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PlayCades Cove NaturePod Tour Guide

Cades Cove In Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Called the “Dream of the Smokies” by Isaac P. Martin, a visiting circuit riding preacher, Cades Cove is one of the most beautiful places in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

NaturePods allows you to take the expertise of a of a park ranger with you as you tour this bucolic setting. Tom Condon will share with you the stories of the settlers who made this valley one of the richest in the Smokies. You’ll learn of the Olivers, Tiptons, Lawsons, and Shields whose homes still abide in the valley. But you’ll also learn about Daniel Foute, Russell Gregory, Bonnie Myers, and Leon Sparks whose names may be missing from the Cove, but whose histories are just as important.

Explore the Cove at your own pace. Walk out to any of the cabins and draw up a video on your iPod or other mp3 device to see and hear about the settlers and their lives. Spot a bear or dear? Tom will tell you about them as well.

Hear from Bonnie Myers and Leon Sparks, two former residents, in their own words about growing up in the Cove. Sit down in the Primitive Baptist Church and listen to an old-time harp sing. Or hike out to the Boring Cemetery, Hopewell Methodist Church, or Pearl Harbor Memorial to learn about the secret history of the Cove.

Here’s What You Get

  • Nearly 2 hours of enlightening information divided into 53, 3 to 5 minute segments
  • Select what you want to listen to when you want to listen
  • The Audio version includes a photo to illustrate each segment
  • The Video version uses numerous photos to illustrate each segment
  • Historic photos of former residents and structures long gone
  • Remembrances told by former residents
  • A traditional Harp Sing as may have been heard in Cove churches

Here’s What You Learn

  • the character of Cove settlers
  • geologic formation of the Cove
  • wildlife that inhabit the Cove
  • origins of all the major structures including purposes of various out-buildings
  • histories of many important Cove families
  • stories Cove residents pass down from generation to generation
  • Bear and Deer natural history
  • Little known places like the Boring Cemetery, Gregory Cave, Pearl Harbor Memorial and Hopewell Cemetery

Enjoy your explorations of this glorious place nestled in the heart of the Smoky Mountains with the Cades Cove NaturePod.

It’s like having an expert guide at your beckon call.


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Tom Condon

Thomas Condon

Thomas Condon is the co-founder of NaturePods, a middle school science teacher, and a former seasonal park ranger for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Tom was stationed in Cades Cove from 1990 to 1997, where he developed a love for the incredible valley and a respect for the people who once lived there. Read More.


Carey Jones, Narrator

Bearded BayGradRaised in the Carolina’s and college educated in Texas, Carey Jones was a National Park Ranger for over 20 years in Texas (LBJ NHS), North Carolina (Carl Sandburg Home NHS), and Tennessee – the last 14 years as a naturalist in the Great Smoky Mountains. From his home near the Smokies he now serves as a naturalist for all types of groups. Always the seeker and discoverer, his experience and Master of Arts training help him g lean truths from nature that he shares with fellow learners in creative ways.  An erstwhile actor, singer and voice talent, he can be seen in movies, television, and theatre, and heard on documentaries and educational audios. He has taught salamandering on Animal Planet, arrested John Dillinger on The History Channel, and narrated the new Bird Songs of the Smokies CD set.