesy, respect, or human kindness.
I will ride all night before I'd stay there again.

We (a 4 person group) did the 3.5 hour tour of the caverns. It was a blast! We all had a wonderful time. Our tour guides, Ally and Rachel, were perfect for us. Ally was very knowledgeable about the caves and very helpful with her instructions on getting through some tricky parts. We definitely recommend others to do this tour! Thanks for a great time.

Our cave tour was fantastic!! Landon was our tour guide and he was super excited to show us the amazing wonders in the cave. We toured many caves on our road trip and have to say this was definitely one of the best ones and best tours. Landon made sure to have us see the salamanders since our one son was really interested in anything living in the cave. He made a pint to stop at a great picture spot in the cave and took each groups picture with our own phones ( great memory keepsake). Never felt rushed and he made a point to shine his flashlight on the wonders in the cave he was panting out and waited patiently for all in our small group to see. This is truly a hidden treasure and highly recommend it!!

The highlight of our trip! Our tour guide was so knowledgeable and really took his time showing us the wonders of the cave. We saw some cute salamanders and cave crickets. Definitely worth the price of admission!

This place was amazing! It was easy walking. My kids loved it! Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and showed us all the creatures and explained everything about the cavern. I would recommended it!

This is one of our favorite caverns. No matter how many times we take a tour, we always see something different. Our very knowledgeable, passionate tour guide did a fantastic job! We look forward to visiting again when we pass through Chattanooga, TN on our next road trip!

All I can say is Wow! Kyland was our tour guide and boy foes he know his stuff!. This is the most amazing cave I have ever been in. It was like nothing had ever been touched inside. What a surreal experience. If you think Ruby falls was neat, it has nothing on this one. This is a MUST do!!. If you do nothing else while in Chattanooga, you won't want to miss this!.

I have visited about a dozen caverns, including Carlsbad Caverns, and Raccoon Mountain Caverns is one of the smallest. But its unique features make it worth visiting even if you have been to many caverns. This cave has tiny salamanders, which were running all over the paths. It also has a “shield” formation, which only a few caverns have. And there are Cambrian-era fossils visible. All of this on a tour that only covers about 1/4 mile. So while this isn’t the biggest or most beautiful cavern I have visited, it was different than others I have seen and very worthwhile to see.

Amazing - Must See. Our Guide "Judah" was the best! He was incredibly knowledgeable. Made the tour so much better by telling stories, explaining everything and pointing out little creatures. He knew all the history and there wasn't a question he couldn't answer. You definitely have to tour Raccoon mountain caverns when visiting Chattanooga. Just look at the pictures - It's even better in person.

Our family had a wonderful time on the tour today. We did the Crystal Palace tour and Landon was our tour guide. Landon did an amazing job with the story telling and details of the cavern. Definitely recommend this for a family adventure and you would be lucky to have Landon as your tour guide.

Our group of six thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Raccoon Mountain Caverns. Extremely educational without being boring! Ava and Zach were great guides and took the extra time to answer all of our questions and to ensure that we saw as many of the critters (nothing scary I assure you) hiding in the rocks as possible. Ruby Falls is pretty although commercialized. If you are looking for a more authentic cave tour this is the one! So glad we came

Beautiful cave! Small tours and great guides. Plenty of time to seebthe formations and plenty of time gor questions. Definitely recommend!

The guide was awesome! We spaced this out from Ruby Falls. They were both great in different ways. This one had a small number in the tour and the walk was a lot less which was good for the grandparents. We saw salamanders catching cave crickets. Cool on a summer afternoon which is a PLUS!

The caves are great. We had Eric as a tour guide and you can tell he loves the caves and his job. He took his time and knew a lot about the different formations and how they are formed.

Great experience and great tour! Landon was our guide, and was excellent!! Highly recommend this!! Beautiful caverns!!

