The slow scenic Gatlinburg to Cades Cove drive in Tennessee! Smoky Mountains vacation ideas

Hi there!

So you’re staying in Gatlinburg for your trip to the Smoky Mountains, and you’re thinking about going to Cades Cove, because… it’s one of the best things to do in Great Smoky Mountains National Park!

Cades Cove is one of the best scenic drives in the Smoky Mountains!

How should you drive there?

Well, of course you can drive directly to Cades Cove.

But there are also a few things you might want to see along the way if you want to make time for it!

You can make it yet another scenic drive in the Smoky Mountains!

Below is a list of stops you can make along the way on your drive from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove. This includes some small roadside waterfalls.

Or, if you’re really mostly interested in spending time in Cades Cove and worried about running out of time, you can make some stops on the way back to Gatlinburg depending on how much time you have left in the day.

 

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This will generally go in the order you can make the stops if you are driving from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove by taking the scenic route (aka the southern route).

Many of these things are close to Gatlinburg, so if there’s a lot you want to do, you might want to save some of these for another day, too!

I was in Gatlinburg and Cades Cove in September. What the weather will be like from year to year can vary (which means the colors can vary!), but this is what it was like for me!

 

1. Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

 

As you start driving from Gatlinburg town and heading towards Cades Cove, you will pass the turnoff for the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.

This is another scenic road where you can simply drive the loop road to make it a quicker drive, or you could easily spend half a day or more in the area too.

Similar to Cades Cove, Roaring Fork is a one way road that has waterfalls, historic cabins, and a historic mill to explore too.

 

 

It would be reasonable to make it a day of something like the Cades Cove loop road in the morning and the Roaring Fork loop road in the afternoon.

 

See more to decide if you want to do this drive on the same day as your drive to Cades Cove:

• Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

 

 

2. Cataract Falls

 

This can be a relatively quick stop of around 15-20 minutes. It’s located near the Sugarlands Visitor Center. There is a nature trail that starts from behind the visitor center. If you want to make it a quicker stop, then you can park closer. There’s a small little parking area right near the Cove Mountain trailhead. 

 

 

3. Sugarlands Visitor Center

 

You’ll be driving right past the visitor center. If you want to pick up some self-guided tour books (remember bring cash) then this would be a convenient stop.

 

 

4. John Ownby Cabin

The John Ownby Cabin is a historic cabin that you’ll pass along the way that you can reach by taking a short trail from the visitor center.

 

 

⛰🐻

 

 

 

5. Laurel Falls

 

This is one of the popular waterfalls near Gatlinburg, and it will require a hike to get to Laurel Falls. There is also a spot along the trail where you can get mountain views.

 

 

When you’re driving the southern route (the scenic route) from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove, you will drive right past the trailhead parking for the Laurel Falls Trail. You’ll want to give yourself around 2 hours if you want to stop here.

See more to decide if you want to make the stop on the way to Cades Cove: Laurel Falls

 

 

6. Elkmont Campground

 

Well of course a campground isn’t really something that you make a “stop” at.

But this is more of a note of the location of the Elkmont campground in case you’re looking for camping in the Smoky Mountains!

If you want to spend a full day in Cades Cove and a full day in Roaring Fork for example, you might might like this location.

This campground is around 20 minutes from Gatlinburg town. It’s possible to reserve campsites that are directly along the river.

 

 

There is a small camp store at this campground that is generally open in the late afternoon and evening.

See more to decide if you want to stay at this camping spot between Gatlinburg and Cades Cove: Elkmont Campground

 

 

7. Little River Road

 

And then you will naturally end up on Little River Road, where you will be driving right along Little River.

The “main event” of your drive from Gatlinburg to Cades Cove! This is more about the “journey” and the scenic drive, rather than any specific things to do.

 

 

But, there are many stops you can make along the side of the road if you want to sit and enjoy the sounds of the river. There are people who bring along chairs to sit by the river. Maybe you want to bring a picnic lunch or dinner to eat by the river on your way to Cades Cove or on the way back.

There are a number of small parking areas along the side of the road.

 

 

There are also some small roadside waterfalls that you can see along the road.

These can be cute little waterfalls to see along the river. These are easy access waterfalls in the Smoky Mountains, as pretty much all you need to do is get of the car and you will be able to spot them!

These are coming up next on the list. The waterfalls are on google maps so you can follow along there with GPS. It’s a good idea to download offline google maps before you go since you probably won’t have data driving through here. GPS will still generally work.

 

 

 

8. Mannis Branch Falls

 

These are small waterfalls you can see flowing into the river. You can pull over and see them from the road once you get out of the car.

 

 

 

9. Metcalf Bottoms picnic area

 

For a little bit more “formal” spot to eat the food you bring (aka at picnic tables), you can stop by the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area where you can eat right along the river.

