Cades Cove Visitor Center — Attraction in Maryville

We visited early in November 2024 on a Tuesday morning around 8:40AM. There were a dozen other cars in the parking lot with us at the visitor center. I think many folks were waiting for the visitor center to open at 9AM. There weren't many folks walking around with us on the grounds so I'm wondering if a few had their bikes and were going to try and bike the loop.

We explored around the grounds a bit while we waited for the visitor center to open. There are a number of cool things to see and the time fly by quickly.

The visitor center itself was fairly nice with a porch out front. It's more a NPS store than a visitor center. It had a bunch of merchandise for sale. The important thing for us was our NPS Passport Stamp for Cades Cove which is located to the left when you walk in adjacent to checkout counter.

The 2 staff were very helpful and one of them did the Junior Ranger pledge for our kids. This was our last visitor center (of the 4 for the park) so we turned in our Junior Ranger books here and got the Badges. You do have to purchase the Junior Ranger booklet for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park but you can also share one book with up to 5 people and get 5 badges.

Other tip is if you see something you like, buy it. Don't think I'll get it later at another visitor center. While the visitor centers all have shops and they sell similar items, not all items will be available at each one.

I would save the Cades Cove Visitor Center is just slightly larger than the Kuwohi (formerly Clingman's Dome) Visitor Center but...

To reach this visitors center you have to drive a scenic loop, which is fine but people don’t head the posted signs. People were stopping on the route & driving under the speed limit. Plan on doing a bathroom break before you enter the park. Plan on arriving at the center at least an hour before they close, as it will take a long time to arrive if you’re driving behind anyone.

One of the park employees in the visitors center said she was over an hour late to work because of people not heeding the signs!

Bathrooms were separate from the visitors center (was in walking distance). Bathrooms were not clean & probably could do with a renovation. Removed one star for that.

Visitors center is a small cabin structure. I bought a hoodie there, it’s good quality & soft. They have plenty of items in the store.

It was sad to see the amount of graffiti on the all the structures. Would have been a much more beautiful visit if all humans practiced leave no trace. Removed one star for that, not that it is the parks fault.

The park would be better off with only allowing visitors to view the structures from a short distance with fencing. Nothing in the way of posted physical descriptions of the history, had to use the NPS app to get info about the structures. Download the app in a town before you you head to the park, it’s quite the drive with no...

The Cades Cove visitors center is small but really has a lot to offer. In addition to the visitors center there are numerous structures and washrooms. The vistors center has all the usual items. Books, t-shirts, hats, stuffed animals, tourist items, stickers, posters, sweaters, chow chow, pickels, fruit, water, walking sticks, maps, coins, pins, and tons of other stuff. My two go to items are the greatest chocolate you'll ever eat and the incredible spicy sweet pickels. Both are absolutely fantastic! My daughter and I enjoy collecting the stamps in our National Park passports. These are always available in all gift shops throughout the park. Each center has a unique stamp and it seals the memory of that day with a record of our visit. It's a great program to do with your kids. All the purchases at the gift shops benefit the park. It's a major revenue to keep GSMNP viable for future generations to see this wonderful place. I reccomend a visit and making a purchase of one of the quality...