Elijah Oliver Place

This is the Elijah Oliver place, one of many short hikes along the Cades Cove Loop Road. It's only a mile round-trip and an easy hike or walk for anyone wanting to get out and enjoy the fresh air. The cabin is huge and there are several outbuildings to explore, along with a large barn along the way. You can also take the Rabbit Creek Trail, another .6 miles.

Why do they call them the Smoky Mountains?

Did You Know?
The wispy, smoke-like fog that hangs over the Smoky Mountains comes from rain and evaporation from trees. On the high peaks of the Smokies, an average of 85 inches of rain falls each year, qualifying these upper elevation areas as temperate rain forests.

Home in the Smokies

East Tennessee always calls me back home ... I've lived in Florida, only two blocks off the Gulf of Mexico, but I always manage to end up coming back home. Why? I miss my mountains - the Great Smokies. Each and every time I stray from home the mountains (not to mention my family) call me back. I just can't get enough of visiting the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg and especially Cades Cove, which is without a doubt my favorite place on the planet.

No place makes me feel more at home or makes me feel closer to God than Cades Cove. I started a group on Facebook called Cades Cove - Great Smokies and I found that I am not alone. I started the group as a way to share photos of my Cades Cove excursions with my family, especially my niece Candy West. She and the rest of my family share my enthusiasm for the Cove and all it has to offer. Now there are 30,000+ members of the group. People are posting their experiences and memories of the Cove and I love to read each and every one.

So, I decided to start this blog to have a nice place for people to find photos, news and information about the Great Smoky Mountains. With all of the bad news happening lately it might be a way to uplift our moods, even if just for a little while. I'll be posting photos, telling stories, sharing interesting historical facts and more.