Cades Cove Loop: 7 tips including how long it takes

My husband and I rode bicycles around the Cades Cove loop on our honeymoon (46 yrs. ago). It was off season, very little traffic and it was beautiful.

We were there when folks still lived there. No traffic. Ford the little stream. Cattle still in the pastures. Searched the graveyards for my wife's family name and the names of other families she knew. Peaceful, quiet, totally rural. With a sense of history long gone but lingering still.

We love Cades Cove we will back October there this. ❤ Hope you are well.....from Fort Worth, Texas

Used to be a paradise to visit, but now, traffic jams caused by inconsiderate people who park in the road, because they are photographing wildlife and many times, getting much too close to bears with cubs, literally back traffic up for miles. We literally had to turn our engine off due to such. No use in wasting expensive gas when we could not go forward. If you go in the afternoon, please do not have any plans for that night. It took us over 3 hours to go thru the last time. We can sit in plenty of traffic at home. It's a shame some people take something so beautiful and ruin it for others

Thanks for sharing, my first trip to the Cove coming up.

It takes between 3 hrs to 8 years

You can forget the supposed 2 to 3 hours it takes to tour Cades Cove. We went June 6 of 2023. We got there before 11 o’clock and it was after 3 o’clock when we left; more than four hours of mostly ‘Stopped’ with an occasional 50 feet of ‘Go’ in horrendous traffic. Felt sorry for the couple in the car that overheated!

Went this past February and the traffic wasn't that bad. I'd recommend going as early as possible to beat the crowd during the travel season

Best to go on a weekday and season wise when the kids are likely in school. Some people are really inconsiderate with blocking the road for extended time.

I wish tourists would be more respectful when they visit. Stop getting out and going around wildlife just to take pictures. Be respectful and responsible when you visit someone else's backyard.

Been many times, never saw an elk. Saw everything else though, including coyotes. Was there last week, did not see any coyotes.

So...how far is Cades Cove from Gatlinburg?

Abrams Falls sucks, not much 2 see