Cade cove
To refresh our-self with some cold breeze far away from the sunshine state, we (family of three) decided to take a small tour of the Great Smoky Mountains. We shopped for some winter clothes, as this was my sons first time in the snow and being in Florida means you have to prepare mentally for some cold because here we don't have winter months we have only winter weeks. We started our journey from Tampa by Friday afternoon and drove a little over 3 hours to take a break.
Tip- If you are traveling with small children I will advise to search and be prepared in advance for your stops and if you have time search for some outlet near highways or shops like IKEA, Walmart because here kids can easily stretch their legs and you can grab some snack and can freshen up too, so its a kind of win-win.
After driving for 6 hours, we checked in at Marietta, GA. Next morning we had our go-to breakfast and drove straight for 4 hours to reach our first destination, Cade Cove loop at Tennessee (there were miles of fog but luckily it wasn't so dense).
Cade cove is an 11-mile loop road with few historical stops in between, but the scenic views are mesmerizing. In January you won’t see any greenery here, but the view of mountains, open grass fields is so fascinating to watch, and if you are lucky you might see some deers too. Cade Cove has few old cabins, church from 18th century, a twenty feet fall and trails in the loop.
[list of stops: Oliver Cabin, Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Missionary Baptist Church, Cooper Road Trail, Elijah Oliver Place, Abrams Falls,Visitor Center, Cable Mill, Henry Whitehead Place, Cades Cove Nature Trail, Dan Lawson Place, Tipton Place, Carter Shields Cabin, Hyatt Lane and Sparks Lane]
Before entering the loop we took a flyer from the visitor center (you can prepare beforehand with a few selected spots to view). We didn't go for fall or any trail still we spent almost 2 hours in the loop. Anyone who is visiting smoky or Gatlinburg should definitely visit this, the natural beauty of mountains is tonic for the eyes.
Cades Cove is in Townsend, and our next stop was Gatlinburg, which was almost 25 miles away from the loop.
Tip- So, if you are at the Smoky Mountains and had already covered Gatlinburg, and Cade Cove is your last stop, I would suggest making your next stop either at Townsend itself or Cherokee (50 miles) so that you can avoid the curvy mountain roads.
The Christmas lights of Gatlinburg shines all January, so when we ended up at our hotel at almost 6 pm, we decided to take a short walk in the town and lighten a bit. It is a beautiful small town full of tourist, candies and lots of bear statues. Bears are kind of mascot for the Smoky Mountains. Well, one can shop several local things here, like souvenir or art. We strolled around a bit had some food and went straight to bed.
It rained almost all night and the morning was all wintry and foggy a typical mountain morning. Our plan for the day was to have some fun at smoky in there famous Ober Gatlinburg mountain (The mountain has a covered amusement park and outdoor ski area). They make man-made snow for skiing and for snow tubing rides. In January Gatlinburg also organize Winter games so if you are sport and snow enthusiastic, schedule the visit accordingly.
The park has varieties of rides and fun activities for all ages. The best way to reach there is to take a 15 min Aerial Tramway ride, you can drive too, but the views from the tramway are amazing. Once you reach there you can decide the activities of your choice, but it will be way better to make up your mind before-hand as it will save both time and boring long queues. If possible, buy tickets in advance to makes things easy, everything is available on their website tickets prices, timing, peak season etc.
Tip- Try to be early in the mountains as you can get parking space ($5) plus you have a whole day of activities to do at mountains.
We were there mainly for snow tubing and arrived at first slot. They have a time slot of one and half hours for every 100 people (can change), kids under 6 can do tubing with their parents in a double tube. It was a fun filled hour for us, though we don't know skiing or skating so after finishing tubing our son had fun at kids zone, and at some rides.
For lunch we were back at the Flapjacks, the whole Gatlinburg town is full of delicious southern meals. On our return we ditched 1-75 route and went through “Great Smoky National Park”, the glorious mountains were peeking from the clouds in mid-afternoon, tourists usually stop their cars at several places to capture the scenic beauty.
