At 7 a.m., the air is full of birdsong and morning cool, the heat of the day still a distant worry. I drive on empty roads through slumbering Townsend, Tennessee, and into Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
There, I find that Cades Cove is already wide awake. It’s vehicle-free Wednesday, and people from hours away have hustled to arrive early, hoping to snag a coveted parking spot near the entrance to scenic Cades Cove Loop Road. The road is closed to vehicles today, which means that it’s open to a uniquely magical experience for cyclists and pedestrians.
“It’s such a different way to experience Cades Cove,” said Lisa Nagurny, supervisory park ranger for the Cades Cove district. “It also slows people down. I think people are more likely to see a flower they wouldn’t have before or get a different sense of the place that they’re in when they’re able to do it a little bit slower.”
Though it’s far from flat, the cove is one of the few areas in the Smokies with terrain gentle enough for most cyclists to enjoy. Eleven-mile Cades Cove Loop Road is extremely popular with motorists, too, but for more than 40 years park managers have set aside times for cyclists and walkers to enjoy the loop without cars. The current vehicle-free schedule, all day Wednesdays from May through September, has been in place since 2020.
Previously, the park had offered vehicle-free access on both Wednesdays and Saturdays, but only until 10 a.m. — at which point cars re-entered the road, creating a sense of urgency for vehicle-free users to finish their adventure. The all-day Wednesday closure allows visitors to enjoy the loop during any time of day they please, and at their own pace. But most still choose morning. Sometimes, more than 1,000 people will use the loop at once, with 35-40 park staff and volunteers on hand to help them.
“I definitely make sure as much of my staff as possible is available, because it does take a lot of people,” said Nagurny.
Behind the scenes
This Wednesday, I find Nagurny directing cars at the intersection of Laurel Creek Road and Campground Drive. The parking lots often fill well before 8 a.m.; when that happens, she’ll have to turn people away until earlier arrivals depart. Many weeks, hundreds of people discover they’re too late for a morning ride.
I find a spot in the picnic area, where volunteer Doris Drulard is in seemingly constant motion. She encourages visitors to park efficiently and fold up their bike racks after unloading, answers questions about trailhead locations and water availability, offers tips on safety and preparedness and watches for the bear that often frequents nearby Abrams Creek.
She also keeps a close eye on the number of open parking spots; Nagurny depends on updates from Drulard and volunteers monitoring the four other parking lots to guide her decisions. All volunteers must arrive in Cades Cove in time for the 6:45 a.m. meeting where they receive their final assignments. For Drulard, who lives more than 50 miles away in Tellico Villiage, Tennessee, that means waking up at 3 a.m. every Wednesday.
“I do it because I love the park,” she said. “This is my park. This is my home. I grew up here, and I want to give back as a retiree.”
That sentiment seems to be universal among the formidable volunteer force that shows up each week to ensure visitors enjoy the loop as safely as possible. Barb Roberts, a retired nurse finishing up her first month as a volunteer, calls the Smokies her happy place as she manages parking in the camp store lot. Tammy May patrols the gravel overflow lot, explaining that she started volunteering a year ago after a life-changing road trip to 36 different national parks. And Ken Voorhis, a resource education volunteer and former executive director of park partner Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, typically spends the day out on the loop, helping visitors learn more about the birds, bears and blooms around them.
“To me vehicle-free day is the best,” he said. “You’re not having to deal with cars, and it’s just a different feel. People aren’t as stressed.”
Preventative Search and Rescue rangers like Joanna Leach are also an important component of the vehicle-free day workforce. The PSAR crew, created in 2023 using Park It Forward parking tag funds, aims to avert potential emergencies by educating visitors on safety and preparedness before they set out.
“I like to go where people are packing up to head out into the loop, because I find that to be the most effective place to get folks to bring water, wear helmets, and all the preparedness things they need to know,” Leach said. “I’m just trying to prevent things before they start and get people on the same page about what they’re going to encounter if they haven’t been on the loop before.”
