Cumberland Caverns Discovery Walk Tour & Apple Brandy Trail Forest Hike – McMinnville

Saturday, June 21 – Cumberland Caverns Discovery Walking Tour & Apple Brandy Trail Forest Hike – McMinnville. We will combine a Discovery Walking Tour inside Cumberland Caverns and a 2.5-mile hike on the nearby Apple Brandy Trail on Caldwell Mountain. This is a joint event with the Highland Rim chapter. We will meet at the 10:00 am CDT at Cumberland Caverns located at 1437 Cumberland Caverns Road in McMinnville. The guided 90-minute, 1.5-mile Discovery Walking Tour focuses on the Natural Science of Cumberland Caverns. The Historic Volcano Room features the famous chandelier from Loews Metropolitan Theater in New York. The tour is rated as moderately strenuous due to uneven rock steps and sometimes slippery walking surface, but handrails are available. After the cave tour, we take time to eat a picnic lunch and then take a short walk to the trailhead of the Apple Brandy Trail. This well-maintained moderate 2.5-mile loop will take us through a forested landscape with dry streams, karst features, and wildflowers. Trail shoes or boots are recommended and bring water and a picnic lunch. There is a group discount fee of $23 per person for the Cavern tour. Payment by check must be received by Sunday, May 11. This outing is limited to the first 20 people who sign up. Please contact Margie Schumacher at 352-442-8949 or rs2msps@yahoo.com to reserve your spot. Send a check payable to “TTA Highland Rim Chapter”; and mail to Jim Barritt, 528 Charlie Russell Road, Shelbyville, TN, 37160.