A small community outside the Great Smoky Mountains and Pigeon Forge, Wears Valley is “The Peaceful Side,” offering historical sights, natural views, and family activities.

You will find lodging, adventure, dining, shopping, wedding chapel, retreats, and reunion groups here.

It acts as a central point between the Great Smoky Mountains and Pigeon Forge, including Cades Cove and Townsend, providing an accessible approach as soon as you enter Gatlinburg.

You can enjoy mountain views from East Tennessee gliding over your lodging and making you feel at home. That is why Wears Valley is the perfect place if you are looking for a peaceful getaway.

The rental cabins offer basic amenities with luxuries, and you can select whatever benefits you want. You can rent a cabin with an outdoor pavilion for stunning mountain views with a Jacuzzi or one with multiple bedrooms and a TV room.

Let us look at what you can do in Wears Valley if you arrive here with a travel bucket list.

1. Enjoy Cove Mountain Views

While staying in your lodging at Wears Valley, 1,454 feet above sea level, you will find yourself surrounded by large mountains offering exotic views, especially during autumn.

You can find various options if you look up cabin rentals Wears Valley online and explore spots with breathtaking views, making you feel like you have entered a scenic sketch.

On top of that, the lodgings offer luxury, comfort, and natural scenic views for you to enjoy during your stay.

The Cove Mountains, with a height of 2,000 feet above valley floors, stands at 4,078 feet, creating a picturesque mountainous effect.

2. Explore Metcalf Bottoms Park Entrance

Alongside the Little River lies the park entrance that leads to Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Area. From this point on, you can access Elkmont, the Cades Cove, and hiking trails leading to the Historic Little Greenbrier Community. You will witness the Walker Sisters Cabin, a graveyard, and an old schoolhouse during your hike.

If you turn onto the Lyon Springs Ln and go towards the National Park from Line Springs Road, you will reach the picnic area along the Little River George Road via Wear Cove Gap Road. You can pick up your hiking gear at the Great Smoky Mountain Outfitters and continue hiking towards the National Park.

3. Have Brunch at Elvira’s

After returning from your hike, sit down for a lavish brunch at Elvira’s with sandwiches, hot cakes, omelets, waffles, pancakes, crepes, French toast, steaks, burgers, biscuits with gravy, salads, and Cades Cove Specials, with a variety of healthy options like gluten-free bread and buns, or order on special request.

The restaurant’s locally sourced and farm-fresh organic ingredients attract thousands of tourists annually.

4. Explore the Historic Headrick Chapel

The small white Headrick Chapel has been a center of religious and wedding ceremonies for over a century. In 1902, the site protected residents from an alarming thunderbolt that struck the oak tree on the hill. The residents decided to commemorate this historic moment by building a church on this site.

The wedding preacher, Reverend Jody Secaur, acts as the officiant for whoever wants to get married in this beautiful little white Chapel in the middle of the mountains. The Reverend is an evangelist and fully ordained minister who performs all Smoky Mountains wedding ceremonies. The Chapel also acts as a community center for the locals with social and wedding gatherings.

5. Get Your Thrill Fill at Wears Valley Zip Lines

Taking a zip-line tour is one that you cannot miss during your visit to Wears Valley. It features zip-lines over 2,000 feet long and 275 feet above ground level.

You will also find zip-line courses over 250 feet high, 7,600 lineal feet with 1.5 miles of zip-lines spread over 43 acres of private grounds. Dense forests surround the zip-line courses and are safe for children above five.

6. Visit Walden’s Creek Stables for Horseback Riding

Horseback rides through the mountainous valleys with a guide are experiences of a lifetime. At the same time, you pass through moonshine stills, ancient communities in the middle of the valleys with exotic Smoky Mountain views. It is another way to hike across the National Park trails.

By the end of your horseback ride, you can go on a Wild West adventure back at Walden’s Creek Stables with a live barbecue dinner, bonfire, and a wagon tour that will take you through the mountains along another trail.

It is the perfect way to end your first day at Wears Valley.

7. Explore Cultural History of Appalachia at the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center

Plan your next day to learn about Appalachia’s cultural and historical richness. The Heritage Center is a private museum in Townsend near the Wears Valley that features indoor exhibits, cantilever barns, outdoor cabins, and many other preserved ancient monuments.

Here, you can explore the rich historical background of the Great Smoky Mountains that dates thousands of years back, from ancient Cherokee artifacts and preserved banjo by the residents of Cades Cove.

If you visit Wears Valley during the summer, you can attend live bluegrass concerts.

8. Take a Guided Tour of Wears Valley Moonshine Distillery

Spend your evening tasting moonshines and corn liquor and witness live breweries of delicious tasting-free samples offered to tourists as soon as they enter the establishment.

In the early days, the local farmers who used to brew their liquor by the moonlight to escape revenuers inspired the advent of Wears Valley Moonshine Distillery. You will learn about its historical background during your guided distillery tour.

9. Go Treasure Hunting at the Friendly Falls Gem Mine

Wears Valley legend tells us that the local Cherokee buried gold bars in Wears Valley before fleeing the place through the famous Trail of Tears. Today, thousands of tourists explore the area in hopes of digging up gemstones and gold.

However, you have better chances of finding gems at the friendly Falls Gem Mine. It houses a local crafts store and a restaurant alongside a private waterfall and mining flume for gem mining.

Take your kids to fuel their curiosity by shifting through the silts to find unique and rare objects, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, etc. You might get lucky and strike rich here at the Friendly Falls, not to mention collecting memories to take along with you.

Conclusion

Wears Valley may be a small community, but it has many adventure spots rich in nature, history and culture, arts and crafts, and lodgings.

While at Wears Valley, stay in the cabins at the highest peaks for the perfect mountain views. Head to the Metcalf Bottoms park entrance to explore a variety of spots, have brunch at Elvira’s and explore the historic Headrick Chapel. Explore the Great Smoky Mountains Heritage Center, taste free samples at Moonshine Distillery, and go treasure hunting at Friendly Falls with your family. Visit these fantastic places during your tour of the Wears Valley for peace and adventure in one package.