Top sights to see at Great Smoky Mtns. NP

One of Great Smoky Mountain National Park's many streams.

Imagine a place where several waterfalls tumble more than eight stories over ancient rock, where you can hike to a mountain vista offering 100-mile views, where countless streams and rivers rush over riffles and cascades through dense verdant forests, where you can traipse through historic pioneer buildings or stand in awe before a rare, majestic elk that haven’t been seen in these parts since George Washington’s time. The place is real. It’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

America’s most visited national park, more than 10 million people annually enter the vast, sprawling mountain terrain that crosses the states of Tennessee and North Carolina. The high visitation occurs in part because a sizable number of Americans live within a day’s drive from the park. Great Smoky Mountains’s natural beauty and rich, preserved history, however, ensure it’s a sparkling gem that’s worth the road trip.

Several access points exist for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most begin the last leg of their journey to the national park from either Knoxville, Tenn., or Asheville, N.C. For either city, Interstate 40 leads to the park.

From Knoxville, take I-40 east/south. Exit south on Tenn. Hwy. 66, which merges with U.S. Hwy. 441. This runs through Gatlinburg and to the park’s northcentral entrance. Hwy. 441 cuts through the park over Newfound Gap.

From Asheville, go west/north on the interstate. Exit west/south on U.S. Hwy 74 then go west/north on U.S. Hwy 19. In Cherokee, the road junctions with U.S. Hwy. 441, which can be taken north into the park and to Newfound Gap. To reach Bryson City, N.C., and its southcentral entry into the park, continue west on Hwy. 19.

Staying on I-40 from either city takes you to the park’s eastern side. Several popular entrances to the park can be found along the way.

To reach the park’s west side entrances, from Knoxville take U.S. Hwy 129 south. Exiting on N.C. Hwy. 28 heads to Fontana Dam.

Top sights – and the trails to see them at the park – include:
• Deep/Indian Creeks
• Laurel Falls
• Clingmans Dome
• Mingus Mill
• Elk herd

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Ten must-see sights at Great Smoky N.P.

View from trail on way to Chimney Tops. Courtesy of Photoree.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so large that unless you spend years there, you won’t see all it offers. So when you’ve only a week or so to visit the park, what are the absolute must-do sights?

For many park visitors, the narrow Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail – winding through a dense verdant forest past historic pioneer buildings – is the park. Easy to reach from Gatlinburg, Tenn., on the park’s northcentral side, the one-lane loop offers a variety of outstanding sights, including log cabins, rushing creeks, and wildflowers. Without a doubt, though, the best sight is the national park’s highest waterfall: Rainbow Falls.

In large part because of the strenuous hike, most park visitors eschew Rainbow Falls for one that’s much easier to reach and is quite impressive in its own right: picturesque 80-foot Laurel Falls. It’s unquestionably the national park’s most visited waterfall.

Another of the park’s most scenic drives heads to Cades Cove, an isolated mountain valley that is a popular destination thanks to many well-preserved pioneer buildings. A campground, several historic buildings, and a number of trails heading into the surrounding mountains can be found there. Yet, while incredibly beautiful now, Cades Cove looked quite different to the pioneers who first settled it. That’s because the chestnut – one of the trees that those settlers depended upon – has since largely disappeared. Park visitors can walk through what once a grove of majestic chestnut trees on the Cades Cove Nature Trail.

Newfound Gap Road
The major highway crossing the national park is Newfound Gap Road, which is U.S. Hwy 441, runs nearly 32 miles from south of Gatlinburg to Oconoluftee, N.C. Several waysides allow visitors to hike short distances into the mountain valleys. Among the most impressive sights along the road, however, is the tops of those surrounding peaks. On one of those sights, Chimney Tops, you walk across a rare rock summit and be rewarded with some of the best views around.

The other fantastic mountain top along the Newfound Gap Road is Clingmans Dome, where you can enjoy views of up to a hundred miles atop one of the highest points east of the Mississippi River.

