Cade's Cove

Annette drawing next to water

When we spend time in Smoky Mountain National Park, we always have to make time to drive the loop through Cade's Cove. We drove into the park from Townsend on highway 73 and along Laurel Creek Road. We stopped along the river to enjoy the water.

DeerCade's Cove is one of our favorite places in the world. When you drive into the cove, you immediately feel like you've entered another world. Although it's almost always busy, there are places where you can still get away from the crowds.

 

Our first stop was John Oliver's Place. Oliver was one of the first Europeans to settle in Cades Cover in 1818. We arrived in time to watch a couple have wedding photos taken at the cabin. While Larry took pictures, Annette sketched the cabin.

Cade's Covecorner of househouse in Cade's Cover

There were lots of people around, so we decided to take a leisurely pace and stop when the traffic got busy. We spent some time just enjoying the cove.

Annette drawingCade's Cove view

One of our favorite stops is at the visitor center in the middle of the park. It was getting late, so after photographing the mill we decided to move on. We drove a little way up the Parson Branch road, but we had to turn around because of flood damage to the road.

MillMountain Holly

We never have enough time to spend in the park. Next time we'll have to spend a couple months rather than a few weeks.

Created by Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson, 5/05.