Two adults visited this on a Monday in late September 2023. Interesting visit but frustrating. Beautiful area with many old buildings moved from other areas of the park. The downside is the horrendous traffic and lack of parking at the various points of interest, as this is one of the more popular park areas. We left Gatlinburg about 9 am and arrived at the entrance to Cades Cove auto road about 1 ½ hours later due to traffic and then the fun started on the 11 mile one way round trip auto road. We purchased one of the auto tour books for $1.25 and were pitched to donate the change to the park. Book was OK but not spectacular but at least it explained the exhibits/cabins located along the auto route as the Park had very few signs explaining anything. For the trip to the Cades Cove Visitor Center about in the middle of the loop, I estimate we averaged about 10 mph due to the heavy bumper-to-bumper traffic. We couldn’t even stop at a couple of cabins/landmarks because there was no available parking. Very disappointing. All the wildlife we saw were a few turkeys and 3 deer. Once at the VC, we were able to get one of the few available parking slots. Estimate we spent maybe 1 ½ to 2 hours here eating the lunch we brought and wandering the exhibits. The VC is essentially a park store only. The best exhibit was the working grist mill. The employee manning the mill was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and explained the mill workings in detail. By the time we left the VC area, the crowd had thinned and there were plenty of parking spaces and the ride through the rest of the tour route averaged maybe 20 mph. Overall, a somewhat disappointing start that got better as the crown thinned. YMMV greatly as noted in many of the other reviews.

Nice casual drive through the valley. Very crowded with a line of cars the entire way. But if you take that out of the equation it was a nice peaceful drive. Beautiful views of the mountains with a handful of pull off spots to stip and take pictures. We saw turkey, deer and a bear at the last parking spot. We went on and Oct. morning and I would suggest going early as when we were leaving there were alot more cars coming in. We didn't do any of the hiking trails. Just drove through. Took about 2hrs. Overall great experience!!!

We read all the reviews here and heard in the visitors centers that the traffic here gets unbearable (pun intended). So, we decided to get our two girls up at 6am on an October Thursday to make the drive, hoping to beat the crowds. This worked great for us, so if you're willing to get up and over there early you might have a more leisurely experience than those who had a tough time later in the day. Understanding when the gates open is a challenge as different sites seem to have different opinions, but the National Parks Service says sunrise to sunset. So, we got there at 7am just as the sun was rising and the gate was open. We used the bathrooms over in the picnic area and got our parking pass from the automated kiosk before entering the loop and off we went. The crowd was low and everyone's pace was very calm and peaceful. Sure, there were other cars there but, but not too many and we were able to move freely and most of the time we didn't have any cars around us at all. If a few packed up behind us, we would just pull into a pullover spot (there are many) and let everyone pass and then off we would go again at our own pace. We wanted to see bears, but we didn't. We did see elk, deer and turkeys. But the scenery and beauty of fall was worth the drive itself. We had seen other forest areas of the park, so it was great to see this, a more wide open area with great views. All in all, the drive took us maybe 90 minutes, perhaps less than that. While we didn't see bears, we did end up finding quite a few driving on the Twin Creeks area - we headed there since we saw a notice that the trail there was closed due to bear activity but the roads were still open for driving.

Absolutlely beautiful. Just leave your EVs at home. Someone's battery died on the trail and blocked traffic for over an hour. Can't wait to go back when they only allow bicycles and walkers there.

It is a beautiful loop road with some amazing views. We saw a few bears in hitch was nice. However being a loop road- you better be very patient as you can be at a dead stop at various points when people see wildlife and the ant to stop to look (they have pull offs but not everyone seems aware of what stopping on the road causes such backup). Be prepared to spend a few hours on the loop (and a good portion in trafffic). The pull offs are there for a reason and you can really get great pictures from those spots too.

We had the great fortune to be semi-local to this gorgeous park. We lived in WNC and visited often, likewise the GSMNP. This is a beautiful peaceful place, great for horses. It’s a perfect location for picnics and cloud gazing. It’s as wholesome as it gets.

First February trip! I went in December for my birthday and had no crowds so thought I would chance a February visit. No crowds, no problem, and had a great visit. I highly recommend an “off season” visit! I also hiked the Abram’s falls trail and highly recommend it. I visit the smokies once a month and it’s different every time.

Well worth the drive. Beautiful scenery. We were able to get out of our car and take pictures of bears that were along side the road eating walnuts. (There were volunteers there to keep us and the bears safe.) We also saw turkeys on our drive. I highly recommend the loop.

An awesome half day trip. Cost was nothing when we went. Not sure if a parking pass needed on other days, but when we went it must have been a free day. Pass machine said that parking was free that day. An 11 mile loop that has several stops. Churches and cabins from the late 1800s that show a glimpse into life at that time. Even if you don't make any stops, the drive is beautiful. Awesome scenery and a chance to see lots of wildlife. A bit of a drive from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, but even the drive is beautiful. Picnic area at the end tops it off.

Worth the ride out— long scenic rides it lots of twists and turns and stop offs for waterfalls etc. Can be slow at times due to slow driver and curves but worth the ride— expect 2-3 hours or more to do this. We were glad we did saw 4 bears and some other wildlife in the loop. Was standstill at times when you were near bears as people not great about piling over out of the way