About Cades Cove Missionary Baptist Church Pullout
The Missionary Baptist Church is the last of the cove's three churches on the loop, and it has a story that explains why there are two Baptist congregations in a community of a few hundred people.
The church
The building dates to 1915, a plain white frame church reached by a short walk from the lot. The congregation is older. It formed in the nineteenth century after a split with the Primitive Baptists over missionary work, and it met in earlier buildings before this one was built. The churchyard has the cove's family names on its headstones.
Why it is worth the stop
Compared with the Primitive Baptist Church, which is log and unadorned, this is a later church that looks like the small-town white church you may remember from other parts of the South. The contrast is part of the interest. The cemetery is the main reason to walk the grounds.
- Where: on the north side of the loop, near the turnoff for Rich Mountain Road, before you reach Cable Mill.
- Parking: a small lot with room for about a dozen cars.
- Time to allow: 15 minutes.
- Facilities: none; restrooms are at Cable Mill.
- Hours: the loop is open sunrise to sunset; closed to cars on Wednesdays from May 6 to September 30, 2026.
Combine it with
From here the loop continues to Cable Mill in a couple of miles. If you want a view of the cove from above, Rich Mountain Road starts nearby, but it is a one-way gravel road with a seasonal gate (open April 10 to November 9, 2026). A parking tag is required for any stop longer than 15 minutes. In late October the poplars along the churchyard hold a few yellow leaves and the shadows come early, so aim for midday.
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.