Cades Cove Heritage Tour

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a vast and gorgeous place to visit. With so much area to cover, it can be difficult to know which locations are best to include on your trip. As the best tour of the Great Smoky Mountains , Cades Cove Heritage Tours has you covered with visits to Cades Cove, and on private customized tours, you can visit Elkmont and Newfound Gap. Read on to learn more about each of these incredible places, and don't forget to call and book your own tour with us! Cades Cove This is one of the most popular destinations in the Smokies for good reason! Wildlife is abundant in this area, providing great chances to witness wild horses, bears, turkey, coyote, and more. The history of Cades Cove is rich and interesting. Europeans moved to the area in the early 1800s, and a booming town was born out of the growing logging industry. Once the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, the loggers moved out of town, leaving behind incredible build...

Cades Cove Heritage Tours offers the best tours of the Great Smoky Mountains National Par k! Some people choose to try and tour the Smokies on their own. but did you know that, on average, only 1 in 100 people come into contact with a Park Ranger when visiting the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? The vast area can be overwhelming to try touring on your own, and you may miss several interesting stops and turns along the way. Schedule a tour with Cades Cove Heritage Tours to experience the ecology and history of Cades Cove like never before! Read on to learn more about why touring with us is the best way to experience Cades Cove at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ! Celebrity Tour Guides The guides at Cades Cove Heritage Tours are hand-picked for their expertise in the area and their unique ability to captivate their audience. In 2019, we've had three celebrities guiding groups through the Smoky Mountains while providing interesting st...

Who would know more about Cades Cove than a retired Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranger? Here is an opportunity to go behind the scenes with expert Mike Meldrum. You will not want to miss this amazing tour. In this week’s blog, we will tell you what you can expect in this Cades Cove tour . About Your Guide With nearly 20 years of service in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, retired ranger Mike Meldrum is what you might call an expert on the Smokies. A tour with Mike will take visitors to exclusive locations in the Cove, including the CCC Camp, the World War II Memorial Tree, Cable’s Lodge, Gregory’s Cave, and more. Visitors will also have the chance to hear about Joe Gregory’s thriving business. Back in the day, Joe used to charge visitors 50 cents to explore the cave. Earlier, it was used by Native Americans and Americans alike for various purposes. Aside from reported Civilian Conservation Corps moonshine parties and dances, the cave also hosted a government fallou...

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has over 11 million visitors per year, making it the most visited national park in the country. Out of those 11 million, over 2 million visitors a year visit Cades Cove . Cades Cove is the most popular attraction in all the park. There are many reasons for that, and Cades Cove Heritage Tours would like to tell you about a few of those in this week’s blog. Black Bears What does every visitor to the Smokies want to catch a glimpse of? Black bears of course! Cades Cove is one of the best places in all the park to see a bear. Why is that? The cove is home to mass amounts of food sources for black bears, like acorns, blackberry, blueberry, and huckleberry bushes. Cades Cove has acres of open fields and meadows which give you a chance to see a bear on the move, and these open areas allow you to see into the wooded areas. History The first settlers came to Cades Cove in the 1820s. They started building homes and by 1850 there were as many as ...

It sure is hard to imagine that summer’s end is coming soon. Where did the time go? The autumn season will soon be upon us, so it is time to plan your fall getaway to the Smokies ! No matter the season, the Smoky Mountains are beautiful but there is something about the fall that sure is special. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours will cover a few reasons why the Smoky Mountains are the place to be this fall. Cool Temperatures Summertime sure does bring the crowds to the Smokies, but with summer comes the temps. Visiting in the fall is a great time to take advantage of the cooler weather. You will be able to get out and enjoy a hike or bike ride through the mountains without worrying about the heat. The temperatures start to dip in late September and by November you may need a jacket. Fall Colors Fall is a beautiful season! Along with the cooler temperatures in late September and early October, the foliage starts to turn some amazing colors. The mountains will sta...

Cades Cove features several historic buildings, including three churches, log homes, a working grist mill, and other restored structures. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours would like to tell you all about the historic structures you will see along our public and private tours. Grab the family, grab your camera, and let’s go for a ride! John Oliver Cabin The first historic structure you will see along the tour is the John Oliver Cabin. This cabin is named after one of the first pioneers to settle in Cades Cove. The home has no nails or pegs, the notched corners use gravity to hold it together. The John Oliver Cabin stayed in the Oliver family for over 100 years before the National Park Service eventually took it over. Churches You will enjoy the site of three church buildings along the route. First is the Primitive Baptist Church, then the Methodist Church and lastly the Missionary Baptist Church. These structures are very intriguing and hold lots of history. ...

If you’re visiting the area and looking for something exciting and educational to do with the family, a tour of the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center is a must-stop destination for any trip to the Smoky Mountains . Opening to the public in 2006 the Heritage Center has been growing ever since and is dedicated to preserving the rich history of the Great Smoky Mountains. In this week’s blog, we would like to tell you all about the Heritage Center and how together we celebrate the cultural heritage of the Great Smoky Mountains ! Mission The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center preserves, interprets and shares the history and culture of the diverse peoples and Native Americans who have inhabited the Southern Appalachians, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It offers exhibitions and programs for educational and cultural enrichment. Museum The Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center is first and foremost a museum; a museum whose mission is to preserve, protect and ...