Great Smoky Mountain National Park is a hub for Tennessee’s most famous and sought after hiking destinations. With spectacular views, frequent wildlife sightings, and a variety of trails, Cades Cove valley is high up on the list of most popular destinations to hit while traveling in Tennessee.
Cades Cove is a valley surrounded by mountains with an 11-mile one-way road looping around the area, giving travelers and hikers the opportunity to explore trails, utilize picnic areas, view wildlife, sight see, and walk around the many historical structures left abandoned.
While known for its scenic beauty and trail heads, many are unaware of Cades Cove’s rich and… somewhat spooky history beneath its raving visitor reviews.
History
In the 1700s, Cherokee Indians were the first documented people to travel to the valley now known as Cades Cove. Living off the land and hunting the abundance of deer, bison, and elk, they stayed for over another one hundred years before European settlers arrived and began clearing land for farming and log structure building. The land was extremely fertile, making it the perfect farming location for many crops, specifically corn, and leading the way for more development. In the mid 1800s the settlement had grown to about 685 people, with large families and a growing sense of community. Around this time, schoolhouses, churches, and cemeteries were built to accommodate a growing town…