Picnic area · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Creekside lunch tables and charcoal grills at the loop entrance.
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Smoky Mountains audio tourRecorded for this place
Cades Cove Picnic Area“Ahead is Cades Cove Picnic Area, at the entrance to the one-way loop road. I'd use it for a lunch break under the trees, with tables between Abrams Creek and Green Branch Creek.”
Plays as you drive up to Cades Cove Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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Guide
Cades Cove Picnic Area is an 81-site day-use picnic area on Laurel Creek Road at the entrance to the one-way, 11-mile Cades Cove Loop. Its tables sit between Abrams Creek and Green Branch Creek under a leafy canopy. If you're driving the loop, this is an easy meal stop before or after; parking can feel tight around lunch on busy days, so an earlier picnic is the safer bet.
Tables, charcoal grills and restrooms make this a proper picnic stop. The grills are charcoal only; wood fires aren't allowed. A store at the neighboring campground is seasonal, so bring what you want to eat rather than relying on it. Accessible picnic sites and restrooms are available. Dogs are allowed on leash and can't be left unattended.
The shaded creek setting is the main draw. Several visitors mention sitting beside the water or dipping their feet in the stream, so leave a little time to step away from the table. This is a good place to slow down for a meal, rather than one of the historic stops along the loop.
Cherokee people traveled through Cades Cove to hunt before European families settled here in the early 1820s. By 1850, 685 people lived in the farming community. The park began acquiring land in 1927 and designated the cove a historic area in 1945; restored cabins, churches and other buildings are along the loop, beyond the picnic area. Leave time for the drive if that history is part of your visit.
Wildlife
1,569 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
900 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingRocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain Trail13.9 mi · 9.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA steep day to Rocky Top and Thunderhead's quiet high point.ChallengingSpence Field and Russell Field Loop13.2 mi · 8 hr · 0.1 mi awayA strenuous loop from Anthony Creek to two high Smokies meadows.
ChallengingRussell Field Trail9.6 mi · 6.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayA steep climb to a small meadow reclaimed by forest.
ModerateAnthony Creek Trail7 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayA shaded creek climb to the Bote Mountain junction.
EasyCades Cove Horse Trail2.3 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.4 mi awayA wooded point-to-point trail shared with horses.
EasyCades Cove Nature Trail0.8 mi · 30 min · 0.4 mi awayA shaded sub-mile loop with a creek crossing.
ModerateRich Mountain Loop Trail8.5 mi · 5 hr · 0.4 mi awayAn 8.5-mile loop with a cove view and a waterfall finish
ChallengingCrooked Arm Ridge Trail4.3 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.7 mi awaySteep forest gives way to a late view into Cades Cove
Campground · 0.2 mi awayAnthony Creek Horse CampThree reserved horse campsites with trail access near Cades Cove.
Campground · 0.3 mi awayCades Cove CampgroundA woodland base for the cove's historic loop and wildlife.
Store · 0.3 mi awayCades Cove Campground StoreBike rentals, camp supplies and soft-serve before the loop.
Sight · 0.4 mi awayCades Cove Riding StablesA horse, carriage or hayride gives the cove a different pace.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayJohn Oliver CabinA short walk to Cades Cove’s oldest preserved cabin.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayCarter Shields CabinA last-loop homestead cabin with a stream just behind it.
Sight · 2.4 mi awayCades Cove Primitive Baptist ChurchA hand-built 1887 church beside the cove’s oldest cemetery.
Sight · 2.6 mi awayCades Cove Methodist ChurchA modest church with two doors and one surprising congregation story.Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