Between Chimney Tops and Clingmans Dome is another outstanding sight along Newfound Gap Road: a pair of cave-like formations with impressive vistas along the way. The 4.4-miles round trip Alum Cave Trail sports an elevation gain of 1120 feet but is well-worth the effort.

Creeks and historic sites
More than 2900 miles of streams and rivers rush down the mountains and across valley floors at the national parks. Because of the streams’ steep grades, they often cut down to erosion-resistant rock, resulting postcard-perfect ribbons of water over riffles. Many drop over ledges to form waterfalls. Among the best ways to enjoy these scenic streams is a combination of the Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trails. Two small waterfalls and a series of small cascades sit in the lark’s south-central section near Bryson City, N.C.

There is no shortage of historic sites to see in the national park. Among the most popular are clusters of them near the Sugarlands Visitor Center southeast of Gatlinburg and those in Cades Cove. One of the less visited but equally impressive sites is the Mingus Historic Grist Mill in the park’s North Carolina section. A 4-miles round trip, the Mingus Creek Trail segment runs past both the historic grist mill and a pioneer cemetery.

Though elk were once a common sight in the southern Appalachian Mountains, over-hunting and habitat destruction doomed them. In fact, North Carolina has not had any native elk since the late 1700s – until reintroduction efforts began in the national park during the early 2000s. Visitors now can see a rare herd of elk on the Big Fork Ridge Trail.

The longest hiking-only footpath in the world – the Appalachian Trail – runs 2158 miles between Maine’s Mount Katahdin and Georgia’s Springer Mountain. In all, seventy miles of the trail heads through Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Most of it is deep in the park’s interior. One very accessible section of the trail in the park can be found where it crosses the highest dam east of the Rockies on the way to a lookout tower. The Appalachian Trail’s Fontana Dam to Shuckstack Lookout Tower segment runs 8.2-miles round trip.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Great Smoky Mtns. abounds with waterfalls

Ramsey Cascades, courtesy Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

Thanks to geography, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a great destination for waterfall lovers.

All across the park, the steep grade of rivers and creeks has carved down to erosion-resistant layers that suddenly drop-off. A few waterfalls top 90 feet in height.

Most of these can be reached via a day hike. They include:
• Ramsey Cascades – Water spills over 100 feet of cascades, a great reward for the strenuous 8-mile round trip hike. Park at the trailhead along Greenbrier Road.
• Juney Whank Falls – The 90-foot falls, split into two sections, is easy to reach via the 0.8-mile round trip Juney Whank Falls Trail. Park at the end of Deep Creek Road north of Bryson City, N.C.
• Hen Wallow Falls – The Gabes Mountain Trail runs 4.4 miles round trip to the 90-foot falls. Park in the lot designated for hikers at the Cosby Picnic Area.
• Rainbow Falls – At 80 feet, this is the park’s highest single-drop waterfalls. Reaching it requires a 5.4-miles round trip hike uphill, but there are several other small falls along the way to enjoy.
• Laurel Falls – A picturesque 80-foot waterfall awaits day hikers on the Laurel Falls Trail. The easy-to-reach trail runs 2.6-miles round trip from a lot at Fighting Creek Gap.
• Mouse Creek Falls – The 45-foot falls can be reached via the 4-mile round trip Big Creek Trail near Cataloochee, N.C. Park at the Big Creek Trailhead on a gravel road off of Waterville Road.
• Grotto Falls – The 25-foot falls awaits at the end of the Trillium Gap Trail, a 3-mile round trip hike through old-growth hemlocks. Park at the trailhead off of the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
• Indian Creek Falls – The falls, which cascades about 25 feet down a series of ledges into a wide pool. The 1.6-mile round trip is located on the Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trail north of Bryson City, N.C.
• Abrams Falls – Though a short drop of only 20 feet, the ferocity of the water tumbling over the falls is impressive. The trailhead for Abrams Falls Trail is just past Stop No. 10 on the Cades Cove Loop road.
• Mingo Falls – The area’s best falls – at 120 feet the tallest in the southern Appalachians – actually sits just outside of the park on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. Take the Pigeon Creek Trail for 0.4-miles round trip from the Mingo Falls Campground to the falls.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Several entries lead to great GSMNP hikes

The view from atop Clingman's Dome.

