Carter Shields Cabin

Carter Shields Cabin is a historic log home in a grassy clearing beside a stream. It is easy to see from the road and is the last historic structure on Cades Cove’s 11-mile, one-way loop. If you are already touring the cove, it is worth getting out for a short look around; the creek behind the cabin completes the homestead setting.

Will Sparks built the original one-room cabin around 1880. George W. “Carter” Shields, its namesake, had served in the Union Army and was badly wounded at Shiloh. He later returned to Cades Cove and bought the property in 1910; his family lived here for 11 years. The cabin has a fireplace, a loft reached by stairs, and a porch. A barn and other outbuildings show how the homestead grew beyond that first room.

Take in the porch, then turn toward the stream and woods behind the cabin. For a photo, include part of the clearing and nearby trees around the front of the cabin; a closer view of the logs and porch gives you a different sense of the place. The creek is a good detail to notice after the building.

Plan a brief stop as part of the 11-mile, one-way Cades Cove drive. The park recommends allowing two to four hours to tour the whole cove. Use the paved parking area or pullouts for stops rather than stopping in the roadway.