Cades Cove Loop, Smoky National Park, Tennessee

June 8, 2022

11 miles

We arrived in the Knoxville area the night before ride day. The weather forecast is daunting. I'm discouraged because riding in Cades Cove has always been something I've wanted to do. Every Wednesday the park rangers close off the 11 mile loop to vehicles. It would be almost impossible to bicycle when there are vehicles on the narrow one way road through the cove. So, if we can't ride tomorrow, we can't wait around for next Wednesday.

We woke up to a rainy overcast day. Looking at the hourly forecast it looks like there will be a couple of hours of no rain around 1 pm. We decide to eat an early lunch and then drive up to Cades Cove parking lot and wait for our riding window of opportunity. When we arrive there are plenty of parking spots and very few people around. We unload the bike in the rain and do all our preparations under a park pavilion. After about 30 minutes it stops raining and we decide to go ahead with our ride. I purchase a rain poncho from a ranger just in case it starts raining again. 

We were less than 2 miles into the ride when we approached a couple that were on foot. The lady was motioning to us about something. We then came to her husband and he was pointing to the side of the road, we turned and looked and we were passing between him and 3 bears.  I asked Clay to stop so I could get a picture. When we felt like we were a safe distance we stopped and got a great picture. It was exciting and scary to see the bears!

There are several old churches, graveyards and homesteads to stop at along the loop. The views of the Smoky Mountains are pristine, especially after a rain. The ride is hilly and there are several dangerous sections where it was recommended to get off your bike and walk. It was even more so since the pavement was wet. This is a relatively short ride for us but it will definitely be one of my favorites. The rain turned out to be a blessing because it kept the crowd numbers down. Since the weather had cleared up, as we were leaving, the cars and people were streaming in and there were no parking spots to be had! We were so fortunate that we arrived while it was still raining. Perfect Day!!