Waterfall at Cades Cove

Cades Cove

Cades Cove is 137 miles and 3.7 hours west of Pigeon Forge. Cades Cove is a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most visited destinations in the Great Smoky Mountains.

Cades Cove has a variety of historic buildings you can visit.Along the loop road you can visit three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures.

An 11-mile, one-way loop road circles the cove, giving visitors the opportunity to sightsee at a leisurely pace. Allow at least two to four hours to tour Cades Cove, longer if you walk some of the area's trails.

There are short trails such as Cades Cove Nature Trail and a much longer hike to Thunderhead Mountain and .  Also visit Abrams Falls which a five-mile roundtrip hike.

During the summer months Cades Cove is quite crowded with visitors, so allow plenty of time to visit and enjoy the wildlife and scenery.