Cades Cove Heritage Tour

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 ...