Come take a trip into historic Cade's Cove!

Extra Info

All Ages Welcome

Once your tour is booked you will receive a confirmation email with meeting location & time, please read that confirmation email for important information.

Tour lasts approximately 5 hours but can be longer or shorter based on groups and conditions.

Description

This tour makes only 3 stops. It is a guided bus tour at a very slow pace through the Cades Cove area. Anyone with bladder issues needs to take note of the lack of restroom breaks on this tour.

If this area of the Great Smoky Mountains was its own national park it would be the 2nd most visited park in the United Sates. Cade's Cove is a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smoky Mountains. It offers some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in the park. Large numbers of white-tailed deer are frequently seen, and sightings of black bear, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other animals are also possible but never guaranteed.

On this amazing and breathtaking tour you will learn a lot about this once thriving community and its people. Learn its history straight from the horses mouth with video commentary from those who lived here and/or their descendants. You will be guided by a real East Tennessee local who is very knowledgeable about the mountains of East Tennessee. Your guide not only welcomes questions, he/she suggests it. The more you ask the better your experience will be. Come join us on a ride though the amazing and wonderful Cade's Cove.

Once inside the loop your guide will provide full narration. After we arrive at the start of the loop you will be offered a chance for a restroom break. Once the loop begins get your camera ready because wildlife can be around any corner. If you spot it let your guide know and he/she will attempt to pull over to get good photos when possible. The valley has a rich history. For hundreds of years Cherokee Indians hunted in Cade's Cove but archaeologists have found no evidence of major settlements. The first Europeans settled in the cove sometime around 1818. By 1830 the population of the area had already swelled to 271. Cade's Cove offers the widest variety of historic buildings of any area in the national park. Scattered along the loop road are three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures.

The only scheduled stop inside the loop is a 45 minute break at the half way point for the restroom and some leg stretching. This area has lots of photo opportunities and exploration inside some very old and historic structures including one of the last working grist mills. Once the break is over we continue our journey around the loop until we reach the end where you are offered another restroom break before we head back to Pigeon Forge.