I am sorry to say that even though the cave is amazing the tour guide was not. There were fifteen people on the tour and the guide seemed to cater to the family of five that shoved ahead for the entire tour. The guide shined his flashlight on formations and critters before the rest of us could even catch up and then he moved on. Finally, I could not contain myself and I told him how I felt. He apologized and continued to to the same thing for the rest of the tour. I decided to go to the office and tell the person in charge about this particular tour guide. As I went to open my mouth, I realized it was the same guy. So when he said, How did you enjoy the tour?" I reiterated that I tried to keep up with the first five people and he had moved on with his all telling flashlight before I could see what he was showing this "party of five." I would not go again. But recommend people chose a guide other than Landon because the caverns are worth it.

Cool short tour. Any physical ability should be able to do. Zachary was a great tour guide. Look out for the dad jokes lol.

Our tour guide was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and pointed out salamanders, bats and cave crickets to us. He took his time with us and was happy to answer any questions. We also toured Mammoth Cave and Raccoon Mountain Caverns was our favorite between the two.

It was an amazing experience. Zachery the best tour guide in the world was a really good and knowledgeable tour guide.

Great tour with Cory. Very different from Ruby Falls. Much smaller group, easy to hear guide, seems like more cave features (stalactites, stalagmites, flows), and a few cave salamanders. Colored lights are fun way to see formations. Check in is at campground visitor center (gray trailer).

Family of 5 would have cost almost $100. We opted to leave 2 out so it would be more affordable. Only takes 45 minutes. I wouldn't recommend this place. Your money is better spent elsewhere. Points for lighting, otherwise it's a cave.

Landon was our incredible tour guide. He was super passionate, informed, and relatable. There was a hyper and very chatty kid in our group that Landon engaged like a pro, keeping him interested, occupied, and answering all of his questions without interrupting the experience for others. The cave was a marvel and we highly recommend a visit!

So glad we added the Crystal Palace tour to our weekend trip!! Our guide, Landon, did an awesome job explaining the history and science of the caverns!!!

Hannah was out knowledgeable guide and the tour was great. 7 adults total in our tour. We saw some wildlife and Hannah pointed out lots of formations and explained the history of the cave.

Will was our tour guide and did a fantastic job providing us with the history of the cave and pointing out all the cool formations. A fairly easy walk with neat sites.

very frindley and helpful good clean campground and bathouses very quiet m we locked the keys in our truck one off the staff menbers had it un lock in afew minutes thanks very much

Our tour guide, Landon, was phenomenal!!! Highly recommend Raccoon Mountains Cavern! There was a lot to see!

I went on the two-hour Canyon Crawl tour in the wild cave, it was a wonderful experience. It was physically demanding, but the staff was very patient and accommodating, making sure that we were comfortable and safe and could take our own pace. Our guides, Maria and Katie, were very professional and knowledgeable about the cavern. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants a real caving experience.

Nice Cave tour and friendly people, easy walking tour. Guides are knowledgeable and friendly good opening times on Sunday and easy access

A bit of a hidden gem. Wasn’t sure exactly what to expect when we arrived, but it lived up to the great reviews! It was a much more natural cave experience than Ruby Falls. Our tour guide was great, and the experience itself covered a lot of ground. Highly recommend.

If you are going for a more natural cave experience, then this is it. The guide was excellent. The cave was very interesting but did not have all the glitter and extensive lighting of other caverns. However, it was well worth going. When you first enter this cave, it is not very impressive. The experience keeps building though as you go through the cave. You feel more like you are really going through a cave and not a show. To be fair, I also enjoyed another nearby cave which has the "bells and whistles".

This place was a very nice surprise. I booked this for something to do with the kids one free afternoon while camping at this site. I was not expecting much but I was wrong. The cave was so surprising in size and very interesting to learn about. Our guide was Ben and very informative. He made sure everyone had a chance to enjoy the cave and enjoy all the little creatures and sites. It felt like a very personal tour and enjoyed by all of us (Ages 7-40). My boys even want to come back next year to do the more adventurous tour.

This was a great tour, very informative in a fun, casual way. Well suited for all ages; our party ranged from 23-84 years old. My son fell in love with the camp cats.

Coolest cave I’ve been in! Tour guides were great! Everyone in the gift shop was amazing! I had so much fun, definitely recommend.