 

 

10. The Sinks

 

These are popular waterfalls to stop off at.

 

 

There is a small parking area that might be full.

 

 

11. Meigs Falls

 

These are more waterfalls that you can see from the side of the road across the river. There’s a pullover area right in front of Meigs Falls.

 

 

 

12. Cane Creek Twin Falls

 

More small waterfalls that you can see flowing into the river from the side of the road are the Cane Creek Twin Falls.

 

 

 

13. White Oak Flats Falls

 

Some more small waterfalls on the side of the road.

 

 

14. Townsend Wye

 

If you’re driving in from Townsend, then here’s a nice little river access spot.

 

 

 

15. Laurel Creek Road

And then you’ll end up on Laurel Creek Road which has more pullover spots along the side of the road, and this road will take you directly to the Cades Cove loop road!

 

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What is there to do in Cades Cove?

You’ve made it to Cades Cove! What now?!

Cades Cove is all about driving the Cades Cove Loop Road and stops along the way!

 

1. You can visit historic cabins

 

 

2. You can hike to the famous Cades Cove waterfalls

 

 

3. You can visit a historic mill

 

 

4. If it’s Wednesday, you can bike around the Cades Cove loop road without any cars

 

In 2020, the Cades Cove road was closed to cars ALL DAY on Wednesdays, so be sure to check the updates for 2021 if it’ll be the same. In previous years, it was only closed to cars in the mornings.

 

 

 

Cades Cove hours

 

It is officially listed that you can get started driving the loop at 8am, and ideally you’ll want to be off of the loop road shortly after sunset.

 

Morning fog in Cades Cove!

 

 

How long will it take to drive to Cades Cove?

If you were to drive direct from Gatlinburg to the start of the Cades Cove Loop Road, it will take 1-1.5 hours if you were to include likely traffic.

The more scenic route is by driving the Little River Road, so be sure to take that route… if you’re looking for the more scenic route! If you see google maps suggesting 2 routes, Little River Road is the southern route.

There is not much of a difference in drive time whether you take Little River Road or go the northern route bypassing this road.

 

Explore the map.

 

For something easy to remember, you can make the “Cades Cove Visitor Center” your destination for google maps.

This is actually about halfway along the Cades Cove loop road.

The beginning of the one way loop road would be closer to the spot marked on google maps as the “Cades Cove information kiosk.”

 

 

Stop at the information kiosk to get a $1 self-guided auto tour guidebook, and bring cash, more specifically dollar bills!

 

 

You can also find them at a Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitor center. If you still have time before your Smoky Mountains vacation, you can order the Smokies starter kit of tour booklets online that includes the Cades Cove book too.

 

 

How long do you need in Cades Cove?

So how much time you need will entirely depend on what you want to do in Cades Cove!

The loop road itself is around 11 miles. But it is a slow going one way road!

Some people are there to “only” drive the loop road.

Some people only stop at 1 or 2 of the historic sites. Some people may only stop for the waterfall hike.

Others may stop at everything! And then, there are the people who bike the loop. See more about biking Cades Cove.

You can also walk part of it too. It would be a bit much to walk the whole thing since it would be 11 miles of walking without any of the sides trips aka Cades Cove stops. But you can make it into a 4-5 mile half loop. (There’s a road that cuts across to split it.) And then you can also do an out-and-back from the parking area at the beginning for a shorter hike. See more about walking Cades Cove.

And so, at minimum, you will probably want to give yourself 1.5-2 hours.

If you were to drive the Cades Cove loop road straight without ANY traffic, you could drive it in less than an hour.

But it’s very likely that you will encounter slow vehicles in front of you.

Cars will practically come to a stop if they see a deer.

If someone sees a bear, you can almost definitely expect to come to a complete halt! And you might be one of those cars coming to a stop and holding up traffic too. 😉 (Seeing bears in Cades Cove is not unusual.)

On the day you drive Cades Cove… it’s important that you bring PATIENCE!

So when you consider that driving to and from Gatlinburg may take 1.5 hours each way, and you will probably need at least 2-3 hours on the Cades Cove loop road, it will probably be best to think of a day trip to Cades Cove as at least a 5 hour day. And you can definitely make it an all day thing!

 

Cades Cove campground

 

There is also a campground in Cades Cove if you want to spend a night or more in the area. This is good for both tent camping and RV camping.

There is also a small camp store at Cades Cove where you can go to load up on snacks even if you’re not camping here.

See more about Cades Cove camping.

 

 

And that’s a bit of how you can spend your time driving from Gatlinburg!

See more: Cades Cove Loop Road

Are you headed to the Clingmans Dome observation tower too?! Also see what’s on the drive from Gatlinburg to Clingmans Dome!

Also see the best waterfall hikes to add to your Smoky Mountains vacation!

 

HAPPY DRIVING TO CADES COVE!