Day 2 - Cades Cove Maps & Shooting Information Directions from Townsend to Cades Cove: From motel turn left onto Highway 321. It turns into Highway 73 after a passing the Townsend Visitors Center. From the motel is it about eight miles until you run into the mountain (you can t miss it!). Look for the roadsign at the Y intersection that shows directions to Cades Cove and Gatlinburg. Turn right at the Y intersection and proceed about seven miles into Cades Cove. (Laurel Creek Road, also known as Cades Cove Road) Family Inns Motel Townsend Y Intersection to Cades Cove, Tremont, or Gatlinburg. Cades Cove 7 Miles from intersection
Cades Cove Overview Townsend to Caves Cove Full View The Y intersection is here Cades Cove One-way Loop Road in Red. (Black crossroads are two-way)
What to Do in Cades Cove Cades Cove is a one-way 11 mile loop road with original cabins from the early 1800s up to 1934, when the park was formed. There are two crossroads shown on the Maps, Sparks Lane and Hyatt Lane. Both of these can be used to start over on the loop. Antique Cabins, Churches, Graveyards, and a Reconstructed Settlement Area As a photographer you ll find a rich variety of subjects, both natural and man made. The scenic beauty of the Cove area is known world wide, and is the most popular tourism spot in the United States. Unfortunately, that means a LOT of people tend to be in the cove at any one time, and especially in the Autumn of the year when the leaves are so beautiful. However, in my experience, it is not difficult to get beautiful images anyway, since the fields and scenic views are protected by fences. You ll rarely find anyone blocking your view of the beauty, except around the old cabins and churches. But, patience there will allow some nice images as people go into the cabins. You ll need to shoot fast when you have the opportunity to get an unobstructed view of the antique buildings. A tripod is important, since the light will not be bright around some of the cabins. Using a polarizing filter can really make for some lovely shots of the old cabins against the mountains. Shoot at a ninety-degree angle to the sun for best results. Hand held shots do not work well here. It s a bit too dark in the forest. Inside the cabins and churches are examples of how people lived only 100 years ago. No electricity, running water, or inside toilet facilities. It is interesting to photograph the interiors alone, and with some of your friends standing in front of the large fireplaces. Bring your Speedlights Now might be a good time to use that neutral density filter for keeping the foreground detail when the sky is in the picture. Or, you might want to play around with shooting for HDR (High Dynamic Range), where you take the same picture three to five times while exposure bracketing. Then you combine them in Photoshop or other software into one image with extended dynamic range. Cool stuff, and the Smokies is a great place to try it. A very interesting subject that you can photograph is the handprints on the ceiling of the Methodist Church (No.5 on the orange map above). As the men built the church ceilings in 1902, several would hold the boards up, while others nailed them in place. The oil from their hands on the new wood caused their handprints to show up over time. Wouldn t you like an image of the handprints of people from 105 years ago? Do time exposures on your tripod for best results. There is a booklet called Cades Cove Tour that Digital Darrell will try and obtain several copies of. These go into great detail about each of the cabins in the Cove.
Wildlife The Cades Cove area is quite active with wildlife. The deer come down from the mountains in the afternoon to feed in the fields. You ll often see different varieties of birds, squirrels, turkeys, raccoons, and even a bear or two. Do NOT feed any of the animals (illegal), or approach them quickly. If you move slowly and quietly most animals will pay little attention to you. To approach them for a photograph, do not run up and slam open your tripod. Instead, without looking directly at the animal, and while moving slowly in its general direction, open your tripod, or shoot handheld. Never approach a bear in a rapid manner, since it may feel threatened, and decide to attack you. If attacked, it is NOT a good idea to fall down and play dead with the variety of bears in the Smokies. Instead, it is best to make yourself appear as large as possible, wave your arms, yell, and even use your tripod and camera for protection. Bears in the Smokies are not generally aggressive, but they are wild animals, and are able to hurt you seriously or even kill you. Respect them! If you see young bears be extra careful, cause mama isn t far away, and she won t like you approaching her young ones. Don t EVER get between a mama bear and her young ones! I put the paragraph above in because of something I once experienced in the Smokies. Myself, and several other photographers, were quietly taking pictures of a large male bear while he dug grubs for the winter. We were within 20 feet of the bear, with our tripods, taking pictures slowly and quietly. Suddenly a group of tourists almost wrecked their car stopping to see the bear. They leapt out of the vehicle, tripods and cameras waving, chattering excitedly, and ran right up to the bear. This is a tame Smoky Bear, right? Well, old Smoky didn t like several people running at him, waving shiny things, and talking loudly in a non-bear dialect. He snorted once, rose up on his hind legs, and ran toward the people, as if to meet them halfway. He stopped short, slammed his front feet down on the ground, and roared a sound that would make a child wet their pants. (A few adults too!) Well, the people all reconsidered the great bear pictures they wanted, and ran screaming back to their car, peeled out, and I ve never seen them again. Then the old bear snorted a few times to himself and sauntered off into the woods. Had those tourist treated old Smoky with respect, they would have gotten their pictures, and not ruined ours. Instead, they almost got in a bear fight. Remember this, be slow, be quiet, don t look directly at the animal when approaching, and approach in a round about way, not directly. You ll get the shots, and you won t get any bites! Since the later afternoon (after 4 PM) is generally the best time for wildlife, you may want to shoot a bunch of the cabins and scenics in the morning, then circle back around in the evening for wildlife, magic hour mountain pictures, and a nice sunset. Cades Cove is a peaceful and beautiful place to take pictures. We look forward to seeing yours in the motel and forums later.
