Anytime during the year, only Laurel Creek Road provides access to to Cades Cove on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. During winter, that is also the only way out of the cove. However, two other roads provide an exit from the cove during part of the year. Both of these roads are one-way with a gravel surface and are not suitable for oversized vehicles. Parsons Branch Road is open from late May until late November and leaves the cove to the south and US 129. Rich Mountain Road is open from early April until late November and leaves the cove to the north and Townsend.
Rich Mountain Road starts west of Hyatt Lane near the Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church on the one-way, paved Cades Cove Loop Road. The seven mile road climbs to Rich Mountain Gap and the park boundary. Beyond the park, the two-way and paved road is known as Old Cades Cove Road. We drove out Rich Mountain Road on our late October 2022 visit to Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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| Typical road conditions |
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| Cades Cove from the first overlook |
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| Another view of Cades Cove |
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| Cades Cove Methodist Church with Cobb Ridge on the far side of the valley |
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| A closer view of the church and cemetery |
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| Another view of Cades Cove and Cobb Ridge from the first overlook |
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| View from the second overlook |
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| A closer view of the backbone of the Smokies |
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| The third overlook |
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| View from the third overlook of ridges outside the park |
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| A closer view |
There is no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, a parking fee will be levied beginning March 1, 2023. The fee will be $5 for a daily tag, $15 for a seven-day tag, and $40 for an annual tag.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park website is https://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm.