A vast, sprawling park covering 816 square miles, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers a number of access points and sections.

Most visitors enter through Gatlinburg, Tenn., which sits at the park’s northcentral side. There’s good reason to select Gatlinburg, as it leads to multiple scenic areas. Among them is the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, which offers trailheads to 80-foot Rainbow Falls and Mount Le Conte. The Sugarlands Visitor Center is west of that road and provides access to pretty Laurel Falls and the Elkmont and Tremont areas.

Gatlinburg also is the main way to reach another popular section of the park – Cades Cove. The cove is in the park’s northwest. Nearby can be found a historic mill and farm site as well as the Cades Cove Nature Trail.

The Newfound Gap Road is the main north-south highway through the park, running from Gatlinburg to the Oconaluftee area. Along the way is Clingman’s Dome (the highest point on the Appalachian Trail), Chimney Tops, the Alum Cave Trail, the Mingus Mill, and the Mountain Farm Museum.

From North Carolina, Bryson City serves as a major entry point to the park’s southcentral section. Footpaths pass several streams with waterfalls, most notably the Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trail.

Some less used access points include Fontana Dam in the park’s southwest side, Hentooga Ridge Road, which runs past Balsam Mountain, Cataloochee, and Big Creek, all in North Carolina. Other Tennessee entries includes Cosby, Greenbrier (south of Pittman Center), and Townsend, which runs to either Cades Cove or Tremont.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Great Smoky’s geography means great trails

Spruce Flat Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Great Smoky Mountains’ geography consists of several mountains with valleys tucked between them and the ridgelines leading to their peaks. The result is a number of great, diverse hiking trails to explore.

For many Americans, it is synonymous with the Appalachians though only a small part. Among the oldest mountains in the world, the Appalachians stretch from Alabama northeast to Canada and so are much diverse geographically and culturally. The Southern Appalachians contain two ranges – Blue Ridge, which is to the northeast, and Unakas, which is to the Southwest. The widest part of the Unakas Range is the Great Smoky Mountains.

The Great Smoky Mountains also are almost the Appalachian’s tallest, containing 16 peaks above 5000 feet. The higher elevations receive an average of 85 inches of precipitation annually.

At 6625 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the national park and anywhere along the 2175-mile Appalachian Trail, as well as the third highest east of the Mississippi River. From its summit on a clear day, hikers can see for more than 100 miles across Tennessee to the north and North Carolina to the south and east. The Clingmans Dome Trail runs 1-mile round trip from the visitor center to the summit, which sports an observation tower on top.

That water drains off the Great Smoky’s peaks in more than 2100 miles of streams and rivers. All of it eventually reaches the Tennessee River, which flows into the Mississippi River.

The waterflow has left an array of beautiful scenery – waterfalls, gurgling streams, deep valleys beneath high rocky peaks, gaps between the mountains where roads and trails run, and more.

Among the park’s prettiest stretches of water is a half-mile run of Big Creek in North Carolina. Take the Big Creek Trail on a 4-mile round trip to where the stream spills between two large boulders to form the Midnight Hole, then a half-mile later come to where Mouse Creek empties into Big Creek via a 35-foot waterfalls.

Because of the elevation changes and the high precipitation, the Great Smoky Mountains holds five distinct ecosystems that support an incredible amount of biological diversity. More than 1500 flowering and 4000 non-flowering plants can be found there. Rare old-growth hemlock trees can be found in several spots, most notably the Alum Cave Trail.

The highest single-drop waterfall in the national park is Rainbow Falls at 80 feet. The Rainbow Falls Trail runs 5.4-miles round trip to the sight.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Trails explore Great Smoky NP’s rich history

John Oliver cabin, built in 1822-23 at Cades Coves, Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. Courtesy of By I, Bms4880, CC BY 2.5 /Wikipedia Commons.

Pioneer cabins, mills await on short day hikes

A number of great day hikes allow visitors to explore the Great Smoky Mountain National Park’s rich history.

