About Tipton Place
The Tipton Place is where you can see the whole farm. Past Cable Mill, the road swings through open fields, and a lane leads to a cluster of log buildings behind a fence, with a barn that is the best in the cove.
The farmstead
The place is associated with the Tipton and Oliver families and includes log houses, a cantilever barn, a blacksmith shop, a corn crib, a smokehouse and a woodshed. Because so many buildings survive in their original arrangement, the Tipton Place reads as a working unit: the house and kitchen at the center, food storage and shop around it, the barn farther off.
The barn
A cantilever barn is a feature of East Tennessee. The upper loft extends past the lower pens on all sides, and the overhang shelters animals and keeps hay dry. The Tipton barn's long overhang makes a good photograph in the late afternoon.
Visiting
- Where: on the south side of the loop, after the Dan Lawson Place and before the Carter Shields Cabin.
- Time to allow: 20 to 30 minutes.
- Hours: the loop is open sunrise to sunset; closed to cars on Wednesdays from May 6 to September 30, 2026.
- Parking: a small lot at the lane; a parking tag is required for stops over 15 minutes.
- Facilities: none; restrooms at Cable Mill.
Light and wildlife
The farmstead faces south and catches afternoon sun. In the evening, deer graze in the field behind and turkeys cross the lane. Keep 50 yards from bears.
Context
If you have only time for a couple of farmsteads, pair the Tipton Place with the Elijah Oliver Place for a walk, or with the Dan Lawson Place for a drive-by. The line of cars is usually shorter here than at the mill.
Good to know
- Do I need a parking tag?
- A Park It Forward parking tag ($5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year) is required for any vehicle parked more than 15 minutes inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Entry is free, and federal passes such as America the Beautiful do not replace the tag.
