Cades Cove Mountain Heritage: Scenic 5-Hour Tour

Experience the rich history and natural beauty of Cades Cove on this 5-hour tour. Explore historic buildings, scenic vistas, and keep an eye out for wildlife. Limited walking required. Bring your own lunch or purchase through Smoky Mountain Guides.

Duration: 6 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Cades Cove - This tour focuses on Cades Cove the 11-mile one way loop road that circles this valley. Along the road are numerous historic cabins, churches, cemeteries, and farm buildings as well as scenic views and frequent wildlife.
What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • Snacks
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
Additional Information

This excursion is centered around Cades Cove and its encompassing 11-mile circular route. We will make a number of stops at historical structures and picturesque viewpoints as we delve into the history of the highlanders and illegal distillers who resided here. Of note are the cabin constructed in 1822, a burial ground housing the tombs of Revolutionary…

Location
1011 Banner Rd
Banner Road
We will meet in the upper left parking area towards the top in a large black van and well marked.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(18 Ratings)
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1 star
Discover13020456417
Nov 29, 2025
Never seen before ! - Better than we ever imagend ! We have been coming to Gatlinburg for 45 years. We saw and visited places We have never seen before ! Dave and Joan
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Barryf700
Aug 24, 2025
Not cheap but well worth the money - Our tour guide, Philip, picked up my wife and I from outside our hotel. Fortunately there were just the two of us on board the van which lent itself to a very private, dare I say intimate, tour of Cades Cove. Nothing was too much trouble for Phil in wanting us to have the best experience. His knowledge of the area was second to none which he graphically enhanced with his massive collection of photos on his phone of the original residents/settlers. This visualisation truly enhanced the trip which otherwise would have simply been vistas of fields, streams and old buildings - Phil brought it to life for us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michelle
Aug 18, 2025
The guide was Phillip. He was awesome.. He kept us entertained the whole trip with interesting stories about the people - The guide we had was Phillip, he was awesome. He keeps telling interesting stories of the people of Cade Coves. Looking forward to booking a six day trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carlmj5676mc
Jul 17, 2025
A Day Well Spent - This trip was the kind of experience that we love.Phillip Bateman, our guide, was exceptional, knew the history of the area extremely well and had many interesting stories to go with the history. He also had photos to show what some of the places that were no longer there had looked like. Mr. Bateman was also very kind, helpful, and entertaining ( in a good way). Thank you, Phillip for all you did to make our tour a great experience. Nancy and Carl Metzgar
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T1000qnpatrickb
Jun 13, 2025
Cades Cove tour - We had a great time in the Great Smokey Mountains. We did the Cades Cove tour. Our guide Phillip told us many exciting stories about the first pioneers that settled there and about the Cherokee Indians. We saw a few black bears and some deer. We took a lot of beautiful pictures and had a picnic in the woods.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tomkg5236ag
May 26, 2025
Couldn't have been any better! - Phil was an excellent tour guide. He knew so much history of the lives of the people who lived in Caves Cove. He knew where their houses had been, burial plots and we enjoyed lunch in the sun by a babbling brook. We also saw bears, a turkey, a grouse and 2 deer. I would recommend the tour with Phil if you really want the history.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lisa_g
May 22, 2025
Must do tour - Fantastic tour. Our guide Philip was great. He was very knowledgeable and went out of his way to make sure we were satisfied at the end of the tour
Review provided by Viator
Nancyml625kk
Mar 4, 2025
Excellent tour! Highly recommend! - We had a lovely time on this 5-hr tour of Cade’s Cove. We were met promptly at the designated coffee shop in Townsend. We were able to leave our car there free of charge. (Recommend trying one of the great coffee offerings there before or after your tour.) We were pleased to find we’d be taking the tour in a comfortable 12 seat van. We were the only 2 people on this particular tour. Our guide, Kindel, was very knowledgeable of the Cove, friendly, and all-around excellent, She customized the entire tour to our preferences. We chose which attractions we wanted to get out of the van and go in to see. Kindel provided info and history on each of the vintage cabins, churches and other buildings on the tour, giving us an idea of what life must have been like for early settlers in the Cove. She was also well versed on the terrain and forested areas we passed, pointing out and identifying many trees, flowers and special natural features. We stopped and had lunch (which we had arranged for the tour to provide) at one of the historic cabins that is less visited. We sat on the front porch, enjoying our lunch and engaging conversation with our guide. We were returned to our car on time, having had an an informative, personalized, enjoyable, and just wonderful experience of Cade’s Cove. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
585marien
Nov 19, 2024
Touring Cades Cove - I highly recommend Smoky Mountain Guides when you are looking for a tour of Smoky Mountain National Park. Their customer service is excellent, even calling us in advance to make arrangements to meet us near our resort where we could leave our vehicle in a safe, free parking lot. They also offered to order lunch for us since our tour would last into the afternoon. Our guide, Phil, was outstanding. He was friendly, courteous and considerate, doing everything he could to make our tour the best experience possible. He asked us about our interests and then planned our stops accordingly. He was very knowledgeable about the area and the people who lived, worked and developed Cades Cove and he shared with us stories about their amazing lives. We particularly appreciated that Phil planned a special stop for lunch where we could take in the sights and sounds of a bubbling brook while we enjoyed our meal. He also helped us capture our memories in some amazing photos.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eileen
Oct 30, 2024
Fall tour in the Smokies - Phillip was awesome! We had a great tour that exceeded our expectations! Thank you Phillip for a fabulous tour throughout Cades Cove!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $110
up to 10 guests
2 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).