The Gap Cave Tour at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is the busiest tour in the park. The cave tour is offered every day from Memorial Day to the middle of August. After that the tour decreases to three or four days a week until the end of the September when the tours stop. The only way to see the cave is to be on one of the tours. Our first 20 visitors in the Visitors Center every day are generally the people who have signed up for the cave tour that day.
Gap Cave is a karst cave formed by water pouring through limestone. It is a living cave, meaning that air and water continue to flow through the cave so that the cave is still growing. Gap Creek continues to flow through the lowest level of the cave and out through the town of Cumberland Gap. Although about 20 miles of the cave have been explored, only 1/2 mile is on the tour taken by the public.
Gap Cave has the usual karst cave formations: stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flowstone, and cave bacon. It is very important that people not touch anything in the cave. The slightest touch can impede the growth of formations. Other living things in the cave include salamanders, cave crickets, and five kinds of bats: Big Brown Bat, Little Brown Bat, Northern Long-Eared Bat, endangered Indiana Bat, and tri-colored bat. During the Civil War, both Confederate and Union soldiers occupying the gap spent time exploring Gap Cave. Some of them left behind signatures and dates.
Tours of the cave started in 1888 when the owner of the land, Major Cockrill, blasted a large opening and named the cave “King Solomon’s Cave.” In 1920, Lincoln Memorial University acquired ownership and renamed the caverns “Cudjo’s Cave,” after the fictional slave whom novelist James T. Trowbridge had taking refuge in a Tennessee cave during the Civil War. LMU subsequently leased all but the lower level of the cave to two entrepreneurs in Cumberland Gap, who continued commercial tours of the cave. Electric lighting was installed in Soldiers Cave in 1934, and shortly thereafter a tunnel was dug connecting Soldiers Cave to the lower Solomon’s Cave sections, enhancing the tours. Concessionaires continued to operate tours of the cave until 1992 when it was acquired by the National Park Service
Although commercial tour operators took steps to protect the cave, as many as 100 persons were permitted to tour the cave under the “supervision” of a single tour guide. Security of the cave was often a problem and vandals frequently broke into the cavern, wreaking havoc in terms of graffiti and broken formations. “Cleaning” caves of graffiti and similar damage is discouraged by cave preservationists. The chemical and physical processes involved often create undesirable collateral damage. The cleaning might also obliterate prehistoric pictograms or petroglyphs.
Once the National Park Service took over the cave, they removed the electric lights. The lights promote algae growth. Instead, visitors are provided with a battery-powered lantern that they can carry and use as needed. Tours are limited to 20 people with a ranger leading the tour and a volunteer acting as sweep to keep the group together.
Tom and I had an opportunity to train as the sweeps for the Gap Cave tours in June. Training mostly consisted of learning how to operate the locks that open and close the cave. To discourage vandalism, the caves are kept locked even when a tour group is inside. The sweep opens the cave and locks it again after the group has entered. Then the sweep mostly reminds people not to touch anything and to be careful of low ceilings or steep, wet steps. When the tour ends, the sweep unlocks the exit, helps everyone through, and then locks the cave again. The sweep also radios the Visitors Center to tell how many people are entering the cave and then how many are exiting.
Cave training also included what to do in case of an emergency. There are first aid kits scattered around the cave, but if a squad is needed, the sweep has to run to the entrance or exit and call because there isn’t any cell or radio service inside the cave.
Tom and I are serving as sweeps on the Sunday tours. We alternate Sundays, but with special events we only do it about once a month. Tom has been the sweep on one cave tour. I was supposed to be the sweep on a cave tour last week, but we had lightning and thunder when we were getting ready to hike up to the cave. Can’t have 20 people walking through lightning to get to the cave. We waited close to half an hour for the storm to pass but the thunder and lightning just got worse. Finally the ranger called off the tour and told everyone to go back to the Visitors Center for a refund. Of course, as soon as we got back to the Visitors Center the storm was finished and the sky was blue.
People really enjoy the Gap Cave Tour. For many, it is a highlight of their trip. Sandy, Eric, Cheryl, and Megan all took the cave tour when they were visiting and were fascinated. I am glad that I am trained and able to help people have a good experience on their visit.