Skip to content
cavernyas
EN
Cumberland Caverns - Three Chessmen

United States United States Show cave

Cumberland Caverns

15 °C inside, all year.

Show caveStalactites

See the descentHow to visit

Denlah · CC BY-SA 3.0

The descent

The entrance, at 319 m.

The real relief above Cumberland Caverns, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance583 m1.0 kmvertical × 7.7depth not publishedEntrance583 m1.0 kmvertical × 16.6

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

319m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

15°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

216m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

15 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 15 °C here, in January and in August. In August the afternoon reaches 31 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to September.

outside, at the entrance (319 m)inside
  1. 8°-2°Jan
  2. 10°0°Feb
  3. 15°4°Mar
  4. 20°9°Apr
  5. 25°14°May
  6. 29°18°Jun
  7. 31°20°Jul
  8. 31°20°Aug
  9. 28°16°Sep
  10. 22°9°Oct
  11. 15°3°Nov
  12. 10°0°Dec
Inside: 15 °C all yearEscape the heat: Jun–SepFrost outside: Jan

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in United States of America

Cumberland Caverns is a show cave in United States. The entrance is at 319 m. It has stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at CHA airport (Chattanooga)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Cumberland Caverns (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 2other cave entrances within 3 kmCumberland Caverns Historic Entrance
  • 1car parks within 2 km
  • 6hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmScottish Inns, Best Western Tree City Inn, McMinnville Inn and 3 more
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • viewpoints within 3 km
  • marked hiking routes within 3 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • campsites within 8 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Towns nearby

  • McMinnville8.1 km in a straight line
  • Spencer22 km in a straight line

In our other atlases

What else is around Cumberland Caverns.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Peakyas10 mountains within 10 km
Cardwell Mountain · 1.8 kmLittle Cardwell Mountain · 3.6 kmGrassy Mountain · 5.6 kmMount Leo300 m · 6.6 kmBarnett Mountain · 7.2 kmHarrison Ferry Mountain · 7.4 kmBen Lomond Mountain · 7.7 kmHigh Top · 7.8 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon81015202529313128221510
Afternoon81015202529313128221510
Night-20491418202016930
Rain (mm)1111321191281211071339710092110140
Rainy days1110121214161814108911
Sun hours/day4.24.25.57.37.78.58.07.77.16.45.53.8
Snow on the ground (cm)783000000016
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan88-21114.2
Feb101001324.2
Mar151541195.5
Apr202091287.3
May2525141217.7
Jun2929181078.5
Jul3131201338.0
Aug313120977.7
Sep2828161007.1
Oct22229926.4
Nov151531105.5
Dec101001403.8

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (319 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2020167%221%196%158%120%102%83%149%101%162%61%79%
202165%105%245%47%71%115%107%213%132%168%33%91%
2022133%176%105%80%80%93%121%111%99%46%102%125%
2023145%91%122%72%82%123%105%159%27%15%44%94%
2024147%84%120%82%181%50%107%40%148%11%62%82%
202575%100%148%98%184%119%68%106%108%98%68%39%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Cumberland Caverns

United States

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 319 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

Raccoon Mountain Caverns

United States · 76 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 252 mEntrance altitude
  • 16 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Craighead Caverns

United States · 114 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 400 mEntrance altitude
  • 15 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Horse Cave

United States · 169 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 193 mEntrance altitude
  • 14 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q5193847) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit