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Jim Bales Place in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Sight · Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Jim Bales Place

Three farm buildings, including a cabin moved across the park.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Type
Sight
Nearest trail
1 mi
Audio stories
7 nearby
  • Parking
DirectionsMap

Hear the audio tour

Jim Bales Place and Ephraim Bales Cabin

Overview

About Jim Bales Place

Why stop

  • The dovetail-notched cabin rewards a closer look.

Heads up

  • A brief walk-around rather than a longer visit.

Map

Where it is

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SightJim Bales Place35.69486, -83.46601
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Plan your stop

Before you go

7 active Great Smoky Mountains alerts

  • ClosureHurricane Helene backcountry trail closures and hazardsHurricane Helene damage has closed backcountry trails and left hazardous crossings; avoid closed routes and heed trail-specific restrictions.Official details
  • CautionBear-related trail, road, shelter, and campsite restrictionsBear activity has closed trails, a shelter, and campsites and restricted pedestrian access on Cherokee Orchard Road; follow the vehicle restrictions and avoid closed areas.Official details
See all 7 alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide

Your drive to Jim Bales Place, narrated.

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 tour

Recorded for this place

Jim Bales Place and Ephraim Bales Cabin
0:00 / 0:33
“You're coming up on Jim Bales Place and the nearby Ephraim Bales Cabin, two short farmstead stops along Roaring Fork.”

Plays as you drive up to Jim Bales Place in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.

More stories near here in the app

  • Alfred Reagan House and Tub Mill
  • Grotto Falls from Trillium Gap
  • Baskins Creek Falls Trailhead
  • Place of a Thousand Drips
  • 188 audio storiesacross Great Smoky Mountains’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 197 trails, 100 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Jim Bales Place

A quick stop on Roaring ForkJim Bales Place is a small historic farmstead in a forest clearing along the one-way Roaring…

Jim Bales Place is a small historic farmstead in a forest clearing along the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. The barn, corn crib and cabin make it a worthwhile 10- to 15-minute walk-around if you like old mountain buildings; it’s a short stop, not a hike. A roadside parking area serves the site.

The cabin isn’t Jim Bales’sBales farmed at Roaring Fork, and the barn and corn crib are from his farm.

Bales farmed at Roaring Fork, and the barn and corn crib are from his farm. The cabin standing here is the Alex Cole Cabin, moved from Sugarlands. It’s a one-story structure built of hand-hewn logs, with dovetail notches at the corners. Slow down for those joints; they’re easy to miss from the road.

Fit it into the loopRoaring Fork is narrow and winding, and access is one-way.

Roaring Fork is narrow and winding, and access is one-way. The road is seasonal, generally open from spring into late fall, so build the stop into a full pass through the loop. The clearing gives you a view of all three buildings together; move closer to notice the cabin’s logs and corners.

historicfarmsteadlogcabinroaringfork

Wildlife

Wildlife in Great Smoky Mountains

All Great Smoky Mountains wildlife maps
Black Bear1,566 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapElk899 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapBald Eagle13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting mapTimber Rattlesnake142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting mapBobcat26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapRiver Otter42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Jim Bales Place

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateGrotto Falls Trail2.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 1 mi awayA shaded 2.6-mile walk to a waterfall you can walk behind.ChallengingBrushy Mountain via Trillium Gap Trail6.8 mi · 4.5 hr · 1 mi awayA waterfall walk climbs to a heath bald with two views.ChallengingTrillium Gap Trail to Mount Le Conte13 mi · 9 hr · 1 mi awayA long climb to Le Conte, with Grotto Falls along the way.ModerateBaskins Creek Trail to Baskins Creek Falls3.3 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.4 mi awayA waterfall walk with a steep finish and a climb back.EasyNoah “Bud” Ogle Place Nature Trail0.8 mi · 45 min · 1.6 mi awayA short farmstead loop to a cabin, mill and log barn.ChallengingMount Le Conte via Rainbow Falls Trail13 mi · 9 hr · 1.7 mi awayRainbow Falls is the first milestone on this long Le Conte climb.ChallengingRainbow Falls Trail5.6 mi · 4.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayClimb a boulder-lined creek valley to an 80-foot waterfall.ChallengingBullhead Trail to Mount Le Conte13.6 mi · 10 hr · 2.1 mi awayA long, steep route to Le Conte with exposed ridge views.

More stops nearby

Sight · 0.3 mi awayEphraim Bales CabinA family farm preserved down to its dog-trot breezeway.Sight · 0.6 mi awayAlfred Reagan House and Tub MillA quick stop for a Smokies homestead and its historic tub mill.Sight · 0.9 mi awayBaskins Creek FallsA two-tier waterfall, earned by a steep hike back out.Sight · 1.5 mi awayPlace of a Thousand DripsA roadside cascade with no approach hike.Sight · 1.6 mi awayNoah Bud Ogle PlaceA rare saddlebag cabin beside a creek-powered mill.Sight · 1.7 mi awayGrotto FallsWalk behind a 25-foot waterfall on a shaded stream-crossing hike.Picnic area · 2.1 mi awayTwin Creeks Picnic PavilionA wooded group pavilion for gatherings of up to 150.Sight · 2.3 mi awayRainbow FallsA steep Smokies climb to a waterfall named for its rainbows.

Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking

Top sights in Great Smoky Mountains

All 100 places
  1. 1Kuwohi Observation TowerSight
  2. 2Newfound Gap OverlookSight
  3. 3Cable Mill Historic AreaSight
  4. 4Mountain Farm MuseumSight
  5. 5John Oliver CabinSight
  6. 6Mingus MillSight

Take Parkwolf to Great Smoky Mountains.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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