Smoky Mountains Fall Color Season: Where and When To See the Best Leaves In 2010

The secret is out as to the best place to rent a log cabin to see the fall colors - it is the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina.

Sure, there are other great places to see fall colors such as Vermont, New Hampshire and Michigan, but none of these locations to leaf peep in autumn has such a wide variety of trees that change colors, elevations and microclimates.

This means instead of having a week or two of great leaf colors every fall, the Great Smoky Mountains leaf season ranges for months! The leaves start to change color in the Smokies in the higher elevations during September and the hardwoods trees such a red oaks will have bright flaming colors in the leaves typically in November - sometimes as late as Thanksgiving!

Why does the leaf season peak last so long on the Smokies and what is the best time to see the fall colors at their peak? The fall color peak varies each year by weather and the peak for each location in the Smoky Mountains can vary by weeks compared to another location a mile or so away.

The weather of a prior spring and summer can change how brilliant the colors will be as well as the lasting power of each leaf with its brilliant color from red to oranges to yellows on a tree or bush. Add into the mix that weather during the fall can contribute to how long the peak color will last during a given year.

Changes is sunlight trigger when leaves "shut off" and go dormant for the winter and the green color in the chloroform inside each leaf in the fall fades and the yellows and orange colors now show through. Less sunlight happens each day in the fall occurs as sunset comes earlier each day and very cloudy or rainy days can trick the leaves in the trees and bushes that change color think its later in the season.

The colder weather that occurs later in autumn turns some fall leaves such as those in oak trees and maple trees changes the sugar that is left in the leaves into bight reds, purple and some salmons. The timing and duration of cold snaps can intensify, accelerate or decelerate these colors coming at the fall peak of these trees.

All of these factors combined as well as the fact that there are more different species of trees that change colors all at different times and at different colors growing in the Great Smoky Mountains and the national park than there are throughout all of Europe. With the 5,000 plus foot variation in elevation and huge differences in sunlight exposure between ridgelines, hollows and valleys extend what should be a weeklong peak for a single species of tree, to 3 or more weeks to see great leaf color in the same tree!

All of these factors together mean there is no single day or week for peak leaf season in the Great Smoky Mountains. What you can count on is a range with the month of October being most brilliant in the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge area that includes the same basic peak season in Wears Valley, Walden Creek, Sky Harbor, Townsend, Brothers Cove, Caney Creek, Bluff Mountain, Greenbrier, Elkmont, Cades Cove, Pitman Center, Cosby and the surrounding areas in the Smokies.

Going over Newfound Gap to Cherokee, Bryson City , Maggie Valley, Asheville and Waynesville, the peak starts earlier because of a change in elevation and temperature. This way guests who stay in East Tennessee at the earlier part of leaf season in September can take a short drive to see the peak in the mountains and come back home to a cabin surrounded by the lush green privacy!

While leaf season is peaking, the acorn crop is crop is as well which means besides lots of squirrels running around eating and burying acorns this is peak season for seeing black bear in the Smokies looking to out on some extra pounds before winter when they tend to almost hibernate in what is called winter sleep.

While black bear will be active during park leaf season all over the Smokies, the best place to see them will be in the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains national park at the first hour or so of daylight and the last 2 hours before sunset. As it gets later in the fall black bear may be active eating acorns and scrounging for other food all day long.

The best place to rent a cabin during the fall leaf season during peak color in the Smoky Mountains depends greatly upon what you are looking for and when you plan on staying on the Smokies. Some people want complete seclusion on their vacation while some want to be high atop a mountain ridge looking out for miles at the fall colors and still others don't want to brave steep roads and driveways and prefer to be close to a river to catch some trout while the weather is still nice.

Besides log cabins for rent in the Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg areas of the Smokes, there are chalets for rent as well. What's the difference between a chalet and a cabin? Cabins have wood walls and ceilings and usually hardwood floors while chalets typically have walls and ceilings that are painted or wallpapered drywall. There are plenty of Pigeon Forge Chalet Rentals as well as those in Gatlinburg.

Another place to see great colored leaves in the Smokies beside the national park is in America's favorite theme park in the Mountains: Dollywood. As a matter of fact, Dollywood if often the people's choice winner of the best theme park in the US and the are plenty of great cabins for rent next to Dollywood. Peak fall colors in and around Dollywood is around the 2nd to 3rd week in October.

