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16 reviews for Ruby Falls
Tacky tourist attraction, but come on - who doesn't want to go into a cave and see the highest underground waterfall in the country?
The guides really make this tour fun. We had a great enthusiastic young girl who referred to everyone by region. Georgia, Minnesota, and my boyfriend and I were San Francisco. She would say, "San Francisco stand here...go there." It just made me smile.
It's not every day you get to go into a cave. So seeing the rock formations was fun and brought me back to Jr. High.
Of course the waterfall is the best part and it takes you about 30 minutes to get to it. They light it up with different colors and even put on some "ooooh, aaaah" type of music. The best part is walking around the waterfall and peeking up at it. It really does look like diamonds falling and not water. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen.
After you're done check out some of the views from the tower. It's pretty breathtaking. Eastern Tennessee is just one of the most beautiful places in the country.
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I started looking for things to do while in Chattanooga visiting a friend, and came across this place. It's the highest underground waterfall in the US. Need I say more. I guess this is where the science nerd in me comes out. Seeing all the formations and the falls itself was spectacular.
Yes, you have to pay like 15 bucks to get in, and it's commercialized, scripted and clearly they are making a ton of money off of this. However, I still think it's a must see tourist attraction.
I wouldn't eat there though, considering you could easily drive a few minutes down the mountain and get into town. Even our tour guide said not to eat there. It's overpriced and not that great, exactly what you would expect at a tourist attraction.
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For years, I have wanted to see Ruby Falls. It started many many years ago, when I first moved to the area. I was riding through North Georgia and saw several of their billboards vandalized to read "See Ruby's Balls". I was in my mid teens when I saw that, it was funny, and I'm not sure really why I'm sharing that... let's get on with the review.
I've read the other Yelp reviews here and one thing that you have to understand about Ruby Falls is that it's not a caving adventure. This is a "family-friendly" tour of a natural wonder. So, taking this tour for what it is, I really had a good time.
I think part of your tour satisfaction will depend entirely upon your tour guide. We had a smaller group, and the tour guide did tell a few cheesy jokes, but was also knowledgeable about the cave and the formations.
Keeping in mind that this is a "family-friendly" tour, I think the tour is paced just right going to and from the falls. While some adults and cave-enthusiasts would undoubtedly want to spend more time examining the rock formations, the average child would not and would be tired of looking at rocks and ready to go home before they even saw the falls. I believe this is why some rock formations have names like "bacon" and "chips" and "turtle". I think some of these ideas were quite creative and cute. It sure seemed to interest the children in our group.... as well spark our own imaginations.
That being said, I believe the tour groups are run too close together, as another Yelp reviewer said, the groups often run into one another. Since our tour guide was more knowledgeable, we often had the group behind us pushing us along.
I also believe we weren't given enough time to fully explore the falls. They are beautiful and the light-show is a little overdone, but I do think that the light show was neat. It would be better if they just ran through the light show once and then returned to regular lighting so you can see the falls fully lit again. At 145 feet tall, Ruby Falls is truly something to admire.
As for cave damage, from the Ruby Falls website, "Many of the formations in the cave were broken by young tour guides during the Great Depression. They broke off formations and sold the onyx to help support their families. During this time, the cave also suffered from vandalism. Very little of the damage to the cave was caused by the excavation process."
It is cold down there, so wear a jacket if you get cold. They say it's 58 degrees year-round at the falls. I found the tour interesting. I would certainly go on it again... but not too often. This would be one of those "Every couple of years" with people who hadn't been before kinda tours.
This is definitely one of those instances where the old adage rings true: "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
The tours are poorly organized. You're in a group with, like, 40 other people. There's only one rickety elevator that goes down and you have to squeeze as many people as you can on each ride. It'll take several trips before everyone gets down there and you can get started on the tour. You're then forced to take the obligatory "We're standing in a cave and having our photo taken with flash" picture before you even begin the tour.
Once you get started on the tour, it moves fairly slowly [and loudly] through narrow passages and since so many people are on the tour -- and likely bumping into you -- there's hardly any mystique or coolness to the deep cave experience.
Probably the worst feature of the tour is the guides themselves. I could probably have given this experience an additional star had we not had to endure the incessant corny chatter of our guide. Between the constant, groan-inducing puns [our insurance policy is "rock solid;" don't take it for "granite"] and the completely affected amusement park ride operator voice, I found myself wishing for an earthquake to be done with it.
The waterfall is cool, yes. But the operators of Ruby Falls apparently didn't find it cool enough because they felt the need to add lights and egregiously tacky music to it. I was in awe of the formation -- and the millions of years it took to produce it -- for only a second because we were quickly ushered out to make room for another group.
It's Bedrock meets Disneyland. In Vegas. You should probably see it once, for the same reason you got that silly tattoo on your back: to say you did.
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I was really excited to check out Ruby Falls even though I read a lot of mediocre reviews for it.
