Cades Cove

Cades Cove is an 11-mile one-way loop road in the southwestern corner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, encircling a broad mountain valley that served as one of the most significant pioneer settlements in the southern Appalachians from the 1820s through the 1930s. The cove is consistently among the most visited destinations within the most visited national park in the United States, drawing millions of vehicles annually for its combination of preserved historic structures, abundant wildlife, and pastoral mountain scenery. The loop road passes more than a dozen intact 19th-century structures — log cabins, barns, cantilever barns, grist mills, and three historic churches — maintained by the National Park Service in a state of preserved authenticity. The John Oliver Cabin, believed to date from the 1820s, is among the oldest surviving structures in the park. The Primitive Baptist Church (1827), the Missionary Baptist Church (1915), and the Methodist Church represent the religious life of a community that eventually numbered more than 700 residents before the park's establishment displaced the last families by 1936. Wildlife sightings are the principal draw for most visitors. White-tailed deer are virtually guaranteed in the open meadow sections at any time of day. Black bears are regularly observed from spring through fall in the open fields along the western portion of the loop. Wild turkeys, groundhogs, and red foxes also appear with regularity. The cove's broad valley — one of the few large open meadows in the otherwise heavily forested park — provides exceptional visibility for wildlife spotting from the roadway. Driving the loop at wildlife-watching pace takes 2 to 4 hours. Traffic jams are common when bears or other large animals appear. The road closes Wednesday and Saturday mornings from sunrise to 10 AM for cyclists and pedestrians.