Cades Cove Heritage Tour

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...

The Great Smoky Mountains boast a gorgeous landscape, but they also have a rich history that dates back to the 1900s. Read on to learn some of the events that shaped the Smokies into the incredible destination it is today. You can learn even more about the history that shaped this beautiful place by booking a tour with Cades Cove Heritage Tour s and one of our several expert guides. We love sharing the story of the Great Smoky Mountains with visitors! Check our availability here . Early Settlers White settlers started arriving to this Cherokee Indian Territory in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These settlers lived of the land – hunting, fishing, raising livestock, and growing crops to feed their families. They also used timber from the area to build their homes and fences. While they were utilizing the land’s resources, they were self-sufficient and not depleting the supply in massive quantities. That was all about to change. Logging Boom The lumbering industry arrived at...

Cades Cove Heritage Tours is proud to announce an incredible new day trip - the Festive Holiday Trip to Grove Park Inn and Biltmore . This beautiful experience will help inspire you to feel the holiday spirit this season with a gingerbread exhibit, champagne brunch, candlelit tour, and more! Mark your calendars for November 23rd and buy your tickets before the October 22nd deadline to secure your place on this incredible day trip! 27th Annual Gingerbread House Exhibit at Grove Park Inn Enjoy the intricate, too-pretty-to-eat designs on display at the Annual Gingerbread House Exhibit. This beautiful exhibit shows off the winning gingerbread houses from the Annual National Gingerbread House Competition at The Omni Grove Park Inn. What started as a small community event in 1992 has blossomed over the years into a wonderful tradition that participants and guests alike appreciate and treasure every year.  Holiday Champagne Brunch at Grove Park Inn Grove Park Inn is th...

The Smoky Mountains are a breathtaking location sure to be on everyone's travel bucket list! There are numerous activities, sights to see, and places to visit. As a long-time tour destination in the Smoky Mountains , Cades Cove Heritage Tours has great tips to help you plan your trip. Read on to find out a few essentials you should pack for your next visit! Comfortable Clothing Smoky Mountain hiking trails are some of the most beautiful you can witness, especially on our Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tour . Make sure you are prepared by choosing hiking boots that provide stability for your ankles and have comfortable soles so your feet don't start to ache before the hike has even started. Pack warm, thick socks to help prevent blistering and losing heat as you climb to higher elevations. It is also a good idea to bring a few different layers so you can adjust to the temperature fluctuations as the day progresses. Check the weather in the area where you will ...

There are approximately 1,600 black bears that call the Great Smoky Mountains National Park home. Seeing these beautiful creatures is why many families make the trip to the Smoky Mountains . With its great wooded areas and open fields, Cades Cove offers the best chance to see black bears in the Smokies . In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours would like to remind you that these bears are wild animals and give you some safety tips if you encounter a bear. Keep Your Distance The most important thing to remember is to keep a safe distance. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park requires you to stay at least 50 yards away from bears at all time. If you get closer than 50 yards, you could be fined or even be arrested. Bear attacks are very uncommon, but bears will protect food and cubs, so if you get to close, they could see you as a threat. Do Not Feed Them If you have food, keep it secured and never leave it unattended. Never feed the bears! This can be very dangerous ...

We know the Smoky Mountains as foggy towering mountains with a thick forest. Did you know that before the Great Smoky Mountain National Park existed that most of the Tennessee side of the Smoky Mountains were barren? Here at Cades Cove Heritage Tours , we love the rich history of the mountains and we love to tell the stories. In this week’s blog, we would like to talk about the history of the logging industry in the Smoky Mountains. Early Logging Endeavors The first logging operations in the Smoky Mountains began in the 1880s. The most well-known early loggers were the English Lumber Company on Little River, the Taylor and Crate on the Hazel Creek, and Alexander Arthur on the Pigeon River. These operations couldn’t reach the high forest ranges, so they focused on the low-lying areas along waterways. They used splash dams or booms to float logs down the rivers to get to the mills. The dangers of working on waterways were flooding, and all three companies failed after their opera...

The Smoky Mountains are well known for amazing fall foliage, black bears, and moonshine! Moonshine? Yes, moonshine is a huge historic part of life in the Smokies. You will find all kinds of distilleries, large and small surrounding the Smokies, but it wasn’t too long ago that these mountains were crawling with bootleggers running corn whiskey stills. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours will tell you all about the history of Moonshine in the Great Smoky Mountains . How It All Started When Irish and Scottish immigrants settled in the Smoky Mountains in the 1700s, they brought along their tradition of whiskey making. The Irish and Scottish typically used grains and barley to make their traditional whiskey, but the plentiful amount of corn would soon become the product of choice. The Whiskey Rebellion On January 27th, 1791 the House approved legislation to impose an excise tax on whiskey. The Distilled Spirits Tax was implemented to pay down national debt that had acc...