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Parachute Cave

 This cave is located above the Harpeth River in middle Tennessee on private property. It is not open to the general public.To reach the cave you must climb a steep rock bluff about 50 feet up to a small tunnel into the hillside. The tunnel is about 3 feet in diameter and runs horizontially into the side of the hill for about 10 or 12 feet. A chimney then leads down for about 12-15 feet. The cave opens into a tall entrance chamber that is covered with flowstone(see photo below). I have been visited by bats in this chamber several times. It seems that the presence of cavers in their foyer is confusing to them. The cave continues down a borehole passage and the wall of the passage is scattered with the formations that give the cave it's name.

The parachute formations are some of the most dramatic flows that I have ever seen (see photos below). The cave has a pit in the floor mid way through the borehole that requires ropes to explore. I have not been down this pit. The borehole continues down to a waterfall dome and gravel sump about 200 feet from the entrance room.

There is an old muddy rope hanging from the flowstone on the wall of the borehole just before the waterfall. My friend Jim St. John climbed the rope up a distance but the climb is wet and dangerous. He wisely gave up. Unfortunelately I still do not know where the rope leads. I would like to explore this cave further but the last time I was there I was run off by the land owners. The Nashville Grotto may have more information on this cave.

The photos below were collected on several different visits to this cave.

Photos  


This is the entrance chamber to Parachute Cave.

 

 

The namesake formations of Parachute Cave. The usual response is "Wow!"


This huge stalactite is hanging above a large flowstone mound in the floor. This is the center of the borehole passage.

 

 

That is Jim St. John perched mid way up a flowstone wall in Parachute Cave.

 

 

This is a view looking up at some of the parachute formations in the cave.

 

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