Buggytop Cave is a hidden Tennessee gem in the South Cumberland State Park that features a wide creek flowing out of a huge cave.
Seriously, Buggytop Cave is officially on my favorites list. And after you’ve done as many hikes in Tennessee as I have, you know that means this one is really good. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s in my top five. Have I convinced you yet? If not, keep reading to see why Buggytop Cave is one of the best caves in Tennessee and needs to be on your hiking bucket list.
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South Cumberland State Park
Buggytop Cave is part of the South Cumberland State Park in middle Tennessee. South Cumberland State Park covers over 12,000 acres clustered across three different counties. Instead of being in one big area, this state park is unique because it has multiple locations individually dispersed throughout the southern cumberland mountain area.
Overview of Accessing Buggytop Cave
To get to Buggytop Cave you must start your hike on Buggytop Trail. The trail is 4 miles round trip if you just visit Buggytop Cave. The trailhead is located in Sewanee, TN, about an hour drive north of Chattanooga.
The trail starts on top of the mountain and heads out towards the edge. Eventually it meanders down some stone steps. After a while you’ll arrive at the edge where you must choose left or right to hike down to the base of the mountain to enjoy the cave.
There’s actually two caves here, but the main one is Buggytop Cave. The caves are open to exploration with registration of a free permit which can be done on the South Cumberland State Park website. The cave is only open from May 1st through August 31st. This is to protect the endangered bats that live inside the cave. But don’t worry if you arrive outside this time of the year or don’t want to go into the cave, this hike is still well worth it. Buggytop Cave is magnificent to behold just from the outside.
Explore Buggytop and more in my detailed hiking guide!
This hike to Buggytop Cave is featured in my e-book “A Year of Hiking” with all the details, photos, maps, and journal section you need to confidently explore this hiking trail and more all year long.
The Hike to Buggytop Cave
The hike to and from Buggytop Cave is 4 miles round trip with about 900 feet elevation loss that is then gained on the way back up. The trail itself is a bit rocky and there are a couple places where you have to almost rock climb your way down to Buggytop Cave itself. If you are not comfortable with taking big steps and minor rock climbing, you may not want to attempt this hike.
However the hike to the fork for Peter Cave and Buggytop Cave does not have any climbing sections. I don’t know about the hike to Peter Cave because we didn’t have time to go that route. But the hike down to Buggytop Cave itself is well worth the challenge.
Due to safety, I highly advise that you don’t hike this one alone. Be sure to have someone to help you through the rock climbing sections. Someone coming back up from the cave helped my friend and I climb down the section pictured below.
We arrived in the early afternoon on a weekend and although parking was crowded, we didn’t have trouble finding a spot. Also note that there’s only one entrance into the parking lot. The other end is barricaded off. I had to learn this one the hard way.
Explore Buggytop and more in my detailed hiking guide!
This hike to Buggytop Cave is featured in my e-book “A Year of Hiking” with all the details, photos, maps, and journal section you need to confidently explore this hiking trail and more all year long.
Closing Thoughts
Buggytop Cave cannot be properly displayed in photos or videos. This is definitely one of those places you’ll just have to see for yourself. The massive size of the place is quite something to behold. And once you see it in person, you’ll understand why it’s definitely one of the best caves in Tennessee.
Be sure to get a better visual of this hike beforehand by watching my YouTube video about the Buggytop Cave hike.
Let me know if you’ve been to this place yet and if not, is it going on your list? I’m not too keen on cave exploration, but South Cumberland State Park sometimes offers guided hikes through these caves. And someone told me that the two caves connect so that would be interesting to check out in the proper season (May 1 – Aug 31). Until next time, enjoy exploring Chatt!
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