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Nickajack Bat Cave: Kayak Wildlife Tour Chattanooga
4.9
261 Ratings
South Pittsburg
Join our Kayak Wildlife Tour in Chattanooga and explore the Nickajack Bat Cave. Learn about gray bats, osprey, and more while enjoying the scenic beauty of Nickajack Lake. Witness the awe-inspiring sight of thousands of gray bats leaving the cave at sunset.
Join our Kayak Wildlife Tour in Chattanooga and explore the Nickajack Bat Cave. Learn about gray bats, osprey, and more while enjoying the scenic beauty of Nickajack Lake. Witness the awe-inspiring sight of thousands of gray bats leaving the cave at sunset.
Duration:
2 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Macedonia Boat Ramp - This trip operates on Eastern Time.
Join Chattanooga Guided Adventures for an exciting opportunity to witness endangered gray bats as they embark on their nightly insect hunt! The Nickajack Bat Cave and Wildlife Refuge, located in the Tennessee River, serves as the summer home for up to 100,000 of these fascinating creatures….
-
Macedonia Boat Ramp - This trip operates on Eastern Time.
Join Chattanooga Guided Adventures for an exciting opportunity to witness endangered gray bats as they embark on their nightly insect hunt! The Nickajack Bat Cave and Wildlife Refuge, located in the Tennessee River, serves as the summer home for up to 100,000 of these fascinating creatures. Tours are available from late April to early October. Enjoy a 3-mile paddle around Nickajack Lake to the cave entrance, where you might spot local wildlife such as osprey and bald eagles. Experience the awe as thousands of bats emerge from the cave at dusk. Engage in discussions with fellow adventurers about the threats of white-nose syndrome to the bat population and its ecological impact on other species in the region. Don’t forget your binoculars for this captivating bat cave kayak tour. This trip offers a fantastic opportunity to make new friends or encourage old friends to try something adventurous.
This trip operates on Eastern Time.
What's Included
- Trip runs on EASTERN TIME
- All equipment provided
- Trip runs on EASTERN TIME
- All equipment provided
Additional Information
This trip runs on Eastern Time. You will get an amazing 3 mile tour just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee at Nickajack Lake and will learn about gray bats, osprey, cliff swallows, blue heron, and other wildlife. Your guide will discuss how they are all interconnected, what is being done to protect these wild animals, and what impact you can do to help the…
This trip runs on Eastern Time. You will get an amazing 3 mile tour just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee at Nickajack Lake and will learn about gray bats, osprey, cliff swallows, blue heron, and other wildlife. Your guide will discuss how they are all interconnected, what is being done to protect these wild animals, and what impact you can do to help the incredible endangered gray bat. We throw in a little history of the Tennessee River and how it became what it looks like today. With a grand finale of watching 100,00 gray bats leave the cave at sunset. This trip runs on Eastern Time.
Location
Macedonia Boat Ramp
THIS TRIP RUNS ON EASTERN TIME.
Meet us at the Macedonia Boat Ramp in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/x1twfzVpwh8xNG6v7
Our guides will have kayaks in the grassy area by the boat ramp. Arrive 10 min prior to trip to sign waivers.
Gps coordinates
34.9911881, -85.5975727
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(261 Ratings)
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F750zjkarens
May 25, 2025
Magical bat tour - It started off rainy, then the rain stopped and we saw a rainbow (good sign) . We toured the lake with Brandon, who knew a lot about the history of the area and the wildlife. We saw Cliff swallows, Ospreys, an Osprey nest and an Osprey carrying a fish it caught, herons and the main feature, the endangered Gray bats coming out from their maternity cave to feed at sunset. It was a gorgeous sunset and a spectacular experience!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Philfrazier
May 24, 2025
Entrancing and fascinating! - Fantastic trip! It was beautiful and peaceful out on the water, and it was a good mix of paddling, animal watching, and learning about bats and the lake and local geography. Our guide, Luke, is a former school teacher and did a fantastic job keeping me engaged with his stories. Watching the bats fly by in the evening while everyone was hushed and just watching was entrancing. Also we saw a beaver which was cool!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Analynn
May 16, 2025
Absolutely magical! - This was one of the best things we did on our trip to Chattanooga! We had never kayaked before, but our guide, Zach, was patient and gave us some instruction! If you have bad shoulders, it's best to go in the two person kayak for breaks, or at least it was for me.
The tour around the lake was really cool, but the bats were magical! Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ctlovestotravel
Apr 30, 2025
Not your average kayak trip - My husband and I really enjoyed this trip. Zach was a storehouse of information about not just the bats, but also about other regional fauna, geography, geology and history. If you don't have much experience on a kayak, Zach and Ann will get you squared away. The paddling time is interspersed by periods where you are floating while you hear about the cave, the animals, etc., so my fears of having sore arms the next day were never realized. The trip was well run, and we were both glad that we set aside the time to take it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
William_w
Apr 28, 2025
Nickajack kayak and bat tour - This was very relaxing kayak trip. Seeing the bats exit Nickajack cave was very cool. Tiur guide Luke was entertaining and informative.
Review provided by Viator
Kariet2023
Apr 27, 2025
10/10 - The weather was perfect! Water was calm and it was a pretty easy ride around the lake. The cave was super cool and Luke was extremely knowledgeable and educated us on the history and lore of the lake, cave and surrounding area. Couldn’t have been a better date night activity!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Caron_g
Apr 26, 2025
Amazing experience, would do it again - This was a spectacular experience. Anna & Luke were great guides. We had an easy trip into the lake where we learned all sort of interesting things about the local wildlife. The setting was perfect, the weather was perfect and the sky was perfect. The feeling you get as the bats emerge is so unique and breathtaking. This outing certainly exceeded expectations!!
Review provided by Viator
Justin
Apr 13, 2025
Nickajack 7-Mile Cave - Excellent experience with knowledgeable guides. Sharing the vast history of the location. The cave was a cool place to see and we even were able to see the bats flying out over the water
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roving21048087191
May 11, 2025
Not a great experience... - My mom and I were very excited for this tour, however, after the experience we were very much let down. Tour guide Anne/Anna was absolutely wonderful. She was very knowledgeable about kayaking, the cave, history, and bats. I will say that someone should come out to assist Anne/Anna in unloading kayaks. We came over an hour and a half for this tour, might I add that it rained all day long. We were only able to get on the lake for a total of 30-45 minutes, until it started pouring down rain. We didn't receive any refund or an opportunity to have the full experience. The tour should have been cancelled when it was pouring rain. Would not recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Wander57491740144
Apr 28, 2025
Would not recommend the nickajack bat cave tour - Not really worth the time and money. Tour consists of sitting in a kayak while the guide talks way too long. It is a long drive from Chattanooga, the meeting spot really isn’t marked at all. Supposed to say “Mapleview” what it said was wildlife viewing area. They made no effort to mark the stop for you. The length of the tour, about 2 1/2 hours is to justify the cost. Seeing the bats was cool but that was just a few minutes at the end. I would not recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