First time taking a new RV 1983 Ford Honey, 24ft and don’t think I could’ve picked a better spot. Quiet, peaceful and beautiful views around you. Staff is extremely friendly, check in was easy, guided to spot and firewood delivered. Very sweet ladies at the office. Gravel roads well maintained and nice bathhouses/property. I especially enjoyed the Cave tours more, Michael our guide was amazing and one of the friendliest people. Very informative and knowledgeable, I learned so much about caves and even saw a few salamanders! Great experience overall, would love to come back.

Beautiful Caverns. Great tour guide.
Smaller groups and less groups made the experience so nice.
So worth it!!

Our guide, Patrick, was fantastic! He was very knowledgeable and obviously passionate about the caverns and made the tour experience top notch. If you visit Chattanooga, don't miss this tour experience!

This is a great cave tour for the whole family. I highly recommend it if you are in the Chattanooga area. It is not strenuous. Our guide Judah was very good.

Simple, friendly operation. At the entrance to the parking lot you'll find the gift shop/ticket counter on your left and the campground straight ahead. We only had 4 on our tour. Friendly and quite knowledgeable guide who'd recently received her Geology degree. Marvelous main cavern and abundant cave insects and animals. Surprisingly good stop.

Landon was an excellent tour guide. He was very knowledgeable, personable and funny. It was a very small group and didn’t feel like a tourist trap like other caverns in the area. It felt very genuine and unique. Highly recommend!

Tristan was a great tour guide. He kept my 8 and 4 year old engaged and the adults entertained. The 9:30 tour was great as there wasn’t a large crowd.

We had an awesome experience! Our tour guide, Tristan really knew his stuff and made the excursion a lot of fun. It was just me and my wife, so it was like a private tour. We went on a Sunday around 11am so perhaps going at this time you will have a smaller group like us. Tristan was funny and informative. We highly recommend asking for him to ensure you have an amazing experience!!!

Raccoon Mountain Caverns is a hidden gem! Our guide, Rachel, was very informative and treated us to a very interesting time in a very unique place. At one point, she showed us how dark the cavern is without lighting - which was rather amazing. She provided a lot information about various features and formations. She even identified a few living creatures.

Our guide - Eric - was phenomenal!
His in depth knowledge was way above a scripted tour guide. We learned so much during our tour and were able to interact easily to get all questions answered. Eric knew the material without question.

Great experience. Yes, the cave tour is only 45 minutes and it does cost about $80 for a family of four but our family had a great time.

Totally different experience from the corporate Ruby Falls cave tour. Made a reservation (no online reservation; have to call) for 9:30 on a Friday morning and we were the only people on the tour. Eric, our guide, was very personable and knowledgeable.

If you are into seeing cave salamanders, this is a must do cave. The formations in this cave are pretty good and include a rare “shield” formation but the star of the show are the salamanders.

We have been to a lot of caves and have never seen cave salamanders in a cave before. There are three types of salamanders in this cave and we saw several of the orange salamanders and a lot of baby salamanders. We did not see the tiny cave spiders but did see the cave crickets.

Cave is located on the far western side of Chattanooga, so best to come here in the morning because I-24 traffic is terrible in the afternoon.

What a great adventure touring the caverns. It was rainy outside however it was beautiful inside. The guide guides you on a 45 minute visual and learning experience snd it's worth the price of admission.

We took the 1 hour tour on January 2nd and it was a good time. I took 3 kids (1 13-year old and 2 12-year olds) and they enjoyed it too. I thought the description was a bit misleading as we were expecting more crystals, but realized it was named after one of the rooms in the cave itself. Next time we may try the 'wild' tour which takes you deeper into the cave. Would recommend for a fun activity while in Chattanooga.

Don't miss this tour!
After visiting a bigger cave earlier in the day, we were pleasantly surprised to discover Raccoon Mountain Caverns was just as FANTASTIC! in its own right.
Less crowds, quiet, and still has that "not as much touched by man" feel.
Our tour guy was awesome, pointing out little critters, as this is a "live" cave.
Salamanders, crickets, and even a tiny little furry (think it was a mouse). The little furry ran quickly under a rock formation. * No big creatures, nothing icky, just pure awesomeness.
Nothing beats nature.

