Cades Cove

Long before European settlers arrived, the Cherokee hunted and traveled through this valley, part of a homeland that stretched across the southern Appalachians. In the 1830s the Cherokee of this region were forced from their lands and driven west along the Trail of Tears, one of the darkest chapters in American history, and their descendants continue as the Eastern Band of Cherokee in nearby North Carolina and the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

European settlers began farming Cades Cove in the early nineteenth century, clearing fields, building log homes, and raising a community with churches, a school, and a mill. Families worked the fertile valley floor for more than a century. When the national park was created in the 1930s, most residents sold their land and moved on, and the Park Service chose to preserve a number of the old cabins, barns, churches, and the mill as a window into that vanished mountain life.

The heart of a Cades Cove visit is the 11-mile loop road, a one-way, mostly single-lane route that circles the valley floor. Numbered stops mark historic buildings and pull-offs, and short side roads and trails branch away to further cabins, waterfalls, and overlooks. Because it is one lane and one way, the loop moves at whatever pace the traffic and the wildlife dictate, so a leisurely mindset serves best.

Many visitors treat the loop as an unhurried half-day, stopping to walk into the old churches, tour the grist mill, and scan the fields for animals. On certain days the road is closed to cars and given over entirely to cyclists and walkers, a favorite way to experience the cove in quiet.

Cades Cove is one of the surest places in the Smokies to see wildlife, thanks to its open fields hemmed by deep forest. White-tailed deer graze in the meadows, wild turkeys move in flocks, and black bears are frequently spotted feeding along the edges, especially in the berry season and the cool hours of morning and evening. Coyotes, foxes, groundhogs, and a wealth of birds round out the cast.

That abundance comes with responsibility. Black bears are powerful wild animals, and getting too close, or worse, feeding them, is dangerous for people and deadly for the bears. Keeping a respectful distance and staying in or near your vehicle when animals are near lets everyone enjoy the sight safely.

Spring greens the valley and brings wildflowers to the fields and forest edges, along with newborn wildlife and pleasant temperatures. Summer is lush and warm and the busiest season, with long days for wildlife watching but heavier traffic on the loop.

Fall is spectacular, when the surrounding ridges blaze with color and the cove draws its largest crowds; an early start is essential then. Winter strips the trees bare and opens up long views of the ridgelines and the old buildings, offering the quietest and most solitary visits, though weather can occasionally close the loop road.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.