Cades Cove Loop Lope

Cades Cove Loop Lope is run inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, from Townsend, Tennessee, on November 8, 2026. Two distances are offered: a certified 10-mile course starting at 7:30 a.m. and a 5K at 7:45 a.m., both with wide views across the park. The field is capped at 750 runners, and proceeds go to Friends of the Smokies, which funds park projects such as wildlife conservation and habitat restoration.

A capped field inside a national park is the whole appeal here, and it also means entry is not guaranteed if you leave it late. Ten miles is far enough to need real endurance behind it: eight to ten weeks with a weekly long run reaching 10 or 12 miles will serve you well, and running some of those miles on rolling ground helps. The 5K covers the same setting in a fraction of the time if you would rather spend the rest of the day walking the park.