6 Top Things to See in Cades Cove

Visiting Cades Cove for the first time means you’ll have tons to see and do. To help you prioritize how you spend your trip, we’ve collected six of the top things you must see while you’re here. You’ll thank us later!

1

The Black Bears

The Smoky Mountain area has one of the largest protected areas in the eastern U.S. where black bears can live. For that reason, black bears can be found at all elevations around the national park and there are more than 1,500 of them around the area.

2

Tuckaleechee Caverns

Welcome to the underbelly of earth’s oldest mountain chains – also known as the “greatest site under the Smokies.” These caverns are between 20 to 30 million-years-old and contain beautiful cave-onyx formations that can be 12 feet high and six inches across!

3

Spruce Flats Falls

These waterfalls will take your breath away. Plus, the hiking trail to reach them is just a 2-mile roundtrip. It's the perfect excursion to stretch your legs and get a spectacular photo opportunity.

4

Rockefeller Monument

The Rockefeller monument stands in honor of Rockefeller’s wife, Laura Spelman, who helped purchase the land for the park. This two-tiered stone-structure now sits majestically on Newfound Gap.

5

John P. Cable Mill

In Cades Cove there were few sources of power which the frontiersman knew how to harness. One of those power sources was the water wheel such as drove the early grist mills. Cable Mill is one of those. The Smoky Mountains Natural History Association keeps Cable Mill running to teach visitors a little about life in the 1800’s. The mill is operated April-October.

6

Clingmans Dome Lookout

See 6,645 feet above the valley of the Great Smoky National Park. You’ll stand on one of the highest peaks east of the Mississippi where you will get an unbelievable 360-degree view of the park.