Therefore, with so many choices, it may not be easy to find the best place to rent a cabin on the Smokies during peak fall colors by yourself not to mention many a vacation has been ruined by a bad "rent by owner" experience so what should you do? Rent form a reputable cabin rental management company such as American Mountain Rentals or Brothers Cove and you are sure to have a great leaf peeping vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.

Brothers Cove Cabin Rentals in Wears Valley Web Site Improvements

It coming up to the one year anniversary when the cabin rental management of the Brothers Cove Mountain Resort located in the Walden Creek Wears Valley area just outside the city limits of Pigeon Forge Tennessee has been taken over by American Mountain Rentals of the Smoky Mountains.

In this time huge changes have been made to the property and management of this log cabin resort, which has spectacular views, whole being able to maintain secluded wooded areas that are all far away from the noise and traffic of downtown Pigeon Forge yet very close to the best of everything the Smokies has to offer.

The grounds have been cleaned up, roadways improved, the water treatment system has been improved, a more demanding cleaning and maintenance quality control has been put into place and well as a better trained and equipped staff that is on site at Brothers Cove so that their guest's vacation experience in the Smokies is beyond their expectations.

Guests renting cabins in Brothers Cove now have access to more discounts for attractions in the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg area including discounts to both the Dollywood theme park and Dolly Parton's Splash Country Water Park which are both just minutes from Brothers Cove as well as the great Pigeon Forge dinner theater experience: Dixie Stampede.

Renters of cabins in the Brothers Cove private gated log cabin resort and homeowners alike are thrilled with the new management team, on site staff and the huge benefits of the Brothers Cove American Mountain Rentals partnership with the huge resources American Mountain Rentals is providing.

Click above to Watch the Brothers Cove video
Click Here to Download a High Quality Version

The Brothers Cove web site is linked to the new streamlined reservation system that is now offering secure online booking to all of the 40 plus cabins for rent on Brothers Cove. This real time reservation system assures renter that they will be able to reserve the cabin they want for their next vacation any time of the day or night 365 days a year. Renters also have the benefit of choosing from an additional 140 handpicked luxury cabins available for rent, at affordable prices in the Smoky Mountains area throughout Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville and the Wears Valley/Bluff Mountain area.

To make it easier for you to find the perfect cabin in Brothers Cove for your next vacation on the Smokies, the web site has been greatly improved as well with easier navigation of the web site, faster loading pages, larger, more and higher quality photographs of each cabin and the surrounding area.

The Brothers Cove web site now lists more amenities and cabin features and gives you more ways that you can search for cabins such as by occupancy size, which are pet friendly rental units, and which cabins have the newly installed WIFI Wireless High Speed Internet Access.

To make the site more accessible, it is now compliant for use for use by persons with visual and mobility disabilities, it is also completely HTML compliant so that it works with the largest variety of computers, monitors and web enabled devices. The site is now located on a secure servers off site with disaster backups and servers in additional regions of the country.

All of the new advances to the web site that also has a cleaner look are great, but most importantly are how Brothers Cove, which was a nice place to take a vacation, is now even so much better. You may have noticed to at how The Smokies Blog has also changed, expect to see more changes and improvements in the coming months!

July 4th holiday activities in the Great Smoky Mountains.

July 4th is a popular time for families to take a vacation, and there is no more favorite destination for a family friendly vacation than the Great Smoky Mountains. This year the crowds came early and the weather is spectacular.

Pigeon Forge kicks off the July 4th celebration today with music, activities, food, a salute to veterans by cast members from the Grand Majestic Theater and the end of the evening at around 9:45 pm, a fireworks display set to a soundtrack broadcasted live on WIVK 107.7 FM!

All of the free fun in Pigeon Forge takes place for at Patriot Park and the July 4th in the Smokies celebration has additional parking in the city parking lot on Teaster Lane with a trolley shuttle available to Patriot Park. Be sure to bring sun screen and blankets - umbrellas are not allowed.

Starting at noon, nonprofit organizations start selling drinks and food with the proceeds to benefit local charities and the Kid's Karnival Area will open with free Inflatable's to play in, a Rock Wall, Euro Bungee, Slides and even a Mechanical Bull!

The music begins at 1:30 pm with the local four-member band Grafite, which plays 70,'s rock and pop rock songs that the whole audience will be able recognize. All of the members of the band range in age from 9 to 11!