Most people finish their excursion in a few hours a bit sweaty and ready for a cold drink but otherwise none the worse for the wear. But sometimes things go wrong, and when they do both the PSAR crew and members of the bike patrol — yet another volunteer cadre instrumental to executing vehicle-free day — stand ready to spring into action.
“Our volunteers are the heart and soul of the operation,” said Leach.
Vehicle-free days see about two or three emergency incidents on average, ranging from serious to mild injuries. However, because first responders don’t have to fight traffic to reach the scene, help tends to arrive faster than when cars are on the loop.
Journey around the loop
I top off the air in my tires and the water in my bottle, and by 7:45 a.m. I’m pedaling into the exhilarating freedom of the gentle downhill coast that begins the loop. The morning air slides past me, cool and fluid. Clouds of fog hang low over the mountains, shrouding the sun and imbuing an air of intimate mystery over the rolling landscape. I’m not alone — groups of other travelers move along the road, occasionally congregating in clusters to admire a view or rest after a challenging climb — but a feeling of space pervades.
It’s easy to smile, even if it isn’t always easy to breathe.
“It’s ‘flat’ compared to going up to Kuwohi, but there are still some good hills,” said Nagurny. “It’s not an easy ride, so it takes longer than some people would expect.”
But it’s no hardship to take a break. Historic buildings and overlooks dot the road, tempting even the most athletic cyclist to look for excuses to stop, sip some water and take in the view. At the halfway point is the Cable Mill area. In addition to the historic mill, the area has a restroom with flush toilets and drinking water as well as an air-conditioned visitor center — the perfect pit stop. Typically, the visitor center, operated by Smokies Life, doesn’t open until 9 a.m., but on vehicle-free days it starts welcoming visitors at 7 a.m. Assistant Store Manager Lori Oliver greets me as I enter to browse the inventory and enjoy the air conditioning.
“It’s a really peaceful day,” she says of these summer Wednesdays. “The folks are happy and really pleasant. It’s a very calm and relaxing day.”
Vehicle-free days attract a diverse crowd — locals and out-of-state travelers, walkers and e-bikers, young families and retirees. Every person has their own reason for coming, and their own preferred way to enjoy the loop.
Michael and Laura Totten of South Bend, Indiana, often visit the Smokies with their children, but today they’re here alone, walking the loop side-by-side to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Pennsylvania residents Craig and Trista Everhart chose to bike the loop and make it a family experience — their two daughters, ages 13 and 15, loved the wildlife sightings and the morning ice cream cones their parents purchased afterwards. For Pam and James Shope, who live two hours away in Athens, Tennessee, Cades Cove on vehicle-free days is a frequent destination. They use e-bikes to make multiple circuits, pulling their eight-year-old chihuahua Minnie in a small trailer behind them.
“You see more on your bike,” said Pam. “It’s wonderful.”
Life feels clean and simple on the bike, wind on my face and harmonizing birdsong in my ears. Out here, I can’t see the full parking lots, the continual motion of the park service staff and volunteers, or the alarm clocks set for 3 a.m. that make this experience possible. My focus is on the blooming elderberry trees, the cathedral shade of early summer and the beauty of the moment in which I’ve found myself.
Cades Cove Loop Road is free of motor vehicles Wednesdays through Sept. 30 this year. Parking and bicycle rentals are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and are most likely to be available in the afternoon. Visitors should be aware there is little to no phone service on the loop and come prepared with food and water. Cyclists should always wear a helmet and pull off the road if they see or hear an emergency vehicle. Learn more at nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cades-cove-vehicle-free-days.htm.
(Holly Kays is the lead writer for the 29,000-member Smokies Life, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the scientific, historical, and interpretive activities of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing educational products and services such as this column. Learn more at smokieslife.org or reach the author at hollyk@smokieslife.org.)