re: Questions about Cades Cove

We went end of June (around a peak time) last year and these things were super helpful:

- We went early and planned to spend a good chunk of the day there. Got there at around 6:30-7:00 so that was helpful but there was still traffic.

- We packed a cooler for lunch and plenty of drinks. Traffic was a pretty slow creep (mostly because people are stupid) but it also allowed us to slow down and take in the scenery around us.

- We decided to not stop off and hike at the Cove but instead hit some trails on the way back to Gatlinburg. This was a lot less busy and rushed for us as a result.

- We had a cub sighting right outside of leaving the Cove and we were stuck in it for about 30 minutes because people just stopped in the middle of the road and GO OUT of their cars. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish for Momma Bear to jump out and handle business at that point. People, again, are just stupid.

You just have to plan to go early (or closer to dusk) since it does get really, really busy. It took 3-4 hours for us to drive the loop altogether with stopping to check out the sites.

I enjoyed it but could see where it could get really miserable, really quick.

We also enjoyed driving the Roaring Fork Motor Trail on the other side of Gatlinburg (it dumped out right at our resort) and that had some nice stuff to get out and look without the traffic of the Cove or the strip. We drove it around late afternoon/early evening and it was really nice. Also nice to get out of the heat of the day.