Another beautiful treasure tucked away not even an hour from our home in Knoxville, TN , Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Cades Cove is a valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. It is an 11-mile, one-way loop road that circles the cove. We did not see any bears this time, but we have on other trips. We saw deer and a turkey today. Our family loves to ride our bikes up and down this gorgeous pathway, but you can also drive your car. “The valley has a rich history. For hundreds of years Cherokee Indians hunted in Cades Cove but archaeologists have found no evidence of major settlements. The first Europeans settled in the cove sometime between 1818 and 1821. By 1830 the population of the area had already swelled to 271. Cades Cove offers the widest variety of historic buildings of any area in the national park. Scattered along the loop road are three churches, a working grist mill, barns, log houses, and many other faithfully restored eighteenth and nineteenth century structures” per the national park service website. #susong7 #cadescove #gsmnp