It’s a toss-up as to who visits the cave with the most regularity – spelunkers, vandals, marijuana (pot) or alcohol users, nosey neighbors, and spectators. And, according to the local sheriff, visitors leave with just themselves with no trash left behind for souvenirs or collection. And, draw a big star around the lack of graffiti scattered among the interior and exterior limestone.
To preface the above statement, there is a 3.2 mile long and often-visited beautiful cave not far from humanity in the Dry Creek area of DeKalb County, one mile from the infamous Battle of Snow Hill during the Civil War on April 3, 1863. For a comparison, the total length of a regulation football field is 0.0568 (1/18) miles. Therefore, the cave is 2.02 miles longer than the football field!
It was named the Indian Grave Point Cave after the Native American (Indian) ceremonies that took place there and it remains so today. From various artifacts found through time in this valley, the natives of Dry Creek were Native Americans (aka. Indians).
In a recent interview, DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray said emphatically that it had been “a long time” since his office had been called to the cave for any reason.” However, the major alert from the spelunkers was from becoming pinned or stuck between the interior rock formations. “Some people have even broken their legs,” while roaming through the cave’s interior, said Sheriff Ray.
When asked about the flagrant use of drugs within the cave’s confines, Ray said “There hasn’t been any calls pertaining to any use of drugs at the cave site in a very, very long time.” Therefore, the end result is that the cave is “clean.”
It is a saltwater (definition below) wet cave. It ranges to a depth of 112 feet and is recorded at 3,166 miles long, thus making it the 41st longest cave in Tennessee and the largest in the local area.
When arriving, there is a house at the cave’s entrance where you can visit or leave any transferrable identifying information should you decide to hike the cave. There is a sign at the entrance requesting all spelunkers to use the installed ladder for easy transversing. Let it be known, to enter the cave, one must descend downward into the cave, using the ladder. “The entrance is protected by a steep climb downwards. There is a rope to assist. It’s immeasurable at the length down the climb.” The width of the cave’s entrance has been estimated to be 30 feet. And, no, there is no working doorbell!
“Near the entrance of the cave, two additional parts branch-off from the main passage. There is a lower passage of two deep pools of water. It is necessary to climb up a steep stone to reach the upper part of the cave extension. Near the top of the climb, there is a shallow pool 50-feet long and 30-feet high. Rock formations surrounding the cave are made of limestone. Thus, one must be in great physical shape in order to conquer the cave.
A snippet from the “Dry Creek Community” freelance article reads: “According to Mr. Barr, the Indian Grave Point Cave is the largest cave in DeKalb County and one of the largest in Tennessee (Ibid). It is located on the Jimmy Womack farm and is 125 feet above the floor of the Dry Creek Valley at an elevation of about 780 feet. There are pools of water in places which form small lakes. Dripping waterfalls inside the cave results in making it damp and muddy. The entrance is about 30-feet wide. And, there are four large rooms, and at two places, it drops to a low, wide crawl. The larger room is named ‘Cascade Dome’ and it is 120 feet long, 75 feet wide and 120 feet high. The three additional named large rooms in the cave are highlighted in black text throughout this article.
Another large room is named, “The Garden of Eden” and along the floor in this room are basins. “A natural bowl is located in the center where water has dripped for many years and years and deposited minerals as it went down. It was a beautiful sight. These gypsum crystals simply covered some of the interior walls. It was like a super thick crust of frost, similar to inside the freezer that needed to be defrosted. The ceilings appear to be made of rock and these sheets lose their support from erosion and slowly fall. There is also a water hole named “Madonna’s Pool,” where beautiful straw formations extended from the ceilings. After the straw reaches the floor, it thickens and becomes like various columns.” Do not forget there is a lot of crawling in the interior of the cave. Which substantiates the Sheriff’s answered emergency calls for “stuck” spelunkers.
“It is not a cave for the weak-hearted or not-so-adventuresome and claustrophobic people. For example, you have to squeeze through a spot that was just wide enough for me to squeeze through on my side. I am amazed at the many formations, which took many centuries to form. Their size from floor to ceiling is about half-a-meter high (Ibid).”
Sheriff Ray said he had heard that the cave’s length, etc. might be an offshoot of a massive underground tunnel that extends through Dowelltown and Liberty, Tennessee. At this time, there has been no verification or studies concerning this matter.
The above visit into the Dry Creek cave was posted in May, 2008 by an anonymous blogger. The Indian Grave Point Cave is located in the Dry Creek area, four miles north-northwest of Dowelltown, Tennessee and 5.8 miles east of Smithville.
Recently, an unidentified spelunker visited the cave and wrote of his visit, “The first thing I noticed when entering the first-chamber of the cave were the colors of the formations and ribbons. The geographical lines were very beautiful and defined. Yes, there was no shortage of bats – they were everywhere!”
The unidentified blogger continued, “I was fascinated by the rock formation inside. If you had not known about this cave system as you walked across the farm, you wouldn’t be aware of anything underneath your footsteps.”
“Boys and girls of DeKalb County have spent many days and hours exploring and enjoying this cave. Various Vanderbilt University students have spent many hours observing the many beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and pools of water (Stalactites and Stalagmites are mineral formations that hang from the ceiling of caves.)
Accordingly, there have been many occasions when it became necessary to summon the local Rescue Squad to assist in finding lost or injured spelunkers. All persons were eventually found.”
Other smaller caves in the Dry Creek community include: The Frazier Hollow Cave; The Cripps’ Mill Cave; and The Goat Cave; among several others that are un-named. “The Dry Creek Community is known for having many caves,” wrote Thomas C. Barr, Jr., author of the “Caves of Tennessee” and a knowledgeable addition to this article.
· Definition: Saltpeter mine: Thousands of years of occupation by bats who deposited guano (bat’s excrement) in the soil of caves and made the cave dirt-rich with a compound called calcium nitrate.
