This cave has been renamed. It was DeSoto Caverns for decades and became Majestic Caverns in June 2022, so signage, maps and half the internet still disagree about what to call it. Before it was commercialised at all it was known locally as Kymulga Cave.
It sits in Childersburg, Talladega County, Alabama, in the foothills of the Appalachians, and is billed as Alabama's Big Cave. The main room justifies the phrase: it is just over ten storeys high and covers more ground than a football field. The entrance you walk through today has been enlarged considerably from what it was, a hole four feet high and eight feet wide in the side of a hill.
There is evidence of Native American use of the cave, and it was mined during the Civil War, almost certainly for saltpetre, which is what most southern caves were worked for when the Confederacy ran short of gunpowder.
It was once believed the system was enormous, running underground from near Childersburg all the way to Talladega. Exploration since has not supported that, and the cave is large but bounded.
What you get now is a show cave with a fairground attached. The tour includes a sound, light and water show in the main chamber that changes with the seasons and holidays, and above ground there is a three quarter acre maze called the Lost Trail Maze, gemstone panning, a climbing wall and amusement rides. Whether that enhances the cave is a matter of taste, but it makes it an easy day out with children, and the main room is genuinely worth the trip on its own.
Other places on the map within a couple of hours.
