Cades Cove is a serene valley in the Smoky Mountains and is famed for wildlife, scenery, and fascinating history. Drive the 11-mile loop road through the valley to explore these can’t-miss stops.
1. John Oliver Cabin
John and Lucretia Oliver’s hand-hewn log cabin is the national park’s oldest surviving structure. This impressive example of traditional cabin construction has stood for more than 200 years, though it’s held together purely by gravity and precise woodworking–there isn’t a single nail or peg anywhere!
2. The Three Churches
Three simple, wooden churches stand along the road. Churches were central to both spiritual life and social life here in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Step inside the Primitive Baptist Church to see carpenters’ handprints on the wooden ceiling. At the Methodist Church, walk among the oldest graves in Cades Cove.
3. Cable Mill
The water-powered grist mill, built in 1870, was the Cove’s economic hub, grinding corn and sawing lumber while families exchanged news. Volunteers still grind corn on the mill’s huge grindstones. In the fall, watch volunteers use a horse-powered press to make sweet sorghum syrup, just like settlers did.
4. Henry Whitehead Place
This unique double cabin has a romantic history. When Matilda Shields’s husband abandoned her in 1881, her brothers quickly built her a small, rough cabin, so she’d have a roof over her head. When she later married Henry Whitehead, he built a big, beautifully crafted cabin–and attached it to Matilda's tiny, beloved home. The joined cabins show the full range of Appalachian building techniques.
5. Tipton Place
The standout feature at this homestead is the eye-catching cantilevered barn, looking as if it’s on stilts, suspended over the ground. The design was common in the Smokies two centuries ago, as a way to protect crops from weather, provide shade for animals, and allow wagons to pull into the barns.
6. Carter Shields Cabin
Without a power line or paved road in sight, Carter Shields Cabin is an idyllic spot for a photo looking into the past. The one-bedroom log cabin stands in a quiet clearing, against a backdrop of trees that burst with blossoms in spring.
Stay within easy reach of Cades Cove, so you can visit this historic valley again and again. Book a Smoky Mountains cabin rental today.