We toured Raccoon Mountain Caverns today and really enjoyed it. The tour is presented in a way that you can see the natural beauty of the caverns with minimal man made disruptions. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun and he made us feel welcome.

I recently brought a group of ladies to Chattanooga for some kayaking. We wanted to broaden our adventure so decided to check out Raccoon Mountain. So glad we did! The cave is well cared for and preserved, striving to keep it protected as it is an active cave and still “growing.” Our guide, Will Stone, was extremely knowledgeable and did a great job teaching us about the cave critters and formations we encountered. If you’re in the Chattanooga area this little cave tour is well worth the visit.

Great tour! Rachael was so knowledgeable! Lots of cave features explained! Easy walk! Rachael saved a salamander from getting trampled!

We only experienced the cavern tour, but it was great. Jack was our Tour guide and he was super knowledgeable. We did not stay here so I cannot comment on the camp grounds, but it was super fun 🦝

Too many guest were on my tour. That meant if you were at or near the back of the line you would not be able to see or even understand what the tour guide was saying. Had to keep asking others in front what was being talked about. Also a child in my group stepped off the path which is the parents fault however the guide led us all out of the caverns. My recommendation would be to go other caverns where you may have a more professional experience

We planned this tour as we were driving towards the caverns and was able to buy tickets and hop on the next tour starting in
15 mins! Hannah was the best tour guide , she was very knowledgeable and was wonderful answering all my little boys million questions. We saw a few salamanders and cavern crickets too!! The 45 min tour was perfect for the family! Enjoyed it! Will be back for the longer tour sans kiddos!

Very cool and unique experience! Our tour guide Berlin was very knowledgeable and engaging. My husband and I learned a lot!

Beautiful cavern! Our guide was patient and extremely knowledgeable and (recent college grad in geology). This is a great tour if you want to see caverns in a more natural state. Not commercialized and crowded! Definitely recommend!!!!

We did the 2 hour crawl and what a great time it was! First time doing such an adventure and it was so worth it all. The crevices you slide between to get to places others cant...crawling like the originals did!! So awesome. You definitely will get muddy...wear clothes you don't care about. As it took 3 washes to get the clothes somewhat clean again.

Living just a stone throw from Raccoon Mountain and looking for an activity for our two grandkids, we thought 'why not go do a cavern tour'. Hard to believe we've never done it in all the years we've been here. It was a fun and educational time and can highly recommend. Guide gave an excellent tour. While the cave walk is fairly easy, there are a series of steps on slippery surfaces that you have to be careful going over. Good shoes and bring a jacket is the 58 degree temp is a bit on the cool side for you.

Excellent tour!! Definitely a must! Landon was a great tour guide w lots of interesting info! A hit!

Awesome. Laurance was our tour guide. He was the best. Explained everything so well. What beautiful caverns. Not so busy which was nice. Highly recommend..

Such a cool and interesting place! Had a fun and exciting time with our tour guide Ava! Ava did a wonderful job! They were very knowledgeable, answered every questions we had, and made the overall trip with their fun jokes! 10/10 experience and would definitely come with friends again!

Awesome. Kids 10,9,8,7 loved it. Informative and entertaining guide. Perfect experience for those who want to but can’t crawl thru crevices to go caving. I have knee problems but the steps were very manageable with the rails provided and were not many at one time. Highly recommend A+

A great cave tour- very educational and still interesting for our 6 and 9 year-old. Kevin Dean was a great tour guide! Liked the small tour group size too.

While Ruby Falls has all of the advertising, Raccoon Mountain Caverns was so much more interesting and a much better value. If you can get Landon as your guide, do it. He's outstanding and his passion for Geology come through in the tour. I learned a whole lot more than I was expecting to, and genuinely enjoyed the tour. The size and variety of formations in the cave was remarkable. My wife and I almost passed up this tour, but then decided to stop by on our way out of town. It turned out to be the best part of our trip. If you're anywhere near Chattanooga, make a point to stop here.

