Smoky Mountains National Park is a massive park situated across eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. I had heard about Cades Cove as one of the more spectacular sites and so we chose that as our destination. Our first stop was to buy the $5 parking tag at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. The park entrance is free so my America the Beautiful pass was not needed but the parking tag would be required if we wanted to make any stops during the 11 mile loop.
We were hoping to see some wildlife but that didn’t happen. The ranger suggested we stop at one church and one homestead and that was a challenge because traffic, even on a Tuesday in September, was bumper to bumper the entire way and parking was limited.
Cades Cove was once a farming community, much as I imagined where my ancestors may have lived. In 1900, about 125 families lived in the areas. The states of Tennessee and North Carolina bought most of the land that comprises the park today and later gave it to the federal government. Many of the farmers did not resist but some did. The first large tract was bought in 1927 so that is not the reason my Huskey ancestor came to Missouri as he did so soon after the Civil War.
Earlier national parks had been established on lands already owned by the federal government but this was different. Eighteen lumber and pulpwood companies had owned more than 85% of the park and had logged a great deal of it prior to purchase so most is not considered old growth forest.
There is so much more to see but oh, what views! Until next time.
When I visited, a mama bear and her cubs stopped traffic for a while...