Day trips from Nashville · Waterfall
Ruby Falls
129 miles from downtown Nashville · about 2 hours 15 minutes
Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, TN
Ruby Falls is an underground waterfall inside Lookout Mountain Caverns, reached by a 260-foot elevator descent and a walk through the cave. It is a privately operated attraction rather than a park, which changes everything about how you plan for it.
- Elevator descent
- 260 feet
- Cave walk
- Just under 1 mile round trip, 60 to 80 minutes
- Admission
- Adults $29.95, ages 4 to 12 $19.95, under 3 free
Permits, fees and access
Timed entry tickets are required and must be bought in advance. Time slots sell out, particularly on weekends and through the summer. Specialty tours run higher, roughly $41 to $43.
One thing to know first
The cave is not wheelchair accessible and strollers are not permitted inside. Passages are narrow with steps, so it is a poor fit for anyone with mobility limits. Buy tickets before you drive, not when you arrive.
Access rules, fees and closures verified August 15, 2026 against the agency that manages this place. They change, sometimes without notice. Check before you drive.
I keep this list because it is genuinely how people spend weekends here, and because almost every guide to it is out of date. If you are weighing a move to Middle Tennessee and want to know which part of it puts you closest to the things you actually like, ask me. No pitch.