The Cades Cove loop is 11 miles. Nobody tells you that a good share of the climbing comes early, while you're still feeling good about yourself.
On summer Wednesdays the park closes the loop road to cars, and the whole thing belongs to people on bikes and on foot. We planned our week at Elkmont around Wednesday, June 18, so we could ride it as a family. Maya is 9 and rides well. Nico is 5 and rides like a five-year-old, so he got a tag-along, a half-bike that hitches to the back of an adult bike, behind me.
Getting there early
We left camp at 7:10, which was not easy with two kids, and drove about 45 minutes to the cove. The early start was Dana's call and a good one. By the time we'd rented bikes and gotten helmets on, the parking area was filling up fast.
We rented three bikes and the tag-along at the Cades Cove campground store for $64 total, helmets included. The bikes were basic and sturdy, and the tag-along took the staff about two minutes to attach. I double-checked the hitch anyway, twice, because I was the one who'd be explaining to Dana what happened if it came loose.
At 8:15 we rolled onto the loop. Fog was still lifting off the fields, the air smelled like cut hay and the only sound was the tick of bike wheels coasting. There were deer in the first field, close enough that Maya stopped to count them (seven).
The hill that broke us
A couple of miles in, the road starts rolling, and then it starts climbing. There's one hill in particular, I couldn't tell you exactly where on a map, but every member of my family can tell you exactly where it is on their legs.
Maya made it about two-thirds of the way up and then walked her bike the rest, with no shame at all, which I respect. Dana stood up on the pedals and passed me. I was pulling Nico on the tag-along, which means I was pulling about 45 pounds of five-year-old plus a half-bike, and he was pedaling about one turn out of every five while shouting "Pedal, Daddy." He was the best bench coach on the loop. He did not offer to swap.
At the top, we stopped for water and nobody talked for about two minutes. Then Nico asked if there were more hills. There were.
The flat half and the bear
The good news is that the second half of the loop is much flatter. Around the halfway point there's the Cable Mill area with a visitor center, restrooms, an old mill and a spot to refill water bottles. We ate granola bars on a bench and the kids walked through the old buildings while Dana and I sat very still.
Past the mill, we saw a black bear. It was far off, at the edge of the trees across a field, and a group of cyclists had already stopped to watch. The park rule is to stay at least 50 yards from bears, and we stayed much farther than that. Nico watched it through the gap in my helmet straps and whispered "hi, bear" about 20 times. It ate something in the grass and wandered off into the woods, and that was the best wildlife moment of the trip.
We also passed a flock of wild turkeys crossing the road, which Nico found more exciting than the bear because they were closer.
What we'd do differently
- Bring more water. We brought four bottles and needed six. The refill at Cable Mill saved us.
- Sunscreen the grown-ups too. I sunscreened everyone but myself and spent two days with a red stripe on the back of my neck.
- Start even earlier. We finished at 11:40, and by then it was 84 degrees with not much shade on the open stretches.
- Don't let the hill scare you off. Maya walked part of it. That's fine. It's not a race, and the deer don't care.
The ride took us about three and a half hours with stops. The kids slept in the car on the drive back to Elkmont, and then the afternoon rain came in right on time, and nobody minded staying in the tent.
Nico has since told at least three people that he biked 11 miles. He has not mentioned how much of it he coasted.
