The Noah 'Bud' Ogle Place is the park's most intimate pioneer site: an 1880s saddlebag cabin — two pens joined under one roof — with its barn, outbuildings and the ruins of Ogle's own tub mill on LeConte Creek below, at the start of Cherokee Orchard Road where the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail begins. Ogle farmed this cove before the park existed; his family's story (land taken for the park, the farmstead preserved as its exhibit) is the Smokies' settlement story in one household. The self-guiding nature trail loops about a mile through the farmstead.

Watch: first looks

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Tour of 150-Year-Old Log Cabin: The Noah Ogle Farmstead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Forgotten South

The Forgotten South's 2025 tour of the Noah 'Bud' Ogle farmstead at the start of Roaring Fork - the 1880s saddlebag cabin, the barn, the tub mill ruins and the nature trail, filmed in depth (and seen by nearly 300,000 viewers) as the definitive modern record of the place. (The film is English-narrated, but its only served caption track is an auto-translation, so it loads as watch content.)

Noah “Bud” Ogle Farm - Cabin and Trail in Gatlinburg, TN - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Magical Traveler

The Magical Traveler's 2020 Bud Ogle Place visit: the historic cabin and the nature trail loop through the farmstead on Cherokee Orchard Road, filmed as a quiet morning walk. (No usable caption track exists for this film; it loads as watch content.)

Relaxing Walk to a Little Grist Mill Great Smoky Mountain National Park Bud Ogle Cabin Pre Fall

Yankee in the South

Yankee in the South's 2022 walk to the Ogle cabin's grist mill site - the weir and mill ruins on LeConte Creek below the cabin, with the nature trail that connects them. (The film is English-narrated, but its only served caption track is an auto-translation, so it loads as watch content.)

The farmstead

The definitive modern record — a 2025 tour seen by nearly 300,000 viewers — walks every structure: cabin rooms, the barn's joinery, the weir and mill site on the creek. The mill film concentrates on the working story: Ogle's tub mill ground the farm's corn on the creek's power, and its site survives below the cabin as the trail's far point.

The bear family

One 2022 visit is remembered for both halves of the place: a black bear family crossed the farmstead mid-tour, filmed calmly from distance — the cabin's history and the Smokies' present wildlife in a single morning. The walking films keep finding the place's quiet: minutes from the Parkway, another century entirely.

Watch: more views

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

WE WILL FILM IN THE PARK - Noah Bud Ogle Nature Trail

Smokies Plus

Smokies Plus' 2023 hike of the Noah 'Bud' Ogle Nature Trail - the full loop from the cabin through the farmstead to the creek, filmed as the self-guiding trail experience the park intends.

Key takeaways
  • The nature trail loops about a mile through the farmstead
  • The trail is self-guiding with the cabin as its start
  • LeConte Creek runs through the property

BEAR FAMILY AT PLAY! NOAH BUD OGLE PLACE Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Smoky Mountain Family

Smoky Mountain Family's 2022 Bud Ogle Place visit - the cabin tour remembered equally for the black bear family that crossed the farmstead during filming: the historic site and the Smokies' wildlife in one visit.

Key takeaways
  • A black bear family crossed the farmstead during filming
  • The cabin shows 1880s mountain construction - saddlebag plan
  • Roaring Fork's motor trail starts just beyond

Noah "Bud" Ogle Cabin And Nature Trail - Great Smoky MTNS National Park

The Wrapped Mummy

Wrapped Mummy's 2025 Bud Ogle film: the cabin, the barn and the nature trail walked slowly, with the place's quiet at the edge of Roaring Fork as the subject.

Key takeaways
  • The barn and outbuildings complete the farmstead picture
  • The place keeps a genuine quiet despite its fame
  • Filmed 2025 at walking pace

The gateway

Start Roaring Fork here — the motor trail (its own page in this directory) begins just beyond the farmstead — and take the cabin first, at walking pace, as the settlement's introduction. Arrive early; the small parking area serves both the farmstead and the motor trail's start.

Sources: the 8 videos on this page, filmed at the Noah 'Bud' Ogle Place, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Watch: the full set

2 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Noah "Bud" Ogle Cabin - Great Smoky Mountains National Park - Gatlinburg, TN

TennesseeTrio

TennesseeTrio's 2023 visit to Noah 'Bud' Ogle's homestead - a compact tour of the saddlebag cabin and grounds at the gateway to Roaring Fork.

Key takeaways
  • Noah 'Bud' Ogle farmed this cove before the park
  • His cabin dates to the 1880s
  • The site is the gateway to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail

Noah "bud" Ogle Mill & Cabin

Something4Every1Outdoors

Something4Every1's 2025 Ogle mill-and-cabin film: the cabin interior, the barn and the walk down to the tub mill site on the creek - the farmstead's working machinery story alongside the house.

Key takeaways
  • Ogle's own tub mill ground the farm's corn on the creek
  • The mill site survives below the cabin
  • Cabin, barn and mill tell one working-farm story

More Gatlinburg essentials

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