Cades Cove Heritage Tours shuttle service officially started in Cades Cove

Cades Cove is not on the most loved section of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, it is also the most congested and crowded especially on weekends and holidays and leaf season when there is peak visitation.

To help alleviate some of the traffic congestion as well as being able to offer a professional guided tour of Cades Coves history, natural resources and spin some yarns about some local stories Cades Cove Heritage Tours is now officially offering mini bus tours of the Cove.

The 19 passenger white Cades Cove Heritage Tours shuttle busses have already been touring Cades Cove but the official shuttle service stared today after a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The ticket prices for this 3 hour tour is $13 for adults, $10 for seniors, $8 for kids from 6-17 and children under 6 are free. Members of the Great Smoky Mountain Heritage Center get reduced rates and you can get a combo ticket for both the entrance to the heritage center tour and the Cades Cove shuttle.

While some are touting the shuttle tour as an environmental friendly option which will reduce pollution, Cades Cove Heritage Tours which is a non profit organization should have made a far wiser choice in the purchase of their vehicles to reduce their carbon output and reduce engine noise.

While this is a small step that that could slightly help reduce traffic which exceeds 800,000 vehicles a year on the Cades Cove 11 mile loop it is a small half step.

It is a shame this opportunity to make a huge difference in the air pollution output created and the use of resources used by touring the Cove was not tackled in a modern and environmentally friendly manor.

Great Hike today on the Cades Cove 11 mile loop in the GSMNP

Arriving early at the Cades Cove 11 mile loop today we were able to avoid all traffic for the first 3 hours as we walked along the valley floor surrounded by wildlife, flowers and the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains.

We all got to see Black Bear, Wild turkey, deer, Canadian geese and plenty of small wildflowers in the fields and woods in Cades Cove. The Black bear below was photographed this morning near the primitive Baptist Church.

I was so glad to meet the people today who started the hike and those I have met along the way. As great as the wildlife and scenery in the Great Smoky Mountains national park is, it truly attracts very special people as well.

Next time I plan on doing another walk as a group I will give everyone more notice.

Cades Cove Loop in the Great Smoky Mountains national park to be closed to traffic

It is that time of the year again where the National Park service closes Cades Cove to vehicles while they spray the hemlock trees close enough to the road which can be reached in order to fight the invasive exotic pest the hemlock woolly adelgid. While the Cades Cove loop was closed in late November of 2006, this year the closures will be in the first week of December.

As long as the weather is conducive to spraying the hemlock trees in Cades Cove which are infested with the woolly adelgid, the whole 11 mile Cades Cove loop will be closed this Wednesday December 5th. If you wish to hike the Cades Cove loop you can do so but cars and bicycles are forbidden to be on the road.

If all goes as planned on Thursday December 6th only the far section of the Cades Cove Loop past Hyatt Lane will be closed to motorist and bicyclists. Hikers can access the entire loop on the second day of spraying.

Spraying is one of three methods that the Great Smoky Mountains National park has been successfully using to fight the woolly adelgid from destroying all of the hemlock tees in the park.

The spaying with national park service trucks will only be done as long as a heavy rain or freezing temperatures are not expected during or immediately after the spraying is to be done.

To check on the status of the Cades Cove road closure you may call the national park service general information number at (865)436-1200.