The area that now makes up Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been long inhabited by Native Americans. One projectile found in the park dates to 9000 years ago.

When white settlers arrived in the late 1700s, Cherokees were the dominant tribe. They called the Great Smoky Mountains Shaconaqu or “place of blue smoke.”

As homesteaders settled the Great Smoky Mountains, the Cherokees viewed them as encroachers; after violence erupted, the Army intervention ensued. Following the Treaties of 1798 and 1819, Cherokees were forced to give up the mountains.

Then in 1838, the Army forcibly captured and moved Cherokees who refused to leave the Great Smokies. An estimated 4000 Cherokees died on the Trail of Tears in the relocation to Oklahoma. Still, some legally remained and became the Eastern Band of Cherokees.

Pioneers
White settlers of the Great Smoky Mountains mostly were of Scotch-Irish, English and German descent. Oconaluftee and Cades Cove were the first communities established. The John Cable Mill Trail allows visitors to see several historic buildings at Cades Cove.

Before electricity, people depended upon water wheels to power grist mills. The Mingus Mill, built in 1886, still stands today and can be seen via the Mingus Creek Trail, which heads along its namesake in North Carolina. When done hiking, drive a half-mile south of the trailhead to the Mountain Farm Museum and explore a farmhouse, barn, applehouse, springhouse, and smokehouse also all built in the 19th century.

Lumber companies followed in the late 1800s – some areas communities such as Smokemont, Tremont, Ellmont and Proctor initially were company towns – and they found great riches to be had. Some trees were so large that a single trunk filled a railcar.

Clearcutting left erosion and wildfires in its wake, however. As the primeval forest disappeared, a movement to preserve it arose. In 1923, businessman Willis Davis and wife Anne, who served in the Tennessee Legislature, proposed that the area be preserved as a national park. Congress authorized creation of the park three years later.

To actually have a national park, though, required the monumental task of purchasing 6000 separate tracts of land that would comprise the park. The effort quickly began in earnest during the 1920s.

Modern park
By the 1930s on the sections of land purchased and preserved as a national park, the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed trails, fire towers, and other infrastructure. The Appalachian Trail later was built through the park on its way between Maine and Georgia.

One of the great ecological disasters in the park occurred during the first-half of the 20th century when blight, due to a fungus accidentally introduced from Asia, quickly wiped out whole groves of chestnuts. By the 1940s, the blight had destroyed about 4 billion trees nationwide. The Cades Cove Nature Trail heads through an area in which chestnut trees once towered.

The park received a boost in public interest during the 1950s when Disney filmed parts of its popular television series “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier” there.

During the early 2000s, park officials reintroduced a herd of elk to the park. Native elk had not graced the park since the late 1700s when overhunting and habitat loss doomed them in the Great Smoky Mountains. Today, the elk can be see at the trailhead for the Big Fork Ridge Trail.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Explore Great Smoky Mountains’ geology

The highest points of the Great Smoky Mountains consist of
erosion-resistant metasandstone.

One billion years ago, the area that now is the Great Smoky Mountains sat in an ocean at the edge of the North American continent. As clay, mud, sand and silt eroded off a nearby highlands, they filled the water, forming a layer nine-miles thick.

Much of the rock currently at the national park’s surface are sedimentary layers that piled atop that layer over a span of 95 million years beginning about 545 million years ago. Fossils of sea creatures – burrows of worms and shells of crustaceans – can be found in these sedimentary layers at the park, most notably Cades Cove.

About 310 million years ago, the North American and African tectonic plates crashed into one another. For the next 65 million years, this grinding of plates pushed up land all along the North American coastline, creating the Appalachian Mountains, which stretched from Newfoundland to Alabama. At one time, the Appalachians stood as high as the Rocky Mountains do today.

As the two tectonic plates separated and moved to their current positions, erosion began to tear down the Appalachians. Rivers and streams moved the sand and silt to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico; in fact, some of today’s Gulf of Mexico beaches are made of eroded rock from what is now the Great Smoky Mountains.

