Long managed as part of South Cumberland State Park, the 931-acre Carter State Natural Area is the home of Lost Cove Cave, better known as Buggytop Cave. Along with the adjacent Sherwood Forest State Natural Area (SNA), Natural Bridge SNA, and Hawkins Cove SNA, this area is now part of the newly formed Head of the Crow State Park, so named because it contains the headwaters of Crow Creek.
The cave is reached via a moderately rugged 4-mile round trip hike from the trailhead on TN Highway 56, approximately 7 miles south of Sewanee. The trail slowly climbs along a ridge for the first ¾-mile and then steadily descends in elevation for the rest of the way.
Just after crossing the remnant of an old stagecoach road, the trail splits at the top of a 150-foot bluff. Turning right will take you down a steep descent, the most challenging section of the hike, to the Buggytop entrance, one of the most impressive cave entrances in Tennessee.
Retracing your steps to the bluff-top split and going the left route will take you, in 0.2 miles, to the Peter Cave entrance. Along the way you’ll pass another entrance, which is generally unused.
When exploring the cave, I prefer to go in at the Peter Cave entrance and exit the Buggytop entrance, as it’s easier to find my way out in that direction. It is recommended that you explore the cave for the first time by joining one of the occasional ranger-led hikes through the cave. The cave is only open from May through August, and a permit is required to explore it on your own. But you can hike to it any time of year.
The cave is home to rare and endangered species of salamanders and bats, and White Nose Syndrome has been found in bats hibernating there.
The creek which flows through the cave begins upstream as Lost Creek and enters the cave after disappearing into the ground at a feature known as The Big Sink. It then emerges from the Buggytop entrance as Crow Creek, which eventually flows into the Tennessee River’s Lake Guntersville at Stevenson, Alabama.
For more information:
South Cumberland Caving — Tennessee State Parks
Trailfriendsguide-lostcovewest.pdf
On Google Maps, search for Buggy Top Cave Trailhead.
See earlier post about Head of the Crow State Park.
Text and photos by Bob Butters