We totally lucked out and got a small tour group. I really enjoyed checking out the cave and the falls were great. It would have been fun to get to spend more time exploring instead of feeling like we were being rushed along. I had plenty of opportunities to take photos, but I felt like I had to keep moving.
I would definitely tell anyone visiting Chattanooga to visit Ruby Falls. You don't get to see a waterfall that is over 1,200 feet underground every day. The history of the cave is interesting. I would have loved to have learned more about its history instead of listening to my tour guide's cheesy jokes, but I guess I can always take the time to look all of that up myself.
Really a two star experience but I've added the third star for the people that made the cave what it is today. Go once to check it out and then you don't need to return unless you have a bunch of kids that you need to entertain. I felt the majority of our time in the cave was spent waiting for the other groups to wrap up their tour. It does get a bit chilly down there so if you are the type who gets cold easily then bring your sweater. Once you get to see the falls it all makes sense and the cave itself is interesting to see at first. This was my second visit and I don't see myself returning. Been there done that if you know what I mean.
The walk through is gorgeous, the fall itself is splendid. I can, however, do without cheesy names for amazing geological structures. Some may get a kick out of thousand year old rock formations being called "bacon" or "chips" but I don't. And also, our guide was a little too peppy for me. Actually, she was too loud. Loud. Loud and without too much details about the formations and mostly about greeting everyone. I'm not a fan of tours but the place is gorgeous. I'd love to visit during their haunted nights in October, I'm sure there'd be less yelling, "welcome and glad to have you join us." Otherwise, pretty. Pretty, pretty.
This place is cool! The tour is a bit cheesy, and WATCH YOUR HEAD if you are over 6' or you will smack it.
The elevator goes down surprising far and the mile long underground hike gets you down into the Earth pretty far. I plan to go back for a lantern tour it would be really spooky. The falls are pretty shocking and powerful and a nice reward at the end of the hike.
I give it four stars because I made one fatal mistake; I ate at the Ruby Falls Grill; by far the worst meal I have paid for this side of Y2K. Just to be safe, don't eat ANYTHING at Ruby Falls.
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Cheesy and very touristy, but the falls are pretty cool.
For the most part, you walk along in the caverns filled with formations like stalagmites and stalactites. There are also obviously fake formations with signs that designate them like 'steak and potatoes', 'texas chip', 'bacon', etc. Once you get to the falls, its pretty cool. Though you can only see it for a short period of time as you can only see it when the music and lights lighting the falls go on.
FYI, if you're tall, you're probably going to whack your head quite a few times. If you're big-boned, you'll probably get wedged stuck in some of the walkways.
Once is enough.
07/28/08
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Too much hype. What once was a gorgous place has been capitalized on too much. It's a place to go once, take pics, and put in the memory book. I got super lucky by going in off-tourist season. My group was 6 people including the guide, couldn't beat the level of personal feeling to everyone. A 2 hour tour, its worth it to great extents!
Pretty cool place, I have never experienced anything like this. We were there with some large school groups but it seemed very organized. Martin (I think that was his name) was our guide and was very funny and informative. The rock formations were cool and the falls were wild! It is a place to check out for sure.
Yeah for Ruby Falls..just a 2 hour drive north of Atlanta, it's a great place to take your visitors/friends/family to get outside of the city and go see something different...
We went during Xmas time 3 years ago, enjoyed the lights, and stuff...then made it back in time to catch a showing of the last episode of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy :)
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Touristy? Sure. Excessive frills? Okay. But, Ruby Falls is a treat to see. The tour, riddled with corny jokes and a fun exploration of the cave, is both interesting and entertaining. Once you get to the falls, your hopes are fulfilled as you experience a Disney-like climax with all the frills. You should try to ignore the artificial money makers and capture the majesty that is this natural wonder. The story about how it was discovered was fascinating, but I don't want to ruin that here. The natural formations are definitely worth seeing: the stalagtites, the stalagmites, the little water streams, and the mystery surrounding the waterfall's origin and destination. Getting to the lookout tower in the end is a great bonus to a good tour. The opportunity to see the beautiful city of Chattanooga surrounded by mountains at such a high altitude really caps the journey off in the perfect way.
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What a treat this place was. I never imagined anything like this existed. The water fall at the end of the tour is just amazing. I would definitely go back.
Beautiful! This cave is just gorgeous, especially the falls themselves. I enjoyed the walk through the cool caverns, it was a nice break from the August heat. My 17 month old was just in awe of everything. It was a little crowded and sucks having to walk through in a group with no time to stop and take pictures though.
What a great place to see and go spelunking ! The guided walk through the cave is less than a mile long. The temperature is a comfortable 60 F. The reward at the end is a cheesy light and sound show featuring the massive water falls, thundering 300 gallons of water per minute. Some of the passages are narrow - so be aware fat people. If it's raining and your stuck for something to do - see Ruby Falls - we did and we loved it!
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