Last chance to hike and bike the Cades Cove Loop without traffic!

Tomorrow morning will be the last chance in 2008 to hike or bike the 11 mile long Cades Cove Loop in the Great Smoky Mountains national park during the morning without any automobile or motorcycle traffic until 10:00 am.

Cades Cove is the jewel of the Smokies and the best time to be there is early in the morning or right before sunset. From late spring until late September the national park service closes Cades Cove to motor vehicles on Wednesday and Saturday mornings until 10 am.

Cades Cove at sunrise is magical. The beauty and peace of the Cove is breathtaking and your chance of seeing plenty of deer, wild turkey, bear and even coyote is high.

While I love biking in Cades Cove, my favorite activity is walking the loop and since our weather is quite dry this year in the Smokies due to our extended drought I can do so with sneakers as there is no water running across to loop road.

Anyone wishing to hike with me should meet me at the shelter in the parking area near the entrance to Cades Cove. Sunrise is at around 7:00 am so I have to start by no latter than 6:45 in order to catch the sunrise coming up over Thunderhead Mountain.

Even taking our time, the first cars won't pass us until after the visitors center in the back end of Cades Cove.

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.

Join me for a Hike through Cades Cove without any traffic tomorrow morning.

Cades Cove is my favorite part of the Great Smoky Mountains national park when it is quiet and not crowded so tomorrow morning I will be hiking the 11 mile loop starting at 7:15 on Saturday June 7th. Since cars are banned from the road until 10:00 am I should be at least past the Cades Cove visitors center in the back end of the loop before the first car passes by.

I have often been asked by hikers and people who follow our news and articles if I would lead a walk as I am very familiar with the area and know most of the haunts of the black bear, deer and wild turkey which am sure we will see tomorrow morning - here is your chance to join me.

Since it is getting warmer by the day, before too long I will not want to hike the loop in daylight as the back end of the Cades Cove Loop has no tree cover and tends to get very hot and sometimes buggy.

If you wish to walk, wear good comfortable shoes - sneakers should be OK as I am not planning on bushwhacking and the road is dry since we have not had much rain. Bring a bottle of water which you can refill at the visitor centers water fountain and by all means bring a camera.

Since I have not made any real prior announcement and this is not an official tour, it's just me letting you tag alone on one of my daily hikes in the National Park, there may be few if anyone joining me.

How will you find me? There is a parking area by the entrance of Cades Cove and I assure you, you can't miss me.

If you are interested in coming please comment back to this thread and tell me how many of you plan to come along.