Cades Cove

Morning mist has given way to steady light rain. It's not ideal hiking weather. But it's perfect for a drive around Cades Cove in the northwest corner of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 700 or so people who lived in this valley in the southern Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina are long gone. But their voices speak loudly through a delightful recreation and restoration of a mountain community.

One of the most popular sections of the nation's most visited national park, Cades Cove is on a 11-mile one-way loop. A very well done guidebook ($1 at the start of the trail or in any of the park's visitor centers) provides rich detail. At 18 spots on the loop there are parking areas with very short, easy trails that lead to historic buildings and sites.

It is possible to walk or bike the loop, but you'd have to be comfortable with a steady stream of cars and motor homes on the road with you. Even on a rainy day in late April (not at all peak season), traffic was fairly heavy. If you really want to walk or bike without the traffic, wait until the second Wednesday or Saturday morning in May. Motor vehicles are prohibited on the loop until 10 a.m. on those days until the last Saturday in September to allow bicyclists and pedestrians to enjoy the cove. The Cades Cove store, at the public campground, rents bicycles in the summer and fall.

The National Park Service restored the cove to look at it might have when frontiersmen of European-descent settled in the fertile valley beginning in the early 1800s.

By 1850, 685 people lived in Cades Cove. Most were farmers who supplemented their diet by hunting. American Chestnut trees were plentiful and their chestnuts were gathered for food and to be sold or traded. Travel between remote mountain communities was difficult and time consuming, and Cades Cove families were fairly self-sufficient. Two churches, schools, grist mills, forges and stores were part of the village.    

The valley was already an important hunting ground for the native Cherokees. In fact, it was Cherokee trails that lead white settlers to the area. According to the NPS, there is no evidence that Native Americans had villages in the area, and the pioneers faced little resistance in their settlements. In 1838-39, the Cherokees were forced from their native grounds under the Indian Resettlement Act. Many died on the infamous "Trail of Tears" march to Oklahoma. A century later, it was the European settlers who were asked to leave the land for the creation of the Great Smoky National Park.

Cades Cove was the first large tract of land acquired in Tennessee for the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1927. Many families accepted the government's buyout offer for their land. Others chose to remain on the land until death. The school closed in 1944, the post office three years later.

More information on Cades Cove and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be found on the NPS website.