Townsend Tennessee is the closest and most convenient access to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The serenity and natural beauty of the half-million acre park is literally at your doorstep.

Luxury Log Home Resort
Smoky Mountains

What & Where Is Cades Cove?

A "cove" in the Smokies is a flat valley that sits between mountains or ridges. Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is--in our humble opinion--unmatched for its natural beauty and is a wonderful sampler of everything the Park has to offer: idyllic settings, mountain vistas, trails for hiking, trout streams for flyfishing, horseback riding trails, campgrounds, waterfalls, preserved historic pioneer structures, wildflowers, wildlife, and a photographer's paradise. The cove is traversed via an 11-mile loop road that roughly matches the original location of the road that its 125 original farming families used to move about the area. For more detailed info about all aspects of Cades Cove, click here.

Hiking Cades Cove

A number of hiking trails originate in Cades Cove. Seven major trailheads are easily reached from the loop road and include the Rich Mountain Loop Trail (which affords great views back into the Cove and of the Primitive Baptist Church), Abrams Falls Trail, and the Crib Gap Trail. details for the Cove Smoky Mountain hiking trails are here.

Fly Fishing the Trout Streams

Anglers should bring their gear with them to the cove. Idyllic streams bend away from trails, offering solitude and an opportunity to test their skills on the rainbow trout found here. A visit to the Smoky Mountain Angler in Gatlinburg TN is advised to learn about (and purchase) the professionally-tied flies that do well in the area.

Biking Cades Cove

Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to motor vehicles for the benefit of foot and bicycle traffic from sunrise until 10:00 a.m. every Saturday and Wednesday morning from May 7-September 24. Bicycles may be rented for $3.25 per hour from the Cades Cove store (located near Cades Cove Campground). Summer hours are 9-5 (7-7 on Wednesday and Saturday bicycle days). Last rentals are at 4:30 p.m. Several bicyclists in the park are injured seriously enough each year to require medical attention. Take care to wear helmets and heed warning signs. Bikes are permitted on most park roads but prohibited on most trails.

Auto Tours

In addition to the 11-mile loop road in the cove, two other roads branch off the loop road and leave the cove (we suggest you save these for a later time).

Rich Mountain Road

This 7-mile, one-way route runs north from Cades Cove to the Park boundary at Rich Mountain Gap and on down the mountain to Townsend TN. Rich Mountain Road was built in the 1820s following an old Indian trace into Cades Cove. Points of interest include a stand of shagbark hickory, a species rarely found in the Smoky Mountains. At one point on the road—shortly after leaving Cades Cove—you can enjoy a spectacular view of the cove and the Primitive Baptist Church, a favorite of photographers (see photo). The road is closed in winter. No trailers or RVs are allowed. Plan on spending about one hour on this trip if you stop to enjoy the spectacular view back down towards Cades Cove and the Primitive Baptist Church—a favorite of photographers.

This 8-mile gravel road leads from the Cades Cove Loop Road to US 129 toward the North Carolina side of the Park and Calderwood Dam. Parsons Branch Road was originally a main artery among a complex of roads feeding the smaller coves and hollows with Cades Cove. These highlands coves were home to several mountaineer farmers who stood against Confederate raiders. Parsons Branch leads south from Cades Cove and is located just after the Cades Cove Visitors Center. No trailers or RVs are allowed. This route takes approximately one hour to complete.

Order Park Maps

Park and trail maps, plus a Cades Cove self-guided tour booklet are available for purchase online. These items can be purchased as a kit along with recommended lodging, dining, and activities that are bound to make your trip a truly memorable one.

How To Get To Cades Cove

If you stay in one of Townsend's log cabin rentals or other local lodging accommodations, just navigate back to the main thoroughfare in Townsend (Hwy 321) and continue on where it turns into Hwy 73 to the entrance to the GSMNP. At the wye, take a right along Laurel Creek Road, which "dead ends" at the Cove.

If you are coming from Gatlinburg TN and the Sugarlands Visitor Center (at Newfound Gap Road), turn right on Little River Road and continue (beyond the wye) until "dead end" at the Cove.

Gatlinburg Cabin Rentals, Attractions, Dining