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 buses 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 archaeologist 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 unequaled 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.

There are still some cabins for rent close to Cades Cove that qualify for the Last Minute Booking discount!