I went this week for a 3:00 lanterns tour. The caves are amazing and my girls loved walking through with our flashlights however we were at the back of 15+ people. We could tell that the guide was talking the whole time but we could never get close enough to hear any of the information he was giving. Very disappointed. We left the porch just after 3:00 and we were out and already back at the vehicle before 4pm.

We took our 3 boys 9, 8 and 6 and they loved it (so did my wife and I). Landon was our tour guide and I cannot say enough good things about him. It's easy to see he loves geology (his major in college) by how passionate he was. He answered all questions and made sure everyone saw what he would point out. The cavern history was very interesting as well. The formation are a must see. Easy to walk through and I was concern it would be cold and it was not. I could have worn shorts. We did the gem panning afterwards. Entire family enjoyed it. The staff were just as excited of what we found as we were.

We would go back to do Wild Cave tours once they open and boys are old enough.

Just ready to leave Racoon Mountain RV Campground here in Chattanooga what a great place to stay, we extended our day to enjoy this park also to experience Lookout Mountain on the incline train. Very friendly park and even helped us out when we had a problem on the RV, well done to the two guys who sorted out our issue.
Would definitely stay here again. 🇬🇧

We had a great time doing the cave tour with Ava as our guide. She was knowledgeable and informative. This was a very fun and unique experience. Would highly recommend.

We visited the caverns last Thursday and walked away with a plethora of new information. Zach was our guide and he was amazing! He is full of interesting things that I’ve never learned on previous visits to other caverns. Highly recommend this tour!!

We had a very nice time with Jordy as our guide. He was very knowledgeable and ensured that the family had a nice time. My 13 year old daughter said “so much better than expected “.

We started our morning going to Ruby Falls, where we were herded like cattle and not given much information during the tour.

Then we came to Raccoon Mountain.

The tour was fantastic! Tour groups are much smaller and leisurely paced. You have time to take pictures and ask questions as you learn about the cave. The different formations are explained by the guides, and you might see a critter or two. I was so impressed with the guides. Ours was in training (and did great!) and accompanied by another. Between the two of them, we had every question answered thoroughly. We actually felt like we learned something when we left, and that’s what makes a tour great!

The cave was filled with Christmas decorations and looked beautiful!

Maybe next time we will try the longer, more adventurous tour!

Hannah did a great job of showing us this beautiful cavern. She was super knowledgeable and taught us so many interesting facts. I went with my parents in their 70’s that are in good shape but my dad’s hip was recently injured and he was able to walk this tour without much trouble at all.

Landon was a very informative guide. He has personality, knowledge and interacts well with young children. My family took his tour a few days ago and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The marketing you read about and some of the pictures posted are not what is there today. Inside the cavern is mostly colored lights and very little "active" cave sites. Guide was very knowledgeable but I'm a handicapped veteran and who lagged behind the group the whole way. Guide did not check up on me, assist on wet stairs or wait to start lecture when whole group was present. If handicapped, only a cane or walking sticks will work in this cavern. MANY steps and all are wet.
We've visited caves all over the USA and found this one to be a disappointment after driving over 80 miles one-way to visit.

Racoon Mountain Caverns is awesome. We took the Crystal Palace Tour which lasted about 50 Min. Easy to walk with some low points to watch for. The stalagmite and stalactite formations were amazing. Our guide was very informative and interactive with the group. She showed us the wildlife in the cavern and educated us on the geological dynamics that formed the cavern. Shout out to Rachel! Thank you for making our tour a great experience. We will be back for some of the more challenging tours!

The guide was very knowledgeable and explained the "why" of everything. She was also very personable.
The trail was easy with some stairs and bending over. The cavern itself was beautiful.

