Cave Management
Currently, the Nashville Grotto manages four caves in the Nashville region. Three are leased by the Southeastern Cave Conservancy, Inc. and one is leased by the Tennessee Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. If you are interested in finding out more, send us an e-mail.
2007 Cave Management Committee
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Steve Cooper
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Chrys Hulbert
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Caves owned and/or managed by the Nashville Grotto include:
Hardins Cave (aka Junkyard Cave):
Hardins-Junkyard Cave is the longest cave in Davidson County and has been heavily visited and, as a result, heavily vandalized. Many bats have been killed and formations have been damaged over the years. In the late 1990's the SCCi signed a lease agreement with the cave's owner. The Nashville Grotto was brought in to gate the cave as well as to manage access to it.
Gates were installed and informational signs placed to inform how a key may be borrowed to visit the cave. Access to the cave is free. In response to the policy of free access, the gate has been breached and the lock vandalized. The signs outside the cave have also been damaged.
The gate has now been reinforced and additional unnamed devices placed to keep the gate intact.
Most of the trash in the cave has been removed and much of the grafitti as well. The bat population is also on the rise and it is common to see Eastern Pipistrelle bats throughout the cave.
Swirl Canyon:
This is a small, wet cave in Nashville that the grotto has worked to protect. The SCCi leases the cave from the owner and the Nashville Grotto manages the cave. We maintain the grounds outside the cave as well as tend to the gate we built in the cave entrance.
Our current concern is with the nearby development and the resulting erosion. We have also noticed (once) a gasoline odor in the cave. We presume this is from a household spill.
Logsdons Cave:
Logsdons Cave is located on the Dr. William Halliday Karst Preserve in Kentucky. The Nashville Grotto owns this property. The cave is a difficult, multidrop cave and experienced vertical cavers are required to explore it. The Nashville Grotto leases the cave to the SCCi but the Nashville Grotto manages the cave and surrounding land.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT ONE OF THESE CAVES?
If you would like to tour one of our caves, send the management committee an e-mail or, better yet, stop by one of our monthly meetings at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville on the first Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm. We'd be happy to setup a trip for you. You might want to also check this website where trips are announced including, in most months, trips to either Hardins or Swirl Canyon which are both great trips for beginners.
OTHER PROJECTS
Nature Conservancy
The Nashville Grotto works with the Nature Conservancy in their protection of critical natural habitats. Members of the grotto have helped with various gatings, surveys, and other projects. These include Wolf River Cave, Hubbards Cave, and others.
Cave Law Signs
The Nashville Grotto prints and distributes durable plastic cave law signs for caves throughout Tennessee. We make these signs available to other groups when possible. The signs inform vistors about the consequences of vandalizing caves or harassing cave life.