About Carter Shields Cabin Pullout
By the time you reach the Carter Shields Cabin, most of the loop is behind you and the traffic has thinned. The cabin stands right beside the road in a clearing on the south side of the cove, and it is the last of the historic buildings on the one-way route before the road swings back toward the exit.
The cabin
Carter Shields was a Civil War veteran who farmed in Cades Cove in the early 1900s, and his log house is a modest one, small enough that you can see through the doors and windows how little space one household had. It is a late addition to the cove's story, built long after the first settlers' cabins. The interior is empty, so you won't spend long, but the yard is a good vantage for looking across the field.
Why the pull-off works
The pull-off is shaped like a short lane and holds several cars. Behind the cabin the fields run north to the foot of Cades Cove Mountain, which is where white-tailed deer graze in the last hour of daylight and where black bears sometimes cross. Keep at least 50 yards from bears and don't leave your car on the road when animals are near.
- Best time: the 90 minutes before sunset, when the cabin catches side light.
- Time to allow: 10 to 15 minutes.
- What to know: the loop is 11 miles one-way and open sunrise to sunset. On Wednesdays from May 6 to September 30 it is closed to cars.
Next on the loop
After the cabin, the road runs a few miles through open fields past the exit sign, and a small side road, Hyatt Lane, cuts across the middle of the cove if you need to shorten your drive. If you are still hungry for old buildings, the Tipton Place and Dan Lawson Place are only a short drive back toward the mill, each with a barn that rewards a closer look. Allow at least two to four hours for the whole loop in fall.
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.