Having been to Carlsbad Caverns, this was a very different experience. It is a guided tour, probably because the cave is so small that you'd feel ripped off if they didn't walk and talk you through it. But also because, according to the guide, unfortunately, some people can't be trusted to not deface the structures, or wander out of bounds. The tour was an hour long. I had my 10 year old with me, and the first 20 minutes had me fearing boredom. But then the information and formations got more interesting. The guide (Ben) was very willing to answer questions, which was good, because the kids had many. We learned some things, and saw some insects. We both ended up very much enjoying this tour. But if you've seen larger caverns, and you're looking for lots of superlatives, this probably won't meet your expectations.

Nice hour. Easy walk. Some stairs but with railings. Some low ceilings but brief. Tristan was our guide. He had a good sense of humor and good knowledge of the cavern and its history.

The guide was an expert! You can really feel that he loves what he does and what ever question there is, he can answer. Caves are spectacular and we even got to see some salamanders

My husband and I took our 12-year-old granddaughter to the caverns and we had a great time! We arrived early and our granddaughter loved all of the rocks in the gift shop. The young man behind the counter was very knowledgeable and pulled up photos on the computer to show us where crinoids come from. The young man who led our tour was also very knowledgeable and shared lots of interesting facts and stories. We really appreciate the photos he took of us in the cavern.
I do wish the cavern website included the admission prices. I came across Raccoon Mountain Caverns admission prices on triphobo.com that I assumed were correct when I made our reservation. They are not.

The cavern crawl was absolutely fun and well-worth the $60 per person fee. I did this with my parents, who are in their 60s, and though they were tired near the end, they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Also, Ally is the best tour guide! She provided options for more difficult routes for me and easier routes for my parents so that there wasn’t a need to consolidate having fun. If you’re on the fence about doing this, just do it. Just make sure to have clothes and shoes that you can dirty, and you will want a change of clothing by the end.

Must see Living/growing Cavern vs dead over commercialized Cavern! Decided on this tour vs another more popular tour after reading reviews that the other tour was over crowded and over commercialized. So glad we choose this one! Lots of active natural flowing water, active formations of speleothems; stalactites and stalagmites as well as authentic cavern animal species like the spotted salamander and the cavern bat. Our tour guide Tristan was super knowledgeable, the tour was small and intimate, we learned and saw a lot! I would definitely recommend this tour.

I recommend this raccoon cavern to everyone. I'm in my mid-60s, and it was not hard to do at all. All. And it was really quite fun. And they really seem to enjoy it. Also, our tour guide was a lot of fun. If you get a chance you should do this. It thinks about 1 hour and it's really pretty

Great tour with Hannah. Very informative. Cave is an easy walk. Much more intimate experience than Ruby Falls. Glad we did it.

This is a must do in Chattanooga. You get to tour the cave as well as learn about the cave environment and structure. Well worth it!

My Happy Place 😍😍😍 10 stars I have been twice and I would go again tomorrow! Much better than Ruby Falls and Discovered/named by the same man. WONDERFUL!! DO NOT take small children (under 8) who cannot follow instructions! The caverns ecosystem is very delicate and you cannot touch anything.

Judah was very knowledgeable and kept our attention! He even had a few jokes! :-) This tour is a must see!

Loved the cavern tour with all the beautiful formations! Saw a couple of salamanders, a cave cricket, and a bat. What we didn't like: the guide talked very fast and it was sometimes hard to understand him; he and the other couple on the tour didn't give us much room at the stops to see things; and, most importantly, the mentions of the religion of evolution/millions of years. We would have enjoyed the tour much more had the guide stuck to just the facts without bringing in that unproven theory. We also enjoyed their small gift shop--they had quite a few rocks, some quite unique, and the prices were great!

Beautiful area. Friendly staff. Nice gift shop. Excellent guide Katie. The cave is great, has many different formations, bats, salamanders and cave crickets. Easy to find. For reference, we are in our 70's and this was an easy tour, mostly level.

Our guide, Zachary, was very informative throughout the tour. You could tell he knows the caverns well. We were on a small tour, the two of us plus two others. The small size made for a really good tour. Time was 50-55 minutes as planned. The cavern is open enough that you probably won’t feel too claustrophobic. Well worth the time!