The most resistant of those rocks – metasandstone – remain the park’s highest peaks. The majority of waterfalls occur at metasandstone ledges.

In the millennia ahead, the Great Smoky Mountains eventually will erode away. Geologists estimate the park is losing about an inch of elevation every 500 years.

Some great spots to explore the park’s geology include:
• Chimney Tops Trail
• Clingmans Dome Trail
• Rainbow Falls Trail

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Kid activities abound at GSM National Park

Courtesy Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

A trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park can be an educational experience for kids – though they may be having too much fun to even notice that they’re learning!

The park delivers a variety of great activities that children can participate in from spring through autumn. Among the many offerings:
• Ranger-led events – Programs at several locations throughout the park focus on a range of interests, from wildlife and plants found in the Great Smoky Mountains to preserving local natural and cultural treasures. Among the most popular programs are the daily milling demonstrations at historic Mingus Mill and Cable Mill.
• Junior Ranger Kids – Kids between the ages of 5-12 can become a Junior Ranger. They’ll first need to purchase a Junior Ranger booklet (available online, at any park visitor center or at the Cades Cove or Elkmont campground) and complete its activities, and then they can receive a Junior Ranger badge. A Not-So-Junior Ranger program is available for teenagers (and adults who still fancy themselves kids).
• Summer camps and workshops – Family camps, naturalist workshops, summer camps, hikes, and other adventures are available in the park at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont and the Smoky Mountain Field School. Most require advanced registration.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Watch elk, climb ridge on GSMNP day trail

Bugling bull elk at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Photo courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

Topo map, Big Fork Ridge Trail.

Reintroduced
animal largest
in NC part of park 

Day hikers can see a rare herd of elk on the Big Fork Ridge Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 3.6-miles round trip segment of this popular trail sits in the Cataloochee Valley of the park’s North Carolina section. Early morning and dusk during autumn marks the best time to catch the elk and their antics.

To reach the trailhead, from Interstate 40, take Exit 20 onto U.S. Hwy. 276 south. Next, turn right/west onto Cove Creek Road/Hwy. 1395 (in the park, it becomes Old Cataloochee Turnpike). Then go left/west onto Cataloochee Entrance Road; follow that road to its end, where there’s a parking lot for the Big Fork Ridge Trailhead.

Elk meadow
The parking lot faces large meadows where you usually can spot elk. Once a common sight in the southern Appalachian mountains, over-hunting and habitat doomed them. North Carolina has not had any native elk since the late 1700s – until reintroduction efforts began in the park during the early 2000s.

Adult male elk weigh about 600-700 pounds and stand up to 4 feet at the shoulder, easily making them the largest animals in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Female elk average 500 pounds. Be sure to bring binoculars, as the meadow is off limits to people.

September often marks the best time to hike the trail, as the bull elk gather females and the newborns have lost their spots so are easier to see. You may even get to hear a male elk bugling. If you don’t see any elk, they’re probably hanging out in the nearby forest.

After taking in the view of the elk, carefully cross the road, following the trail roughly southeast. The trail immediately crosses the Rough Fork and begins its ascent. Though gradual at first, you’ll gain about 750 feet over the next couple of miles.

The trail heads through a mixed hardwood forest of maples, pine and mountain laurel with rhododendron in the understory, making for a beautiful autumn walk of yellow and red leaves. Along the walk, you may notice a number of dead giant gray trees; these are hemlocks, some standing a hundred feet tall, robbed of life by the hemlock woolly adelgid blight.

Ridge summit
About 0.8 miles in, the trail crosses a stream that flows into Rough Fork.

At 1.8 miles, you’ll reach the summit of Big Fork Ridge at about 3600 feet elevation. There are no views unless hiking late in autumn when the leaves have fallen. The summit marks a good spot to turn back.

You can continue on, however, and many backpackers do as part of a large loop that includes connecting trails. The Big Ridge Trail itself goes down the highlands’ southside through a forest of sassafras and mountain laurel. Along the way, there are good views of Caldwell Fork Valley’s northern end then a crossing of Caldwell Fork. The trail ends at 3.2 miles when it junctions with the Caldwell Fork Trail.

