The workers are Teenagers Brooke, James and Kevin; and Scott, who is twenty years old. They have been at the parks since early June and will work through July. They have done everything from cleaning bathrooms and picking up trash to mowing and weed eating. All are working hard and hopefully having fun as well.

Brooke in particular impressed us during her first week on the job when she came upon a copperhead, and not only did not scream or run, but calmly picked it up and moved it off the trail using the “trash grabber” she was carrying.

A Northern Copperhead

The workers have also completed or are currently working on three large projects involving improvements to the trails at Dunbar Cave. According to Park Manager Bob Wells, “this trail maintenance is long overdue because it is extremely labor intensive, and having these extra workers has allowed the staff to make these improvements to provide a better experience for our visitors who use the trails.”

Trail Reconstruction

An example of erosion on an old section of the trail

The first project relocated the beginning section of the Short Loop and Recovery Trails, which had major erosion problems. If you have walked the trails in the last few months, you probably noticed that there was a big gully down the center of the trail, caused by water runoff from the street above. This gully got wider and deeper each time it rained. To correct this, the trail was moved away from the problem area. A new section of trail was laid out, trees and vegetation removed, the ground leveled and the section joined to the older trail system. The old section was blocked off to prevent visitor access, and the gully filled in with rocks.

Walking Bridge constructed

The Walking bridge

The second project was a bridge built by David Britton and Joe Smiley, park employees, with the help of the new workers. This bridge spans an area of the trail, in a low spot, that gets extremely muddy after heavy rains. Visitors, trying to avoid going through the mud, were widening the trail to an unacceptable level (a trail that should have been two feet wide was becoming six to eight feet wide in places) and were also trampling the vegetation, including rare flowers, on both sides of the trail. Having this bridge will stop this damage to the trail and to the surrounding ecosystem.

Erosion Control

The third project, under the supervision of Seasonal Interpretive Ranger Tim Smith and Mr. Britton, with the assistance of Seasonal Interpretive Ranger Michael Fulbright, involves replacing old erosion blocks and placing new blocks where needed. These blocks, which are installed across steep areas of the trail, are designed to divert water that runs down a trail after a rain (on a trail all vegetation that would stop the runoff has been removed), and prevent the soil from being washed away. This helps to stop erosion of the trail such as the gully mentioned above. Some visitors, rather than stepping over the blocks, walked around the ends, widening the trail and eventually removing the vegetation to the sides, which caused the water to run around the ends instead of being caught and stopped by the blocks as intended, leading to more erosion. Our workers have spent many hot hours and continue to work at removing old blocks and digging out the ground, placing and reinforcing the new blocks.

We invite you to come to the park and check out the new additions to the trail and to meet our workers.

Photo Gallery

David Boen designed the new Kiosk and here is making its frame in the lobby of the Dunbar Cave Visitor Center.

Friends President David Boen led the search for a push button information Kiosk that would be able to play short informative films. Mr. Boen looked at Kiosks in use at APSU, the State Museum at TPAC, a museum in Paducah,  and along with Sally Schiller and Debbie Boen, several parks in the Nashville area. He also researched what would be needed to construct an in-wall Kiosk. He then conferred with David Britton about getting started on the task.

David Boen took a day off work and with David Britton prepared a wall in the Visitor Center lobby for the new Kiosk. They received enthusiastic help from Park Ranger Adam Neblett, and Seasonal Interpreter Michael Fulbright.

The results are wonderful; when visitors enter the lobby the new Kiosk is there to show the newly released Clean Cut Productions film along with a few other informative films.  This is one effort of several underway aimed at preserving and protecting the the beauty and integrety of the State Natural Area.

It’s been a dream of the Friends of Dunbar Cave to have an Interpretive Center at the Dunbar Cave State Natural Area. They have been hosting fund raisers and events for many years towards this goal. This center will educate people on the history and geology of Dunbar Cave, and will help raise visitors’ appreciation of the park and its rich history.

As a step in that direction the Friends group contracted the help of Clean Cut Productions at Austin Peay State University (APSU) to make a short introductory film for the Park.  This film, which was recently released, consists of three main parts:

• How the cave was formed
• The cultural history of the Park
• The Park’s  function as a Natural area

While the movie was being made the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation supported Dunbar Cave State Natural Area in creating a fully functional Audio Visual room and remodeling the entrance to that room in order to help contain the sound from the rest of the building.  Carpeting and furniture was replaced, the security of the Visitor Center was improved, and the building was painted.

Special thanks go out to the Friends of Dunbar Cave, David Boen, Ronnie Hunter, David Britton and to all of the Park staff for their part in making this happen.

David Britton of Port Royal gets enthusiastic help from Ranger Adam Neblett and Seasonal Interpreter Michael Fulbright.

The first type of art is petroglyphs, images carved or incised into rock by prehistoric or neolithic peoples. Dunbar Cave has several drawings of this nature. They are concentric circles that are carved into the rock with a design similar to the pictograph shown at the right. These carvings are found along the cave tour but are very difficult to see.

The second type of cave art is Pictograms or pictographs, images produced by adding pigments of coloring to the cave wall.  The pictographs in Dunbar Cave were drawn with the carbonized charcoal on the ends of the river cane torches that the early visitors used to light their path.

The third type of cave art is what is known as a mud glyph. Mud glyphs are images traced into wet clay on cave ceilings, walls, or floors using fingers or sharp tools, and since things inside a cave do not change unless tampered with, the mud glyphs, as well as the other Indian art works, are well over 500 years old.

The mud glyph that was discovered in Dunbar cave was drawn with three fingers and formed a box with cross marks through the middle. This type of design is something that Professor Simek is familiar with in his study of the Mississippian Era Indians. The mud glyph was found in a crawl space which Park staff member David Britton identified as an area used in the past by bears as a place to hibernate during the winter.

Also found nearby is proof of neolithic visits, stoke marks which were created when the visitors cleaned off the tips of their river cane torches.

Dr. Simek plans to conduct more research on Dunbar Cave and its early inhabitants later on in the year. Dunbar Cave Park Manager announced that the cave is closed to both the public and cave staff except for the cave tours. Cave tours begin again on March 8 and 9, 22 and 23 by reservation only. Both pictographs and petrogyphs can be viewed during the cave tour. With the renewed interest these and future discoveries will likely generate it is advisable to call and make reservations well in advance for the 20 people maximum cave tours by calling (931) 648-5526.

Devilstep Hollow Cave is another culturally significant Tennessee cave with Native American art. In order to protect the cave and it’s art the State of Tennessee has closed that cave to public access.  See a video at: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/VIDEO08/80226001

Photographs of Dunbar Cave and the Neolithic art

The event will begin at 6:30 PM. Refreshments will be served. The Park is located at  3300 Old Clarksville Hwy, Adams, TN.  For more information, call  (931) 358-9696.