We wanted to do some exploring on our family vacation (adults & teens). We found this opportunity & we were pleasantly surprised by the experience: walking through the cave, hearing the history, seeing reptiles & total darkness ! Rachel was a great guide & worth seeing if in the area.

We had a great time touring Raccoon Mountain Caverns. Landon, our tour guide, was a recent college graduate who majored in geology, and he was excellent. He gave us tons of interesting information, knew the answers to all of our questions, and was so passionate about everything that you couldn't help but get excited about the "cave bacon." I hope I can come back and do the wild cave expeditions when they reopen. If you love the natural world, this should definitely be on your to-do list.

This place is beautiful and totally natural. It has been well taken care of and you can still see formations that are growing. Would highly recommend the tour!

This is our second time visiting, and couldn’t recommend it enough. We’ve done Ruby Falls and Raccoon. If you can only do one cavern on your trip, Raccoon Mountain is the one. Our tour guide today was awesome (forgot his name 🤦🏻‍♀️), but it is seriously such an incredible place with so much education and history. We went with a 4 and 7 year old, and they were also obsessed! So fun!

We toured the caverns today with Michael as our guide. He was knowledgeable, thoughtful and provided all the information we needed to go through the cave safely. He stressed multiple times about the necessary rules to keep the cave safe and free from harm by humans, which I felt was the most important thing he could have said. The cavern had a wide variety of stalactites and stalagmites with interesting forms and shapes. The colored lights displayed throughout the cave were attractive and added charm. We paid for the short tour and felt satisfied with outcome, I’ve toured several caves in my lifetime, so I had high expectations. We are also camping at the Raccoon Mountain campgrounds, which are exceptionally clean. The staff here are excellent.

The walking tour was great. Our guide, Eric, did a great job of pointing things out and explaining what we were seeing. He was very informative and knowledgeable about the cave.

This is no walk through a cave with a boardwalk and lights this is getting muddy and maybe a little banged up but it's truly memorable and I highly recommend it.

My family, kids 8&5 were fortunate to have Scooter lead our tour around the caverns. He is an awesome tour guide that shares his wealth of knowledge in an easy to understand and engaging manner. The small group size was great and we never felt “herded” like we have felt on other tours.

The caves had awesome lighting and Scooter made sure to point out all the highlights with great detail.

As a first time visitor to Chattanooga, this was not at the top of our list and it was a last minute addition. This tour turned out to be our favorite in Chattanooga and we will be back on future visits to the city. Don’t skip over this gem and we can’t wait to come back.

Hannah was our guide through the cave at Raccoon Mountain. She gave us very interesting tidbits about the history of the caves, the types and ages of the different formations and living creatures that live in the cave. We saw several salamanders that were really cool! It was 58° and was a perfect outing for a hot August day!

Wow! First things first. I can’t say enough about this young man. Darius was an amazing guide through the caverns! Very knowledgeable about literally everything and enjoys his job. The caverns were also extremely cool to see. Our children, ten and twelve, talked about it the rest of the day. Truly an awesome experience! 10/10! Highly recommend this if you are even remotely close.

This place was pretty cool. Our tour guide Hannah was amazing. Reasonably priced also. Loved everything. It’s real cool in the caves. I learned a lot.

Tristan was our clever and knowledgeable tour guide through the Crystal Palace Walking Tour. It was an easy one hour tour which was easy to navigate. It was well lit for good photos. It was cool but no jacket needed. Great opportunity to see a “living cave” with salamanders and some spiders that are native to this cave. The floor was smooth and easy to navigate, we did have to duck down a few times which made it more fun.

Overall, pretty good. The artificial lighting, multicolored LED, is a distraction. Would have much rather preferred a more natural colored light to observe the amazing formations. The guided tour takes about an hour. Low hanging passages ,in spots ,make you stoop low to avoid bumping your head ,but it is an easy traverse.