At 2:20 pm country-rock the husband and wife duo of Keifer and Shawna Thompson - the Thompson Square will perform songs such as "Let's Fight" and "Keeping up with the Joneses" with their unique and creative style of music.

The new group from Nashville named TelluRide will begin playing at 3:20 pm. TelluRide who has proceed an album named Four Square Miles, is comprised of musicians from all genres.

At 4:30 pm the Pigeon Forge Community Chorus will entertain everyone young and old.

Local music legend Jimbo Whaley and Greenbrier will start at 5:30 pm. Jumbos' roots run deep in the Smokies with deep ties to the Greenbrier area and music always being a part of his life. He is an accomplished songwriter of such songs as The Foundation, M.R.s Rolling Store, The Legend of Jack Huff, and the fan favorite, The Kings of Orebank and he and his band have perfected bluegrass, country and mountain music.

6:20 pm is when the music trio from Nashville Eden's Edge will play their country music.

Talented singer-songwriter Steve Azar had the top country hits "I Don't Have To Be Me 'Til Monday" and "Waitin' on Joe" will start at 7:15 pm.

The headliner for the day, Diamond Rio starts at 8:30 pm. Diamond Rio was wildly successful with their mainstream country music but made the transition to Christian music with hits such as "I Believe", "Mama Don't Forget To Pray For Me", and "One More Day".

After they close, the fireworks will light up the sky over the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This winter and spring huge improvements have been made in the Great Smoky Mountains national park to areas such as Cades Cove, which has been completely repaved, Clingmans Dome Road, The Cosby picnic area and campground and the newly opens Sink parking area and trailhead.

The fish are biting in all the stream and rivers in and around the Great Smoky Mountains national park and tubes are having a blast floating don the rivers on the warm summers day. You can tube in the Townsend area and well as the Deep Creek area for just a few dollars and have a day's worth of fun!

Black bear are extremely active right now in the Great Smoky Mountains national park so make sure that when you are dine with your fourth of July picnic or BBQ in the park you clean up all scraps of food and make sure that the lid to the bear proof garbage cans are closed tight. Remember by law you must stay 150 feet away from black bear and elk.

Speaking of Elk, these are the last few days of calving season for elk and white tailed deer. You should stay out of all fields with talk grass where fawns and calves may be hiding and if you do see a baby deer or elk leave it alone, it is not abandoned, this is just how mom projects her newborn from coyotes and black bear.

Finally, we want everyone coming to the Smokies to have a fun and safe 4th of July weekend, so local authorities will have perform enhanced traffic enforcement. Drive at posted speeds and do not drink and drive.

Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

The synchronizing firefly in the Southern Appalachian Smoky Mountains is a rare sight to see when it is flashing its mating signal - a yellowish green pulsing light that breaks the darkness of the night. Found and confirmed by scientists less than a dozen years ago, the lightning bugs special light show has amazed and delighted visitors and residents of the Smoky Mountains for years.

The most popular place people come to see a large gathering of the synchronized firefly flash its special light that sends waves of lights up and down mountains, trees and then will plunge into darkness, is the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Conditions have to be right to support the rare lightning bug that will emerge from beneath the ground when the temperature is just right and in search of a mate will flash its amazing light. For safety's sake and transportation convenience, the 2nd week in June at Elkmont was the best place to bring visitors to see the light show.

While well coordinated, safe and a great place to see the Smokies fireflies do their thing, standing in line for a long wait to take a shuttle into the park, dealing with 1,000 other visitors that night on a small area and waiting in line to take a shuttle back to your car is not an ideal way to view the fireflies - especially with small kids.

What could be more fun that to come to the Smokies and see the special fireflies from your cabin without any hassles? Well it sounds easier than it actually is.

While you can find the synchronizing fireflies in many areas of the Southern Appalachians, it is hard to see them in large numbers in the developed areas where most cabins are. The best place to observe the fireflies are not in wooded areas, but more open places where they can see each other to stimulate the flashing, and you can see in turn see them as well.

Most cabin rentals are often fairly close to one another so light from one cabin can be seen by the cabin next door. This makes it harder to see the fireflies flashes and the ambient light discourages fireflies to flash on their own.

Last year, after much searching the perfect conditions for lightning bugs were found in a small area between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee near large fields and a small stream, at the right elevation and way down a back road with very limited ambient light.

