Cades Cove
Townsend, TN · Great Smoky Mountains$
An 11-mile one-way road loops through Cades Cove, a valley closed in by mountains on every side, south of Townsend, Tennessee. First on the loop is John Oliver's cabin, built in…
Photo: AppalachianCentrist / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
About
About 1,900 black bears live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the Tennessee and North Carolina line, roughly two for every square mile. Getting within 50 yards of one on purpose is against the law. Almost 95 percent of the park is forest, and about a quarter of that is old growth. In busy stretches like fall color season, get in by 8 a.m., ahead of the 9-to-2 peak. The synchronous fireflies at Elkmont have an eight-night viewing window in late May or early June. Unless you're camping there, seeing them takes a vehicle pass from a spring lottery on Recreation.gov.
Highlights
Cades Cove 11-mile wildlife loopKuwohi (Clingmans Dome) observation towerNewfound Gap RoadAbout 1,900 black bearsElkmont fireflies, by lottery
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