Caves of the Highland Rim

Larry E. Matthews, featuring photographs by Bob Biddix

Nashville, Tennessee sits in a geographic basin known as the Nashville Basin. As you leave this basin, in any direction you go you rise nearly 300 feet onto a feature known as the Highland Rim. The escarpment for this feature exposes several layers of thick-bedded limestone which are well-suited for the development of caves. Outstanding among these layers is the Bigby-Cannon Limestone.

This book describes several dozen of the larger and more interesting caves developed in this Highland Rim. Some of these caves were explored in prehistoric times by the Indians. Others were used by the early pioneers for the production of saltpeter, the main ingredient of gunpowder. Modern exploration began in earnest in the 1950s and continues today. This is the story of the exploration of these caves, told in the words of the original explorers and surveyors wherever possible.

Caves of the Highland Rim is lavishly illustrated with 265 maps and photographs. Come along for thrilling tales of exploration and adventure.

298 pages, Hardcover