Historic Sites - Cades Cove
27 Cades Cove
- Cades Cove
Cades Cove is one of several special communities in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park exhibiting reconstructions of the pioneer way of life. John Oliver, the first permanent settler to the area, arrived in 1818. Rugged mountains surrounded the little settlement, and the people and the area became selfsufficient, isolated from the development taking place in the outside world. The twentieth century brought automobile roads that provided easier access to Cades Cove. Now the town is part of the 500,000-acre national reserve set aside in the 1930s, providing campgrounds, horseback riding, fishing, and 800 miles of hiking trails, including the Appalachian Trail. Cades Cove is an exception to the "naturalness" of the park itself; it is an outdoor museum of southern Appalachian life featuring reconstructed log cabins, churches, and mills. Permanent exhibits, a self-guided driving tour, and demonstrations of pioneer crafts are offered. Residents, many the descendents of early settlers, have special permits to keep over two thousand acres in farmland.
Cades Cove Web Site
107 Park Headquarters Road,
Gatlinburg, TN 37738
(865) 436-1200
