Cable Mill

John P. Cable built the mill in the decades after the Civil War and ran it as a business. Water from Mill Creek is carried to the wheel by a wooden flume, a long trough that raises the water above the wheel so its weight turns it. Inside, the wheel drives gears and belts to the millstones, which grind corn into meal and wheat into flour. Neighbors brought grain and left a share as payment, called the toll. The mill wheel and the flume are the sights to look for; on demonstration days you can hear the stones.

Around the mill sit a sorghum-making shed, a smokehouse, a blacksmith shop, a corn crib and a cantilever barn, along with the Becky Cable House and the Cades Cove Visitor Center. A cantilever barn has an upper floor that juts out on all sides over the lower pens, and the one here is among the best examples in the park. The grounds reward a slow walk.

• Hours: Cable Mill is open daily from March 15 to November 29 in 2026, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The loop road is open sunrise to sunset.
• Crowds: the busiest stop on the loop. Arrive at sunrise, or ride in on a Wednesday between May 6 and September 30 when the road is closed to cars.
• Parking: a parking tag is required for stops over 15 minutes.
• Time to allow: 45 to 90 minutes.

Visit the mill before the visitor center bookstore, because a printed map of the loop's numbered stops is worth having. If the lot is full, walk back from the overflow area. The Elijah Oliver Place trail starts nearby for a quieter walk.