Cades Cove is the most visited part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Indians hunted here for centuries until the arrival of white settlers. Prior to 1819 Cades Cove was part of the Cherokee nation. It is now an open-air museum that preserves some of the material culture of those who last lived there.

Visitors of Cades Cove will see Tennessee cabins and other pioneer structures, abundant wildlife, more than a dozen hiking and horseback riding trails, and all of the splendor of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Directions from Alcoa Airport MainStay Suites to Smoky Mountains National Park:

1. Start out going South on Fountain View Circle toward Associates Boulevard.
2. Turn left onto Associates Boulevard.
3. Turn right on TN35S/Hall Road
4. Turn left onto Hwy321N/Lamar Alexander Pkwy
5. In Townsend, Continue on Hwy73 to the park
6. At the "Y" veer to the right and continue to Cades Cove

Estimated Distance: 20 miles       Estimated Time: 40 minutes

Photograph courtesy of the United States National Park Service.