summer getaway
A lovely trip back in time Enjoy an early morning bike ride through Cades Cove, Tenn. STORY & PHOTOS By KATIE VanBRACKLE katie@northsidewoman.com
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ou have to wake up early, but it’s worth it to take a trip back in time in Cades Cove, Tenn. You won’t be alone. While the morning mists slowly rise up from the valley floor to join the clouds covering surrounding mountain ridges, Cades Cove’s animal residents are out and about looking for breakfast. White-tailed deer graze at the forest’s edge. Wild turkeys stalk through tall grass on the valley floor. If you are lucky, you might spot a black bear, a coyote or a woodchuck. Cades Cove, a beautiful, broad valley surrounded by mountains on the western edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, offers some of the best wildlifeviewing opportunities around and is one of the most visited destinations in the Smokies. Traffic is heavy in the area during summer and fall. But from early May until late September, the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road is closed to motor vehicles on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Until 10 a.m., bicyclists and pedestrians get free reign to enjoy the cove. This is when you get to experience Cades Cove at its best--quietly, slowly. In addition to beautiful pastoral scenes and wildlife sightings, Cades Cove offers a wide variety of Southern Appalachian cultural treasures. Scattered along the loop road are three churches, a working gristmill, barns, log houses and many other faithfully restored 18th- and 19th-century structures. The cove has been preserved to look much the way it appeared in the 1800s, when it was home to a small mountain community. It’s interesting to walk through the buildings and imagine yourself as an early settler--felling trees to build a log cabin, growing wheat and grinding it into flour at the 18 | northsidewoman.com | august2013
mill, gathering chestnuts, marrying young and raising 10 to 12 children. During summer and fall, bicycles may be rented at the Cades Cove Campground Store. If the 11-mile loop sounds daunting, there are shortcuts that hasten the journey and circumvent most hills, but this also cuts out many points of interest. Some opt to bike the cove via the shortcuts in the morning, then visit later in the day by car. However you choose to experience Cades Cove, make sure to bring your camera and allow yourself plenty of extra time to stop and enjoy the scenery. This lovely American time capsule is meant to be savored. ■
Great Smoky Mountains National Park/Cades Cove
www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cadescove.htm