The 2016 fire has really changed the face of smoky, according to reports, the fires had burned more than 10,000 acres of land within the forest, many half-burnt trees are still around the jungle. The disaster was major for local people and the forest itself and I am sure it will stand tall again. This was my second trip after fall, hopefully, we will be back soon in another season to see the mountains little more, and make some more beautiful memories here.
Tip- If you are traveling with small children I will advise to search and be prepared in advance for your stops and if you have time search for some outlet near highways or shops like IKEA, Walmart because here kids can easily stretch their legs and you can grab some snack and can freshen up too, so its a kind of win-win.
After driving for 6 hours, we checked in at Marietta, GA. Next morning we had our go-to breakfast and drove straight for 4 hours to reach our first destination, Cade Cove loop at Tennessee (there were miles of fog but luckily it wasn't so dense).
Cade cove is an 11-mile loop road with few historical stops in between, but the scenic views are mesmerizing. In January you won’t see any greenery here, but the view of mountains, open grass fields is so fascinating to watch, and if you are lucky you might see some deers too. Cade Cove has few old cabins, church from 18th century, a twenty feet fall and trails in the loop.
[list of stops: Oliver Cabin, Baptist Church, Methodist Church, Missionary Baptist Church, Cooper Road Trail, Elijah Oliver Place, Abrams Falls,Visitor Center, Cable Mill, Henry Whitehead Place, Cades Cove Nature Trail, Dan Lawson Place, Tipton Place, Carter Shields Cabin, Hyatt Lane and Sparks Lane]
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| Church |
Before entering the loop we took a flyer from the visitor center (you can prepare beforehand with a few selected spots to view). We didn't go for fall or any trail still we spent almost 2 hours in the loop. Anyone who is visiting smoky or Gatlinburg should definitely visit this, the natural beauty of mountains is tonic for the eyes.
Cades Cove is in Townsend, and our next stop was Gatlinburg, which was almost 25 miles away from the loop.
Tip- So, if you are at the Smoky Mountains and had already covered Gatlinburg, and Cade Cove is your last stop, I would suggest making your next stop either at Townsend itself or Cherokee (50 miles) so that you can avoid the curvy mountain roads.
 |
| Great smoky mountains in winters |
It rained almost all night and the morning was all wintry and foggy a typical mountain morning. Our plan for the day was to have some fun at smoky in there famous Ober Gatlinburg mountain (The mountain has a covered amusement park and outdoor ski area). They make man-made snow for skiing and for snow tubing rides. In January Gatlinburg also organize Winter games so if you are sport and snow enthusiastic, schedule the visit accordingly.
The park has varieties of rides and fun activities for all ages. The best way to reach there is to take a 15 min Aerial Tramway ride, you can drive too, but the views from the tramway are amazing. Once you reach there you can decide the activities of your choice, but it will be way better to make up your mind before-hand as it will save both time and boring long queues. If possible, buy tickets in advance to makes things easy, everything is available on their website tickets prices, timing, peak season etc.
Tip- Try to be early in the mountains as you can get parking space ($5) plus you have a whole day of activities to do at mountains.
We were there mainly for snow tubing and arrived at first slot. They have a time slot of one and half hours for every 100 people (can change), kids under 6 can do tubing with their parents in a double tube. It was a fun filled hour for us, though we don't know skiing or skating so after finishing tubing our son had fun at kids zone, and at some rides.
For lunch we were back at the Flapjacks, the whole Gatlinburg town is full of delicious southern meals. On our return we ditched 1-75 route and went through “Great Smoky National Park”, the glorious mountains were peeking from the clouds in mid-afternoon, tourists usually stop their cars at several places to capture the scenic beauty.
The 2016 fire has really changed the face of smoky, according to reports, the fires had burned more than 10,000 acres of land within the forest, many half-burnt trees are still around the jungle. The disaster was major for local people and the forest itself and I am sure it will stand tall again. This was my second trip after fall, hopefully, we will be back soon in another season to see the mountains little more, and make some more beautiful memories here.
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