Dunbar Cave State Park is a 110 acre (450,000 m²) In March 2010 the cave was temporarily closed to tours and visitors because a bat infected with White nose syndrome was found in the cave.

By 1931, the area had hosted numerous social events, including dances, concerts, and fairs, and was in need of repair and renovation. At the time, the state had just completed a new road in front of the hotel and an opportunity arose. A couple of local businessmen cleaned up the site, adding additional recreational facilities, including a concrete swimming pool, bathhouse, and tennis courts, and restoring and expanding the size of the hotel. The existing lake was also dammed up, increasing its size to 20 acres (81,000 m²). The cave was the site of musical festivities and entertainment shows, which would host big bands like Benny Goodman's and Tommy Dorsey's. Acuff also added a golf course adjacent to the lake. Over time the popularity of the cave and surrounding area declined, and the hotel burned in 1950 and was not rebuilt.

In 1973, the State of Tennessee, under then Governor Winfield Dunn, purchased Dunbar Cave from Mrs. McKay King, to become a State Natural Area.

In 1997, Paul Dennis Reid left the bodies of Angela Holmes and Michelle Mace at the park.

In 2002, the park shut down briefly during the state's budget cutting crisis.

Petroglyphs

The more than 30 drawings and etchings found in the cave were dated to the Mississippian era (700 to 1300 CE) using torches and other artifacts found nearby. Some of the pictographs are religious symbols, with one depicting a Mississippian supernatural warrior. Park specialist Amy Wallace, geologist and author Larry E. Matthews, local historian Billy Frank Morrison, and history professor Joe Douglas discovered the Native American pictographs and petroglyphs in January 2005. Their existence was announced to the public by the State of Tennessee on July 29, 2006, during the Second Annual Dunbar Cave Day.

2010 White Nose Syndrome shutdown

Dunbar Cave has a small bat population and is closed from September through April to allow the bats undisrupted hibernation. In March 2010, a bat with White nose syndrome was discovered by researchers from Austin Peay State University doing assessments of species diversity and roosting patterns. Based on finding the infected bat, the State of Tennessee announced on March 24, 2010, that Dunbar Cave was closed to all visitors and tours were discontinued. Since 2006 when the disease was first discovered in New York, it has spread to Ontario, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Tennessee, causing the death of over a million bats. The US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has called for a moratorium on caving activities in the affected areas, and strongly recommends that any clothing or equipment used in such areas be decontaminated after each use.

References

Further reading

  • "Indian Glyphs Discovered In Dunbar Cave, Tennessee" by Larry E. Matthews, NSS News, v. 64, no. 12, pp 10–12.
  • "Ancient Cave Art at Dunbar Cave State Natural Area" by Jan F. Simek, Joseph C. Douglas, and Amy Wallace, Tennessee Conservationist Magazine, v. 73, no. 5, pp 24–26.
  • Dunbar Cave State Park Official Site
  • Dunbar Cave Natural Area
  • The Friends of Dunbar Cave