Tuckaleechee Caverns is a set of caverns and tourist attraction in Townsend, Tennessee, near the Smoky Mountains. The caverns were discovered in the mid-19th century and were opened to the public by Bill Vananda and Harry Myers in 1953. The caverns are known for the "Big Room", an immense cave/cavern room with many stalagmites reaching 24 feet tall with flow-stone formations hundreds of feet in length and width.