After watching the area for the optimum time, lighting bugs did synchronize and they do in fact inhabit this area and put on quite a show! The only problem is that there are only 3 cabins for rent where you could see the fireflies in that small area.

Well obviously 3 cabins is not enough to cover the demand to see such a spectacle in the Smoky Mountains so the search was on to find another area where the lightning bus synchronize and they can be seen from a cabin as well as within the property of a development.

After 4 years of searching for a great new place outside the Great Smoky Mountains national park that you can rent a cabin and get to see the special firefly show from the property, the best place was just found to see the rare lightning bugs!

Brothers Cove a premium private log cabin resort community tucked off Walden Creek in the Wears Valley area outside Pigeon Forge turned out to have all the right conditions: the correct elevation range, water sources, ground cover, great topography, lack of excessive ambient light and of course plenty of the Photinus Carolinus - the synchronizing firefly!

The past three weeks they have been observed in large numbers in the Brothers Cove Resort - home to more than 40 log cabins for rent! They have been found around many of the cabins located in this private gated community as well as up toward the top of the community in the large field / play area next to the in-ground swimming pool, the picnic pavilion, outdoor gazebo and the huge lodge.

An even greater concentration of the fireflies have been discovered in the lower field by the Brothers Cove Rental office - also on private property that the guests staying at Brothers Cove can use! They have been observed in the huge field, as well as in and up the treeline on the Brothers Cove Mountain.

If you are in this field at Brothers Cove and you look up a clear night, you can see actually see the Milky Way! And guess what? No crowds making noise or people bumping into you! At night all what you can hear are the whippoorwills, the crickets and frogs chirping and owls - what a private way to experience the most interesting natural phenomena in the Smokies!

So, what are the best places, ways and times to observe the Smoky Mountains synchronized fireflies in the Brothers Cove resort? Well the best place with the highest concentration of mating fireflies that light up in June will depend on when they emerged from the soil. Since the lower field is at 1,130 feet the field near the swimming pool is at 1,650 feet looking out over the valley and the top ridge of Brothers Cove is 1,950 feet and all 40 plus cabins for rent are located between the lower field and the top ridgeline, there can be an almost full weeks difference between firefly activity at the bottom of Brothers Cove verses the top.

Wherever you decide to watch the fireflies, you should bring along a flashlight with a red led or get a red lens cover or red cellophane so you can move around safely and still not throw off the light show or reduce your night vision. If you are going down to the lower field, you may want to bring folding chairs so you can sit. There are chairs at all the cabins and plenty of seating around the pool area.

If you staying at the cabin to watch the fireflies, turn off all the lights so it is as dark as possible. Pick a spot to sit with the widest panorama and if you can away from other cabins that have lights on. Do not forget to look up at the beautiful stars!

There are some many weather and other natural conditions that will dictate when the light show will reach peak and how many fireflies will be out that year. The one thing you can count on is that they will be there during the month of June and the best time to see them is at least half hour after sunset and the show is over by around midnight. Best all round time is should be the 2nd and 3rd week of June from 10 pm - 11 pm.

Just spending time in the peace and quiet of Brothers Cove is an amazing experience, but to be able to enjoy one of the Smoky Mountains most impressive natural treasures in privacy and without crowds.

Brothers Cove is an amazing custom built private neighborhood of luxury cabins on more than 400 acres much of which is unspoiled forest. Each cabin is unique and every cabin has a spectacular view of the mountains or a secluded wooded view or both! More than half of the almost 80 cabins that have been built in this private resort are for rent through BrothersCove.com.

Only guests of cabins rented through Brothers Cove or American Mountain Rentals who owns BrothersCove.com are entitled to all of the amenities maintenance, housekeeping and services offered at the on site office in Brothers Cove.

Only registered owners, renters or their guests are allowed in Brothers Cove for firefly viewing as well as entering Brothers Cove property including the fields and natural areas, roads, swimming pool, gazebo, or picnic pavilions.

So what are you waiting for? Start looking for the cabin you want so that you can see the fireflies in peace and privacy! Rent a Brothers Cove cabin now before the one you want is gone!

Related Smokies Blog Stories:
Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Cabins for rent where you can see the synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

Elkmont Section of national park yearly visit by synchronized fireflies
 

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

If you have been in the Smokies the past few weeks, you would have seen that the lightning bugs have been flashing brighter and glowing more and more every night and in the Great Smoky Mountains national park synchronized firefly season has begun!

