Cades Cove Loop, Great Smoky Mountains

Driving

by Plot Along: Appalachia

The 11-mile one-way loop road through Cades Cove, an isolated valley on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The cove is the most-visited destination in the most-visited national park in the United States, drawing over 2 million visitors a year. People come for its preserved cluster of 19th-century homesteads, churches, and grist mills, plus near-guaranteed wildlife sightings (whitetail deer, black bear, wild turkey).

The loop circles a flat valley floor framed by 6,000-foot Smokies ridges. Driving speeds are slow by design (10-20 mph) with frequent pull-offs for the historic buildings and meadow views.

The loop is open daily year-round, weather permitting. Vehicle-free mornings on Wednesdays from May through September.

Learn more: nps.gov

John P Cable Grist Mill
1870s water-powered grist mill, one of the most-visited buildings in the cove, restored and working seasonally with park staff demonstrating corn grinding.
Tipton Place
1870s farmstead built by Hamp Tipton. The home is preserved along with a smokehouse, woodshed, and a working blacksmith shop.
Valley View
Open meadow pullout with one of the cove's classic Smokies-rim views. Near-guaranteed deer sightings at dusk.
Carter Shields Cabin
Small late-1880s log cabin in a dogwood grove, particularly photogenic when the dogwoods bloom in mid-April.
Methodist Church
1902 Methodist church built in 115 days for $115. The carpenter, J.D. McCampbell, also served as minister. One of three preserved churches in the cove.
Missionary Baptist Church
1894 Baptist church built after the congregation split from the Primitive Baptists in the 1830s over support for missionary work.
Rich Mountain Overlook
Overlook of Rich Mountain on the cove's northern rim. The unpaved Rich Mountain Road exits the cove here (one-way, seasonal, gravel).
John Oliver Cabin
1820s log cabin built by John and Lurena Oliver, the first European settlers in Cades Cove. The oldest standing structure on the loop.
Primitive Baptist Church
1827 congregation in a current building from 1887, the cove's original church and the one that stayed when the Missionary Baptists split off.
Becky Cable House
1879 frame house, the only frame structure in the cove. Becky Cable lived there alone for 70 years and ran a small store out of the front room.

John P Cable Grist Mill

Tipton Place

Valley View

Carter Shields Cabin

Methodist Church

Missionary Baptist Church

Rich Mountain Overlook

John Oliver Cabin

Primitive Baptist Church

Becky Cable House