This tour was awesome. Our guide, Nate, knew a lot of information about the history of the cave, the animals, and formations present. As a biologist, I loved all the information he provided about the cave.
The formations in this cave are stunning and there is a great variety of formations.
We went to another nearby cavern, but this cave was our favorite due to the amount of information provided, the guide, and the sites.

This is a small, private cave. As a result, the tours are small and highly personable. The tour guide was outstanding and knowledgeable. Get here early!

Awesome place!!!! Worth the trip, not crowded even on Sat....can't wait to take my Grands...easy walk for kids...45 minutes, just long enough!!!

I didn't really know anything about caves. I was really hoping that this tour would give me a good grounding on cave ecology. Luckily, our guide Corey gave it to us. This is an excellent location if you are looking to not only learn about caves and the biology tied to it.

The tours are fairly small and might be able to accommodate you if you need to switch times. Each of the groups we saw set off with a maximum of 15 people. Parking is on-site and pretty available. There is a brief walk from the lot to the registration area/gift shop but since you are walking through a cave, it's not that big of a deal. Our guide, Corey, stressed to us in a respectful manner that we should keep our hands to ourselves and what happens when we touch the formations. This to me was a fascinating and educational way to tell us to not touch anything.

The tour isn't terribly long but since the group is small, you get a good grounding in what the formations are called, how to tell the difference between them, and what happens if you mess with them. Corey showed us examples of how human involvement has affected the cave formation. That said, it has the fancy colored lights, funny names for formations, and even a few random salamanders.

You should come out of your experience with a fuller understanding of cave life. Corey even stayed after to talk with us and answer all the questions we had. We really enjoyed our experience here and would recommend this for any amateur biologists and ecologists.

We liked our tour of the Raccoon Mountain Caverns although we could've done without the Christmas part as the natural part was so much more peaceful and interesting. Kyland was such an knowledgeable guide. Best part of the trip was the total darkness (not to worry, just a minute or so) and seeing some of the "cave" wildlife. The teens can't wait for the wild tours to recommence for them to explore some of the other rooms of the system.

The crystal palace walking tour was so cool! First off, if you go when it's hot outside, it feels like air conditioning inside so I really don't think you need a jacket. Most of us were in tshirts, shorts and tank tops and were just fine. I would wear sneakers but our tour guide was wear sandals so I suppose that's fine too. There are some stairs to climb and some of them are a little wet. Other than that, our guide Madison was so much fun and informative and told us so many cool stories about how they discovered the caves and all kinds of sciency stuff. You're gonna get tons of cool pics, and she even took a pic us. This cave tour was worth every penny! Biggest take away: DON'T DRINK THE WATER unless you want an instant colonoscopy :)

We took our grandchild on a tour and Ally was our fantastic guide. She was great at spotting cave crickets and salamanders and pointed them out along the way. Ally was also well-versed in the history of the caverns and was generally a fun guide making the whole experience fabulous! If you can request a guide we would highly recommend Ally!

The tour guide we had was extremely knowledgeable about everything. She not only knew about this cave but also wasa geology major and was very knowledgeable about other caves in the area and all the different types of rocks and formations. She seemed to really enjoy her work. The cave was interesting but I’ve been on better tours thru bigger caves. I didn’t find Racoon Caverns measures up to some of the other caves in East Tennessee.
We went on the short tour, not the crawl on your belly tour, or the spent the night tour. It was enjoyable but I don’t see how its ranked as the #1 thing to see in the Chattanooga area. Sorry.

We took the two hour cave crawl. Rachel was our guide and she was so informative and so helpful in getting us through the sometimes tight crawl spaces. Beautiful caverns and challenging crawls. Highly recommend!

We did the Canyon Crawl Tour, it was more than I expected. There is not much opportunity for photos, but surely the memories and experience will remain engraved in your memory. The guides were excellent and the groupmates the same. We hope to return and make the tour longer.

So much fun! The caves are as natural as possible and you can see the cave ecosystem in action. Our guide, Landon, studied geology and gave us such great insight! You can tell he was passionate about his work. We really loved having a smaller tour group and he welcomed our questions with enthusiasm. Would definitely recommend for an authentic cave experience!