Cades Cove Riding Stable is open (again)

After a brief problem with insurance, you can now rent horses again from the Cades Cove riding stables in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

Without any warning or ceremony last week the stables were shut down and so were the hayrides which are run from the same concession in Cades Cove section of the national Park.

Plenty of people I spoke to in Cades Cove were upset some complaining that now they had to drive quite a distance to another section in the park that does have stables that would be open only to face longer than regular lines and why didn’t someone tell them and why were there not signs around the park?

My temp office for the next 2 weeks.

For at least the next 2 weeks my office is wherever in the Smoky Mountain National Park and sounding areas where my laptop is.

For the depth of summer the weather is outstanding. I don’t believe it has broken the upper 80s in the park – far lower in upper elevations. While it has rained here in the past few weeks, any showers were gone quite quickly.

My only disappointment this week so far is the typical Smokies haze is very pronounced so long shots of the landscapes will not be crisp and clear.

The park is far form crowded. Some of the Campgrounds in the Smoky Mountain National Park are as low as 10% occupancy so campers have plenty of room and privacy with other campers not being right on top of them.

Of special note is that the Cades Cove Riding Stablesis closed until further notice due to insurance issues and there is no idea when the Cades Cove riding stables will reopen.

Other Cades Cove News is that the Parsons Branch road still has no opening date according to the national park service. Repairs have yet to begin and a park volunteer told me that the project is still out for bid.

The Elijah Oliver Cabin and surrounding area is still closed waiting for the restoration to repair erosion damage to settle in and take hold. Expect and opening date of spring of 2007.