While all fireflies are a miracle of God's creation, one of the firefly beetles found in the south Appalachian Smoky Mountains are even more amazing compared to any other firefly and will delight everyone young or old. What has been a well-kept secret has grown to become one of the huge tourist attractions each spring in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Not only has firefly watching in the Smokies become a huge happening drawing in about 10,000 visitors to watch a light show that lasts about 3 weeks, other events have sprung up around the synchronous lightning bugs and the fantastic experience of watching them in the GSMNP.

The All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory project going on in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a project performed by scientists, researches and volunteers that are searching for every species living in the park for the world's largest research program called "Discover Life in America". This project has already identified more than 17,000 species in the park, 6,500 of which we did not know they were here and an astonishing 900 of which are brand new to science!

The great folks at "Discover Life in America" will be hosting a firefly event this year to coincide with the peak firefly season. The Smokies Firefly Events will take place in Gatlinburg Tennessee on June 12th at the Nantahala Outdoor Center Great Outpost just outside the GSMNP entrance. There will be firefly information, an insect zoo, kids activities, music with Captain Firefly, art, a secret "dark" room to "bioluminate" and food and drink vendors.

However, the big questions remain such as: What makes the fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains so special?

While all of God's creatures are special, 13 of the 14 species of fireflies that inhabit the Great Smoky Mountains national park and the surrounding southern Appalachian mountains and foothills are more run of the mill creatures that can through a miracle in nature produce their own light in various shades of yellow, green and even blue to attract a mate, 1 species is even more unique.

The most unusual firefly named Photinus Carolinus is able to synchronize its light with other lightning bugs around it. The light it the firefly gives off called bioluminescence is a chemical reaction occurring in its abdomen with a self-produced enzyme and oxygen.

The Photinus Carolinus synchronized light starts as random pulses and builds up to where large groups of beetles all flash together and then suddenly, everything goes black. Just as quickly as it stopped, the whole process starts all over again.

Where can you find the synchronized fireflies in the Smokies? The firefly beetles that synchronize can be found over much of Smokies as long as the conditions are correct, but to be really impressive, you need to have large population densities of fireflies which means that you need the right conditions. The best conditions where the fireflies thrive is along slow moving water with lush plant growth.

The perfect conditions where fireflies thrive is along one of the most popular hiking trails located in the Elkmont section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park. This hiking trail is also large enough to accommodate the 1,000 people a night that show up to see the event and smooth enough for people to be safe walking the trail in the dark.

When is the best time to see the fireflies in the GSMNP? Obviously, the best time to see the fireflies is at night, but the peak of the firefly season in the Smoky Mountains is around the second week in June. Since soil temperature dictates when they will emerge from the ground and thus when they will be ready to mate, each year the exact best date to see the lightning bugs in the Smoky Mountains changes.

Since so many people come to the firefly show in the GSMNP, the park service closes Elkmont for a year and takes visitors in by trolley from the Sugarlands Visitors Center near Gatlinburg starting 7 pm for a $1 per person round trip. Once the parking lot fills, or it is 9 pm, the trolleys stop running to Elkmont.

This year the trolleys will run June 5th 2010 until June 13th 2010. If you miss the trolleys because you came to the Smokies a week or so late, do not despair, you still will get a great free light show along the Little River Hiking Trail!

Related Smokies Blog Stories:
Rare Synchronizing Fireflies Find Confirmed In Brothers Cove Resort in Wears Valley.

Fireflies synchronized light show season starts in Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Synchronous fireflies and admirers about to invade the Great Smoky Mountains national park

Cabins for rent where you can see the synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

Smoky Mountains firefly show in Elkmont near Gatlinburg

Elkmont Section of national park yearly visit by synchronized fireflies
 

Who doesn’t love a Pigeon Forge parade and want to see Dolly Parton in person?

There is now more beautiful time than springtime in the Great Smoky Mountains and also that means it is time for the annual Pigeon Forge Parade and this year being the 25th silver anniversary of the Dollywood Theme park means that a special day will be even more special!

Now of course what would a parade be in the Smokies without everyone Smoky Mountains Sweetheart Dolly Parton? Not nearly as much fun - but it would still be a good time for all!