Below is a brief overview of some of most important antique buildings in Cades Cove: John Oliver Place Built in the early 1820s, this cabin is the oldest log home in Cades Cove. John Oliver arrived in the Cove prior to 1820 and bought this land in 1826. It remained in the family until the park was established more than 100 years later. Many scenic angles are available for this cabin. It also has the highest foot traffic. Primitive Baptist Church Some of the earliest of the Cove s settlers established this church in 1827. A log building served their needs until this church building replaced it in 1887. Methodist Church J.D. McCampbell, a blacksmith and carpenter, built this church in 115 days for $115 USD. It was established in about 1820 in a log building until 1902 when this church building was built. The Civil War divided the church, and dissidents formed the Hopewell Methodist Church on the opposite side of the Cove. (It no longer stands) There are two front doors because the church borrowed the building plans of another church that divided its congregation by gender. See ceiling handprints in this church.
Missionary Baptist Church A group of Baptists expelled from the Primitive Baptist Church because they favored missionary work formed this church in 1839. This church building dates from 1915. A Sunday School started in the church in 1898 continued until the church closed in 1944. Elijah Oliver Place (not pictured) Elijah Oliver, son of John Oliver was born in the Cove in 1824. After he married, he and his family moved out of the cove before the Civil War. After the war he bought this property and moved back in. Cable Mill Historic Area and Visitor Center There are quite a few old buildings in this settlement reconstruction. Plan on spending an hour or so just wandering around taking pictures of the details in and out of the old buildings, mill, and barn. The mill has a working water wheel, being powered by a creek imported by a wooden sluice. Quite interesting and photogenic. Get some shots of your friends wearing the mule collars hanging on the outside of the old cantilever barn. This is an old family tradition of Digital Darrrell s family. We got those same shots in 1980, and still get one or two every time we come back to the Cove. (We ve got to get one of JRP and Bo in symbolism of cooperatively pulling the load of Nikonians.org!)
Gregg-Cable House Leason Gregg bought an acre of land from John P. Cable in 1879 and built a small house. Later he enlarged the house. It is believed to be the first all-frame house in the Cove. Cable Mill John P. Cable built this water-powered grist mill in about 1870. Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association still operates this mill today as a historical exhibit. End of Cable Mill Historical Are Information. Dan Lawson Place Dan Lawson built this house in 1856 on land he bought from his father-in-law, Peter Cable. The brick chimney, which was unusual for the time and local, was built with bricks made on the site.
Tipton Place Colonel Hamp Tipton, who served in the Mexican War, owned property in Cades Cove but lived in Tuckaleechee Cove. He had this house built in 1870 for his family. His daughters Miss Lucy and Miss Lizzie taught school in the Cove and lived here. Carter Shields Cabin A wound suffered in the Battle of Shiloh left George Washington Carter Shields crippled for life. Shortly after the war he moved to Kansas. He returned to Cades Cove in 1906 and bought this property in 1910. There are many opportunities for world-class images in the Cades Cove area. This is the most popular tourist location in the United States for a reason. As you experience the history and mystery of these ancient mountains and their early settlers, you will take with you a piece of the Smokies that will stay with you forever. Capture this time with your camera!