Even the travelers who have covered the entire globe know that they can never see everything. There is always something waiting to be discovered. And sometimes, you have to look under and beyond the Earth’s surface to find these hidden gems! One such marvel is located in the town of Sweetwater, Tennessee, home to The Lost Sea, the largest underground lake in America. And now you explore it in a boat with a glass bottom! Read on to find out more about how you can experience this natural wonderment in the best way possible.
The Lake
The Lost Sea is located inside wide caverns known as the greater Craighead Caverns, an extensive cave network extending from Sweetwater to Madisonville in Tennessee. The caves have been used since the days of the Cherokee Indians — and the large number of Indian artifacts including pottery, arrowheads, weapons, and jewelry found there have testified this fact. Though widely visited since the early 1990s, very few scientific explorations have been made to learn more about the underground lake. Just like the dry caves, the underwater section of the caves are also angled down sharply, making it hard to measure the exact depth of the water. Explorers fathom that the depth is over 100 feet.
The Tour
Though you can’t possibly dream of readily diving in the underground lake, you can very easily get aboard a striking glass-bottomed boat to explore it. After a 75 mile walk across the caverns to the lake, one takes the 75-minute tour ride which covers almost 4 acres of water. Guides are present to provide interesting anecdotes and to point out gorgeous formations called anthodites or cave flowers. While enjoying the breathtaking underground scene and taking note of all the fascinating information, don’t forget to look below through the glassed bottom of the boat! You may find something surprising lurking beneath the water surface! As we said earlier, it’s all about looking under and beyond!