Dolly Parton grew up right here in the Smoky Mountains foothills and her family came from what is now the Greenbrier section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park so it is only natural that the world famous Dollywood theme park would be less than 5 minutes from where the 25th Anniversary Homecoming Parade will start.

Since this is the Dollywood Theme Parks 25th anniversary, besides being able to get special discount tickets to the Dollywood theme park from American Mountain Rentals if you stay in any one of almost 200 cabins for rent in the Smokies, Dollywood is going to have special performances and exciting special surprises for individual randomly selected guests of the park.

This year the theme for the 2010 parade in Pigeon Forge Tennessee is "Celebrate the Dreamer in You" and for many that will line the 2-1/2 mile parade route on the parkway from traffic light 6 all the way to the end at traffic light 3, seeing country music star, Hollywood actress and philanthropist Dolly Parton will be a dream come true!

But wait! There are lots more to see and be entertained by in the Pigeon Forge parade in the Smokies tomorrow May 7th at 6 pm than just Dolly Parton! Young and old, there will be hundreds of participants proudly marching and showing of their talents along the whole parade route.

Sure, it is fun watching the Shiners' drive around in their miniature cars and trucks along the parade route, but you also have to appreciate rival marching bands from Pigeon Forge High School and Sevier County High School, which is Dolly Parton's alma mater.

To lead off the parade will be a color guard from Boy Scout Troop 110 and behind them many performers from local Smoky Mountains attractions such as the Smith Family Theater, the Knoxville Zoo, Zorb of the Smoky Mountains, the Foothills Antique Tractor and Engine Club and a Wells Fargo stagecoach.

Will there be representatives from the Red Hat Society be at the parade? Of course they will! Overall, there will be than 100 floats, bands, equestrian clubs, twirler groups, dance teams and other groups in the 25th anniversary Pigeon Forge parade.

Dolly Parton will of course be the most anticipated participant on the parade that everyone will want to see as she is coming down the Pigeon Forge Parkway on her own float and everyone will be interested to see what glamorous or outrageous costume she will be wearing.

Last year Dolly Parton she was dressed as an over the top sexy park ranger in honor of the Great Smoky Mountains national parks 25th anniversary. Dolly donated more than $100,000 to the park through Friends of the Smokies last year and any member of Friends of the Smokies will get 10% off a cabin Rental in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg through American Mountain Rentals (Click here to see full details).

Besides Dolly Parton there will be another local hero that will be representing the Smoky Mountains, Dylan Presnell, of Sevierville, TN also known as "Smokey Mountain Thunder".

Dylan Presnell is an extraordinary young race car driver of late model stock cars including the American Mountain Rentals Super Late Model in the PASS/CRA Series! Dylan Presnell stock car hauler is a sight to see and will be featured in the parade to the excitement of many of his loyal fans.

Local and international celebrities, talented musicians, acrobats, twirlers and dancers, classic and custom cars and so much more...all for free - so don't miss out on the Pigeon Forge 25th anniversary parade on the parkway starting at 6 PM on May 7th 2010.

Cades Cove Loop Road to Reopen This Weekend to Cars, Pedestrians and Bikes.

It has been almost 2 long months since the Great Smoky Mountains national park has closed the enormously popular Cades Cove Loop Road for a long overdue repaving project that has been planned for years. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and the contracted hustled to collect their early completion bonus so that the park will be opening the 11-mile long Cades Cove Loop this weekend - almost a full month ahead of schedule.

During the time that it was closed, more than 60,000 cars would have normally driven through the Cades Cove Loop during the time to see its historic cabins, churches, gristmill, and barns as well as the abundant wildlife such as deer, bear, coyote, fox, otter, turkey, hawks and so much more. Also closed were numerous popular hiking trails and other connecting roads.

The hiking trails that were closed before will all be open this Saturday at noon: Cooper Road Trail, Abrams Falls Trail and Rabbit Creek Trail off of Cades Cove Loop Road, Indian Grave Gap Trail off of Rich Mountain Road, the Gregory Bald Trail off of Forge Creek Road, the Gregory Ridge Trail and the Hannah Mountain Trail which are both off Parsons Branch Road.

Besides the 11 mile Cades Cove Loop Road, repaving has also shut off all access to Sparks Lane, Rich Mountain Road, Hyatt Lane, Forge Creek Road and Parson Branch Road which will now all be open to pedestrians and bicyclists at dawn on April 24th and to vehicular traffic at noon.