The Big Fork Ridge Trail often is used by horse riders and following a rain can be muddy.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

High dam, lookout tower await on AT section

The Appalachian Trail crosses Fontana Dam, the largest dam east of the
Rocky Mounties. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Topo map: Appalachian Trail, Plate 1

Plate 2

Plate 3

Plate 4

Plate 5

Plate 6

Trail enters
Great Smoky
Mountains N.P.
at Fontana Dam

Day hikers can walk the famous Appalachian Trail as it crosses the highest dam east of the Rockies on the way to a lookout tower in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The Appalachian Trail’s Fontana Dam to Shuckstack Lookout Tower segment runs 8.2-miles round trip. Parts of the segments are very steep and strenuous.

To reach the trail, from Byron City, N.C., head south/east on U.S. Hwy. 19, which becomes U.S. Hwy. 74. Eventually, N.C. Hwy. 28 joins the highway from the south/east. When Hwy. 28 splits to head north/west, exit on it. Upon reaching Fontana Dam Road/Hwy. 1245, turn right/east onto it. Follow the road until it dead ends in a parking lot at the dam.

Go north from the lot to the dam, taking the walkway onto the dam. The Appalachian Trail heads over it, so this is not a spot for anyone afraid of heights.

At 480 feet high, the dam stretches 2,365 feet long. Impounding the Little Tennessee River, the dam holds back water for 30 miles to form Fontana Lake. Construction of the dam began in 1942 with it opening in late 1944.

Up the ridge
Once on the dam’s other side, the trail technically enters the national park. It veers northwest alongside Lakeview Drive W.; the road/trail roughly parallels the Fontana Lake shoreline.

In 0.6 miles from the parking lot near the end of Lakeview Drive W., the Appalachian Trail splits off to the left/west. From there, you begin a steep climb; the split from the road is at 1879 feet elevation, and more than a 2000-foot ascent awaits you over the next 3.5 miles. Most of the elevation gain, though, comes in the first two-thirds of the hike.

The trail essentially runs atop an unnamed ridge sandwiched between two other elevated hillsides – the Shuckstack Ridge to the east and the taller Twentymile Ridge to the west and north.

Though definitely on a narrow dirt path in the wilderness, don’t worry about getting lost. A simple white line blazed on the trees indicates the AT.

In all, seventy miles of the 2,158-mile Appalachian Trail run through the national park. It enters the park from the north at Davenport Gap; Fontana Dam marks the southern entry point. The park’s tower at Clingmans Dome is the trail’s highest point between Maine and Georgia.

You can stay overnight for free off the trail in the park, unless you’re thru-hiking – which the park service defines as starting at least 50 miles outside of the park with plans to go at least 50s mile beyond it; in that case, you’ll need a permit.

Shuckstack Lookout Tower
At 3.6 miles from the trailhead, you’ll reach the steepest portion of trail. Fortunately, it's short.

The unnamed ridge at its top joins Twentymile Ridge. About four miles into the hike, once atop Twentymile, you’ll reach a three-way junction; go right/east onto the spur trail.

In 0.1 miles, you’ll reach Shuckstack Lookout Tower, which sits at 4020 feet, just above Sassafras Gap. Constructed in 1934, it’s one of three park fire towers still in operation. You can take 78 steps up 60 feet to the top; while generally safe, the steel tower is in need of repair with some steps missing, and the tower's wood floor is partially rotted.

If you do head up to the top, you’ll be rewarded with incredible 360 degrees of the surrounding park. To the west are the Unicoi Mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains rise in the north and east. The Blue Ridge Mountains and Fontana Lake are to the southeast. The ridge you walked on with the Snowbird and Nantahala mountains beyond are to the south.

After taking in the sights, retrace you steps back down the ridge and across the dam to your parking lot.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Historic mill, cemetery await on creek route

Mingus Mill. Photo courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

Mingus Creek
Trail heads
through narrow
mountain valley

Day hikers can take a trip to the 1800s on a segment of the Mingus Creek Trail at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Topo map of  Mingus Creek Trail segment.
Click for larger map.

