Today the weather was great, so we drove south from the campground, through the town of Townsend and entered the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Inside the park is a huge valley called Cades Cove. The area's history includes a hunting ground for the Cherokee Indians and then Europeans settled in the early 1800's. There are various buildings from that timeframe including churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and other restored eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings. Around the loop there are small pull-off's where you can exit your vehicle and hike one of the many trails, or simply photograph the scenery. There is a wide variety of wildlife in the area as well.
A very old tunnel as we headed to Cades Cove
Visiting Cades Cove involves driving (or bicycling) an 11 mile one-way loop.... slowly! I cannot imagine the traffic in the middle of the tourist season. Today the traffic was heavy and many times it ground to a halt. There are signs that warn you about not stopping in the roadway, but there are those who ignore the guidance...so you do not want to be in a hurry when you visit Cades Cove!
We spent about two hours driving the loop including one stop at the Cades Cove Visitor Center. What a beautiful area! Before we started around the loop we stopped at the bicycle rental shop to use the restrooms. On Wednesdays between 17 Jun and 30 Sep vehicular traffic is prohibited. It's nice that they do this as riding a bike around the loop along with vehicles could be dangerous although there were those that were doing it today. There was even a guy running the loop on foot. The loop road is narrow - our one ton dually consumed pretty much the entire road.
Here are some pictures from our journey around Cades Cove. We did see many turkeys (the gobbler kind!), deer and we also saw one young black bear from a distance.
One way to see the sights (sunroof)!!
Amazing scenery with the Smoky Mountains in the distance
Many hiking trails
Tom turkey on display
The working grist mill
Several barns and other structures from the 1800's
Many babbling brooks, this one very small. Fly fishermen on others
Our one and only black bear sighting. A real traffic stopper!!
The park is supported by donations. No entrance fees here.
Tomorrow we will visit Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg area and have lunch with a childhood friend of Doreen's
One way to see the sights (sunroof)!!
Did you do the museum at Cherokee when driving in the park?
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