Artfuldodger
Senior Member
I must be the only one that didn't care for Cades Cove. I'm not sure what I was expecting. I thought the area was more scenic and mountainous. I should have known it would have to be mostly flat land since it was all farming. I did like the old Churches and Barns. We hated the long lines of traffic and all the crowds at the Churches, etc.A-lot of good places to stay and really cannot add to the ones already mentioned but one place you do not want to avoid is Cades Cove. If you love the outdoors - make sure ya`ll visit.
When we do a short notice trip and want to stay just out of town away from the traffic with a little view we stay at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. Got some mountain view, it is just far enough out of town for peace and quiet yet close enough to be right back in the middle of the traffic jam with a 15 minute drive.
What we did like was the return trip back, we took the Little River Gorge road by "The Sinks" and had a picnic lunch at Metcalf Bottoms. Then took the uncrowded Wear Cove Gap road out of the park. Took us back to Wears Valley. Wears Valley is where the recent forest fire was located.
Wears Valley is a park entrance the locals use. The Townnsend entrance wasn't very crowded either. We also went to Tuckaleechee Caverns which we all enjoyed. I wouldn't mind staying in that area for a more backwoods adventure.
From Tuckaleechee is an Old Caves Cove road. I wonder if you could get to Cades Cove from there?