Experiencing Days Gone By in Cades Cove, Tennessee
A leisurely 11-mile scenic drive through Cades Cove takes you back nearly 200 years to a time when early settlers lived and died by the land they called home. Restored 19th and 20th-century homes, churches, schools, and a working grist mill depict the experience of the early days when this was bustling community of over 270 residents. Sitting in hard, time-worn wooden pews and reading tombstones of century-old graveyards tells the story of life in the mountains. Walking, biking, and horseback riding are permitted in the area and greatly increase your chance of seeing bear, deer, elk, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other residents who still call Cades Cove home.
Imagine beauty that has been untouched by the hands of man, but a beauty that came from God's hand. A place that has not been disturbed by construction, manufacturing, deforestation, or removal of wildlife. Imagine a place that allows you to take in the views of valleys, wildflowers, mountains, wildlife and blue skies all in one glimpse. That place is not long gone and forgotten, but it can be found at Cades Cove.
Paul W. Rue
Sorry, didn't see your question before. That is Moss on the wheel. I love it when it latches onto something like this grist mill and adds that perfect touch of color.
Cades Cove offer activities for all types of adventurers. Biking, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, camping, and sight-seeing are all within grasp. However, the beauty of Cades Cove lies in the nooks and crannies of creation. Park your car in one of the pull offs and walk just off the driven track. Patches of woods offer fawns nestled down, birds singing, ancient trees telling history, and bears playing with their friends. My photo captures a mother bear, fifteen yards away, looking after two cubs ferociously chasing a butterfly. The green accents the black of her coat, and the sun lightens the tense air of a human near the cubs. I photographed her for an hour, thankful to her for sharing the real Cades Cove with me.
The best time to visit Cades Cove is in the early morning hours around sunrise. As the mist is rising from the meadow in the valley, native wildlife, such as the white-tailed deer, come out to nibble on the moist vegetation. If you're really lucky you may even be able to spy a fox, a wild turkey, a red wolf, and even a big ole black bear. But be warned, you should never approach or feed the wildlife.
The Cove, located in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, looks much the way it looked in the nineteeth and early twentieth centuries. The old pioneer homesteads, barns, a gristmill, and several churches have been preserved so that you can glimpse into the past to see how the early pioneers lived their lives. The old cemeteries are often visited by local people that may glimpse an ancestor's name on one of the tombstones. The one-way eleven mile loop road allows visitors to drive right into the past. The cars seem so out of place here among the trout streams and unrivaled views of the Great Smokies that surround this perfect little valley. It really is a small piece of paradise in these scenic, ancient mountains!
A leisurely 11-mile scenic drive through Cades Cove takes you back nearly 200 years to a time when early settlers lived and died by the land they called home. Restored 19th and 20th-century homes, churches, schools, and a working grist mill depict the experience of the early days when this was bustling community of over 270 residents. Sitting in hard, time-worn wooden pews and reading tombstones of century-old graveyards tells the story of life in the mountains. Walking, biking, and horseback riding are permitted in the area and greatly increase your chance of seeing bear, deer, elk, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other residents who still call Cades Cove home.
Submit
Add a Comment