It has been more than 3 decades since the last time that Cades Cove Loop Road was repaved. Because of this, the roadbed and surface was in such bad shape, the entire existing road was ground up, pulverized, and reused, and concrete poured on top of the crushed roadbed and a new layer of asphalt put on top of the concrete bed. This road reclamation process saved time, money and the environment because the old roadway did not have to be carted way and dumped but was effectively recycled.

The new Cades Cove Loop Road does have some significant improvements that were made during the reclamation and repaving this winter although you shouldn't expect the road to be wider or have a designated bike lane. The roadway could not be made wider as that would disturb some of the historical landmarks some of which are fence posts, but you will find a few more small pullouts and far better drainage along the roadway.

Sadly, in order to improve the Cades Cove Loop Road and because of so many significant wind storms this winter, a few dozen old trees had to be removed or they would otherwise be a hazard or, would have prevented some minor road widening.

Drivers will notice that a few places where the Cades Cove Loop dipped down especially near creek crossings, the roadway has been slightly elevated so that low riding vehicles, and longer RVs or busses will no longer bottom out as they have in the past. If shuttle trams are ever used in the future in Cades Cove they should be able to navigate the entire loop now where it was not possible to do so in the past.

Sparks Lane, Rich Mountain Road, Hyatt Lane, Forge Creek Road and Parsons Branch Road will remain unimproved dirt roads as well as the short road from the Cades Cove Loop road to the Abrams Falls trailhead parking area on the back end of the Cades Cove.

The historic Cades Cove Methodist Church normally sits on some fieldstones instead of a solid foundation, but because of the vibrations created by all the heavy equipment used in the Cades Cove valley, special temporary large wood braces were placed under the church to protect it.

Another challenge during the road construction project in Cades Cove included making sure that the constructions environmental impact was minimal, especially to the creeks and 2 swamp wetland areas in the Cove.

Even though there are fairly accurate historical records of where the European settlers in Cades Cove were, the parks archeologist and his assistant had to conduct shovel test hole surveys along the roadway and where new pull outs would be. This way if there was anything historically significant, it could be preserved before the roadway would cover it up.

When the shovel test holes were made, the soil was first examined for staining which could be a sign of a wooden posts used in a structure or some other human activity. If no staining was noted, the soil was passed through a wooden framed screen and the sifted material checked for artifacts such as those made by Cherokee Indians and the first European settlers who inhabited the park.

Cades Cove not only has the best auto tour in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and stunning scenery, it has the best wildlife viewing in the park, the most historical buildings, many hiking trails, a fantastic picnic area, bicycle rentals, horseback riding, carriage and hay rides, an outdoor amphitheater, and campgrounds.

Because Cades Cove has mountain surrounding the entire valley blocking out light pollution, stargazing at night is unequalled as you are clearly able to see the Milky Way and many other astronomical features that you would be unable to see just a few miles away outside of the park. As you walk through the cove at night which is closed to traffic at dusk, look overhead at the many bats flying around some of which will be the endangered Indiana bats.

The best time for wildlife viewing in the Cades Cove Loop is the same as for the rest of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, the first 1- 2 hours of just after sunrise and just before sunset. Look along the edges of the fields near the treeline for deer and black bear.

Speaking of bear, they can also often be seen up in the trees - especially cherry and persimmon trees when in season and oak trees in the fall when they are looking to fatten up on acorns. Remember to stay at least 150 feet from a black bear or you can get a fine for as much as $5,000!

Now that the construction work is done, the trees are filled with fresh green leaves, there are wildflowers all around the fields and forests in Cades Cove and the black bear are out posing for pictures, it is a perfect time for Cades Cove to be reopened.

The first day Cades Cove will be reopened will be this Saturday April 24th and only pedestrians and bicyclists can use the road on opening day until 12 noon at which time the newly resurfaced Loop Road will be open to everyone.

Sunday the park is closing the Cades Cove Lop Road for the first ever race. The Cades Code Loop Lope will have runners running either the full 11 miles or a shorter loop of just over 3 miles. Access to all of Cades Cove will be limited Sunday morning only to participants that have already registered for the race and Cades Cove will open to everyone by 12 noon.

Come out and see why Cades Cove received more than a million visitors last year many of which have come here many time to enjoy the crown jewel of the Great Smoky Mountains national park.