A tour of Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s famous historic district.
How could one visit the Smokies without visiting the famous Cades Cove? Well, last time I was there, the area was closed for paving. This time, I had to go. The Government Shutdown almost put a damper on it, but someone paid to keep the lights on.
I stayed at the nearby Cades Cove Campground. I left pretty early. It was after sunrise but not by much. The gates to the Cades Cove were open by then, so I drove in a bit and found a nice spot to eat my breakfast.
A very nice spot to eat my breakfast.
Cades Cove is an eleven mile loop touring route, with a bunch of historic buildings and very picturesque scenes along the way. There’s a reason it’s the most popular part of the park.
*Tip: Cades Cove is a traffic nightmare. The morning I tried to head out of the park, I had to drive on the opposite side of the road to get out of the campground. Vehicles were already lined up. Don’t bother lining up before sunrise. It seems like a great idea, but you can’t get into Cades Cove by vehicle until the physical metal gate is opened. So you are just stuck in traffic with no bathrooms for no reason. When I went into Cades Cove, I came just shortly after the road was opened for the day. The big traffic build up was already in the park by that point.
*Even more Tips: Most people just drive through the park, maybe only stopping at the Visitor Center for the bathroom. I went during peak autumn color season and never had a problem finding a parking spot at any of the stops along the route. There are paved parking areas, plus wide shoulders on the road. Parking between the road and the fence is fine as long as traffic isn’t blocked. Those paved shoulders are also great for letting traffic go around you. Do that instead of creating a 30 car long traffic jam. I got behind someone going 5 mph. There was no reason.
Fall colors are popping through.
The first stop was the John Oliver Cabin. It was a very frosty morning.
A couple of deer were frolicking in the long grass.
The John Oliver Cabin is the oldest structure in Cades Cove, built in 1818.
Just gorgeous.
A side road brings you to the Primitive Baptist Church. The parking was completely open. There was no reason to park in the building.
Very simple inside. The current church was built in 1889.
Behind the church is the fantastic cemetery.
Tomb of John Oliver and his wife, Lurena.
The Methodist Church.
It also has its own cemetery.
Simply gorgeous.
Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church. Lots of tiny churches in Cades Cove. The current building dates to 1915.
Still a bit frosty.
The colors in autumn are fantastic.
To reach the next stop, Elijah Oliver Place, there’s a short trail. Very scenic area. Recommend.
I even met some of the neighbors. Deer jams happen a lot anytime some one sees a deer from the loop road. I got both of my best sightings on a trail. I was hoping the back ups would be a bear, but alas, only deer.
Elijah, son of the above John Oliver, built this cabin in 1865 after the Civil War. He had left the cove during the war due to raids from rebel groups from North Carolina.
Cades Cove’s most famous waterfall is Abrams Falls. The trail is 5 mi round trip, but not too difficult. There are a few steep spots though.
The trail mostly follows Abrams Creek, with a few access points to the creek.
Abrams Falls plunges 25 ft (7.6 m) into a lovely pool.
At the Cades Cove Visitor Center is the Cable Mill Historic Area, which features this barn I can’t find any information on. Some of the buildings in this area have been moved from other locations. It might be one of those.
Old farming equipment.
The gristmill was built around 1870 by John P. Cable.
The mill was used to grind grain grown by local families. It also had a very convenient saw mill feature as well.
The Gregg-Cable House built in 1879. Having a saw mill, allowed for easier construction of frame houses, which became very popular in Cades Cove. However, this house is the only one that remains. Both families that owned the home, the Greggs and the Cables, ran stores on the first floor. Eventually, it became a boarding house.
A drive through barn. Animals were penned in the enclosures. The open area under the barn allowed easy parking under the cover of the barn to keep equipment out of the rain.
A short deviation from the loop road brings you to Whitehead Place.
The house is made of two cabins. The brothers of Matilda Shields built the rear house for her and her son in 1881. She would marry Henry Whitehead in 1887. He built the larger home in the front for their large family.
This view never gets old.
The Dan Lawson Place was originally a log cabin, but later additions were framed (using that milled wood) and the entire exterior got siding. This house also served as a post office.
The wall with the fireplace shows the log cabin part of the house. It’s hard to see, but the wall is made of squared logs with chinking filling the gaps. The bricked fireplace is unusual in the fact that the bricks were made on site.
They had some great views from this house.
The Tipton Place was built in 1870s by Colonel Hamp Tipton.
The chinking is very obvious in this house. They also used local stone to create their fireplace.
A cantilever barn. Similar to the drive through barn above, cantilever barns had overhands to keep equipment and animals out of the weather, while still having a lot of room in the hay loft.
Last stop on the loop, the Carter Shield Cabin, and it’s a scenic one.
I drove the loop twice, because I purposely skipped a spot earlier in the day. The views from the Cades Cove Overlook are much better in the afternoon. Honestly, even with the annoying traffic, it was worth the extra trip.
But before we get there, full daylight pictures of what I covered early in the morning. Here you can see my first stop in the morning, the John Oliver Cabin, in the bottom right of the photo. I parked in the second parking lot this time.
Just gorgeous. I got to the Smokies for the perfect colors in low elevations. The tops of the mountains near the center of the park were already bare.
Based on the time stamps on my photos, I believe this is at or near the Cades Cove Overlook.
he grass fields we see today were all used for farming in the past. Today, native grasses are grown and managed to imitate fields.
Just gorgeous. I think this might be after the overlook.
Cades Cove is a magical place. I absolutely enjoyed the day, even with the traffic jams. It took me from about 7:30 am (when I took the first photo) until 3 pm to reach the Tipton Place. If you are planning on doing any trails in the cove, pack a lunch and some snacks, and expect to stay the entire day.
Check my next update where I explore Georgia’s Providence Canyon!
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