russell cave national monument

A wonderful national monument. Off the beaten path but worth a look. They have a nice nature center and a short 5 minute walk takes you to the cave. The cave is quite nice with the river starting right in front of it. In the nature center the ranger was friendly and very helpful. They had a 7 minute movie to watch which explained quite a lot about the cave. The Smithsonian actually excavated down over 30 feet finding artifacts the whole way. When you see the cave you will know why as this place is laid out perfectly for life with shelter and water. They have a small gift shop where I got a hiking medallion shaped like the Russell Cave Arrowhead, unique to this cave. Don't miss it!

The museum has a small but interesting exhibit and a brief video about the history of the cave. The park service employee was very pleasant and answered all of our questions. There is a boardwalk to the cave with some side trails - the boardwalk is an easy walk, but I was glad I had hiking shoes for the hiking trail. One of the most impressive things to me was the volume of water flowing into the cave. I really like when streams go underground, and the stream here flows out of a hillside near the cave entrance and then vanishes into the cave.

This is a really interesting area. At the cave they have displays about the people who lived there long ago and it's neat to be around such history. There's a small museum at the visitor's center that has a lot of different artifacts from the area. I just wish there were a little more on site.

The staff was very friendly and the ranger talk was quite informative. The park is easy to reach despite being off the beaten path. The site is well preserved, and the visitor center does a great job of documenting the history of the cave and has many artifacts that have been unearthed.

We have this thing about saying that we've "been" to certain places, which means you have to have spent some time there. We'd never been to Alabama, and were staying in Chattanooga for the week, so I searched for the closest free attraction I could find, that would give me a reason to drive into Alabama, but not too far from where we were already.Used Roadtrippers.com and found Russell Cave, so we drove 45 minutes to it, and did the 1/4 mile hike into the mouth of the cave where there are some indian mannequins set up, to show how the cave was used by several groups of Indians.You can't "explore" the cave, because it's fenced off, and you have to stay on the path, so it was a little boring. But hey, we can say we've been there. It's a really nice out-of-the-way park if you have a group of people, and want to do a family picnic or something. Lots of wide-open spaces to run and kick a soccer ball or throw a Frisbee or something.The cave itself, as a cave is cool, but I don't like "staying on the path" and the fake indian setup. Just my opinion. But hey, "we've been there" now. :)

was enjoyable but very little cave to explore, we did enjoy the historical aspect of the site, and the scenery was nice.

I am a travel writer who covers National Parks (npplan.com) and I visited Russell Cave National Monument in November 2013. The cave is located in the northeast corner of Alabama, not far from the Tennessee/Alabama state line near the town of Bridgeport. Created in 1961, the monument preserves a cave shelter that was inhabited off and on for nearly 9000 years. Artifacts dating all the way back to the Paleo-Hunter period of the southeastern United States have been found in the cave.As one of the less involving parks in the National Park system, visitors can be in and out of Russell Cave National Monument in one to three hours, depending on whether or not you hike some of the trails. Make your first stop the Visitor Center, where you can ask questions, watch a short park film, and visit a museum. Of course the main reason to visit the park is to see the cave, which you can do so on your own or with a Ranger if you are able to catch a guided tour. The cave is not what you would expect. It is a cave shelter, a rock outcropping where you could enter to get out of the rain, which is why it made such a great place to live for prehistoric people. It is not a traditional cave where you enter and go underground through various passageways. Most people spend no more than 20 minutes at the cave, which includes a short walk to the site. There is also a trail around the property, but it is for exercise only. It does not lead to other historic sites. It is a strenuous uphill climb. I do not recommend this trail unless you just want some exercise. For complete information and plenty of quality photos about Russell Cave, please visit my web site.

This cave has a long history. It was occupied as far back as 10,000 years ago. Archaic Indians were here. There's evidence of that in the form of flint points, charcoal from campfires dated to more than 8,000 years ago, animal bones, the remains of birds and shellfish. Probably these natives used a short spear with an atlatl for hunting. The cave, in addition to providing shelter, was a source of water. Mississippian people's were here too, much later. They probably eventually hunted with bow and arrow. Pottery came into vogue. Later cultures used the cave up into historical times. My wife and I started in the visitor's center to take in the exhibits and a ranger talk. Then down the boardwalk for the short, easy walk to the cave. There we were "greeted" by Indians from another millennium, some standing, some seated doing chores. More accurately, we were greeted by lifelike mannequins. Very interesting. Worth a visit just because of the long history of this cave.

