The Lost Sea Adventure
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America's largest underground lake is hidden 140 feet below the foothills of the Smokies, and the guided tour here is a bucket-list outing for adventurous families. The 3/4-mile round-trip walk through Craighead Caverns takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes and ends with a boat ride across the lake itself. Along the way kids learn the caverns' history — Cherokee use, Confederate soldiers, and the fossilized remains of a prehistoric jaguar from over 20,000 years ago. The boat ride on the huge underground lake is the payoff, and it's genuinely one of those “we actually did that” moments. Open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Child (ages 4-12) $18.95, adult $29.95, ages 3 and under free. About 50 miles south of Knoxville off I-75 at Exit 60, roughly an hour from Maryville.