Blount Partnership Launches Cades Cove and Hiking & Biking App

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Planning a trip to the Smokies most visited spot—Cades Cove? Need a quick reference for hiking and biking trails around Blount County? Two new apps will help guide you through this historic landmark along with maps of trails and paths for those on foot or two wheels.

The Blount Partnership has just launched a driving tour mobile app that provides a history of Cades Cove, GPS mapping, voice narration and historical photos to add to visitors’ experience as they explore the Cove.

The hiking and biking app features trails in and around the National Park, including the Cades Cove Loop and the Maryville-Alcoa Trails. Also included is a listing of outfitters, GPS enabled maps, social media and web links to travel information.

The apps were created by Populace, Inc, an award-winning mobile app developer that also created the partnership’s vacation guide and driving tour apps last year. The apps also connect visitors to Blount County’s website and social media. Like the other tourism apps, the Cades Cove and Hiking and Biking apps are free.

“We are integrating technology like these apps more and more into our tourism strategies,” said Tami Vater, director of Tourism for the Blount Partnership. “Smart phones and tablets play such a pivotal role in our daily lives now, so it’s a great way to give visitors a way to navigate our area, learn about our history and make their experience more complete.”

To download the apps, search “Cades Cove” and “Hiking and Biking the Smoky Mountains” in the Apple App Store or the Google Play store. For the vacation guide, search “Townsend, TN” and for the driving tour app, search “Circle the Smokies” or “Townsend Driving Tour.”

Vater said the Blount Partnership has more apps in the works, and the next to debut will be the "Smoky Mountain Scottish Festival & Game" app that will be available soon.

Townsend is known as the “Quiet Side of the Smokies”? If you've never had the pleasure of staying in the Townsend area, you may want to note that it's much easier getting in and out of the park, and is fairly close to Cades Cove. If you need a rental cabin during your visit, please visit our Townsend Accommodations page.



Jeff
Hiking in the Smokies

2 comments

Anonymous said...

APP needs work and some quality control. I didn't realize the Abrams Falls trail was located in Algeria. Kinda inconvenient.

The Smoky Mountain Hiker said...

Anon - sounds like there are some major mistakes - including the coordinates for Abrams Falls? Not good...