Russell Cave National Monument was an interesting way to spend a couple of hours in the beautiful outdoors. It's a small site, run by the National Park Service. There are hiking trails, a visitor's center, some educational exhibits, and an introductory film. The most fascinating thing about this cave is that it is the only site with artifacts covering all four historical periods from 10,000 BC to 1650 AD. You can walk back to the cave to see how it was used by the Native Americans throughout its history. The woods are lovely, the Park Service staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, and it was a nice afternoon break from the city.

This is a great visit if you are in the area or nearby. We live in Chattanooga, TN and so the trip was not too out of the way at 50 miles and we had already planned on visiting a state park that was about 30 miles from home so the 20 extra miles wasn't much. I don't think it would it is worth going out of your way for, unless like my husband and I you don't mind just getting out for a long relaxing drive. It is a beautiful area, visitor center is nice, the volunteer and ranger were extremely friendly and knowledgeable, but there is not much else to do but view the cave entrance, take the short hike and get your National Park Passport Book stamped. We arrived early morning on a Sunday morning and had the place to ourselves. We took the boardwalk to the cave entrance (this is wheel chair accessible) and snapped a few pictures. We were too early for the guided tour but I think it would have made it much more enjoyable to hearing the history while viewing the cave (tours offered at 11:00). After less than 10 minutes we were ready to head on.After viewing the cave entrance we decided to take the 1.2 mile hike that is off the boardwalk. This is roughly paved so you will have a good grip for your sneakers. We have just moved from Florida where it is pretty flat so it was a bit of a challenge to make it to the top! The trail does zig zag up the mountain and down the mountain and it is kind of steep. Bring some water! The visitor center is clean, informative and as I said earlier staffed with very nice, helpful people. There is a small gift shop, a vending machine and restrooms.

Many years since I visited this site. Just as beautiful as I remembered. It is better protected now, they have a very nice visitor center, with a film and some good displays, but you can no longer see the actual diggings. The floor of the cave is protected by a boardwalk. Easy trip to cave. Well worth a visit.

Let me caveat this review with a few things. First, We are avid visitors and supporters of the national park system and have visited at least 3/4 of the facilities they own. Second I have hunted my whole life, am more than comfortable around firearms, and have a law enforcement background. I mention this because we decided to make use of the loop trail up above the cave and visitors center. In most instances this would have been a nice hike up the mountain with some scenic views of the Alabama countryside below. In our case it became an issue of being scared out of our wits. About the time we reached the high point of the trail, we began to hear gunshots. I assumed its probably deer season around these parts and no big deal until we were nearly hit by rounds passing by us. One close enough I could hear the whiz of the bullet, the second hitting a nearby tree. Not having much in the way of cover, we got off that mountain as soon as possible.I mentioned this to the volunteer at the visitor center and she said, "well she thought it was deer season". Needless to say what could have been an enjoyable hike and learning experience of the Native American history of the cave, left us feeling lucky one of us wasn't seriously wounded or worse. The monument is located about 5 miles off the highway and its imperative you pay attention to the directional signs to find the park.

The visitor center displays explain a lot about the history of this place. This isn't spelunking of any sort, but a nice walk to the entrance of the cave area which has been used by native peoples for centuries. The folks ar the center just could not have been nicer, they set up the movie for just us two and talked and talked, and it was all just so interesting. Then, just as the rain let up. we walked the path down and went into the cave area. They have a few dioramas set up...we found it very interesting just for the history of the place. It's not far off the highway, it's donation only (we left a ncie one!) and we found it well worth the visit. You could picnic there or do more hiking and sightseeing too. Lots of birds and small wildlife, plus it is just so scenic!

we were in the huntsville area and decised to go this national park to get our passport stamped. The tour was free and they did have a nice display with artifacts. We did the junior ranger booklet and it was nice. They give the student a badge. They have a very small gift shop. There is a short movie to watch about 20 minutes about the cave. Then there is a guided tour @11 most days only. You only can see the opening to the cave with figures there to represent what life was like in that area. I would only go to get my passport stamped if you were in the area. Catherdral Cavberns is less than 30 minutes from here. much better in my opinion.

Ok if you are in the area and just looking for something to do. Would not travel long distance to see not worth it.