The 4-miles round trip section runs past a historic grist mill and a pioneer cemetery in the national park’s North Carolina section. The route is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, a 1,000-mile footpath that runs from the park’s Clingmans Dome to the Outer Banks. It’s also only a mile or so north of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s southern/western entrance.

To reach the trailhead, from Cherokee, N.C., take U.S. Hwy. 441/Newfound Gap Road north to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Continue past the center for about half-a-mile to Mingus Mill, which is on the left/west. The trailhead is at the parking lot’s far west end.

For the first mile, the wide, well-maintained trail follows an old road built by the CCC during the Great Depression. A canopy of new-growth forest covers the route, and rhododendron lines several sections of the trail. Early spring offers the chance to see a number of wildflowers on the forest floor; among them are blue phlox, violets, Virginia bluebells and white trillium.

About 0.1 miles from the trailhead, the historic grist mill is on the left/southeast. Built in 1886, it’s still in operation today. Tours are available from mid-March through mid-November, and cornmeal ground on the site can be purchased. Though water-powered like other mills of its day, it uses a cast iron turbine, rather than a water wheel, to turn its grinder.

Millrace, sluice
Continuing on the trail, from the grist is a millrace and then a moss-covered sluice, on which water is diverted from Mingus Creek to the mill.

The creek and trail traverse a narrow valley. Mt. Noble to the south tops out at 4066 feet and is the highest point on the horizon. Mt. Stand Watie to the north is 3961 feet. Thomas Ridge looms to the west.

At 0.4 miles in, the trail passes the park ranger shooting range. From there, the path gradually narrows, and the surface grows rockier. Two small footbridges allow hikers to cross the creek.

A trail junction appears at about a mile from the trailhead. Continue on the path that runs right/north. It heads uphill to an old family cemetery along Mingus Creek.

Pioneer cemetery
In another mile, the pioneer cemetery with 29 gravesites marked by fieldstones appears on the right/east. This actually is one of four cemeteries near the Mingus Creek Trail; among them is a slave cemetery, which is immediately north of the parking lot.

The cemetery marks a good spot to turn back. If continuing on, the trail heads to the top of the surrounding ridges.

The trail, creek and mill are named for John Jacob Mingus, the first white to settle within what is now the national park. He arrived in the Oconaluftee Valley during the 1790s when a young adult.

Once done hiking, you can continue the exploration of pioneer times by driving a half-mile south of the trailhead to the Mountain Farm Museum. There you can explore a farmhouse, barn, applehouse, springhouse and smokehouse, all built in the 19th century.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Best trails for seeing Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s wonders

Mingus Mill. Photo courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

Click for interactive map to find trailheads.

Among the best ways to see Great Smoky Mountains National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just five short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – the third highest point this side of the Mississippi, a historic water mill from the 1800s, the tallest concrete dam east of the Rockies, a rare herd of elk, and a scenic waterfalls.

Clingmans Dome
At 6625 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the national park and anywhere along the 2175-mile Appalachian Trail, as well as the third highest east of the Mississippi River. From its summit on a clear day, hikers can see for more than 100 miles across Tennessee to the north and North Carolina to the south and east. The Clingmans Dome Trail runs 1-mile round trip from the visitor center to the summit, which sports an observation tower on top.

Historic Mingus Mill
Before electricity, people depended upon water wheels to power grist mills. The Mingus Mill, built in 1886, still stands today and can be seen via the Mingus Creek Trail, which heads along its namesake in North Carolina. When done hiking, drive a half-mile south of the trailhead to the Mountain Farm Museum and explore a farmhouse, barn, applehouse, springhouse, and smokehouse also all built in the 19th century.

Fontana Dam
Built only a few decades later than the mill, Fontana Dam rises 480 feet high to impound the Little Tennessee River and ranks as the tallest concrete dam this side of the Rocky Mountains. The Appalachian Trail enters the park near the North Carolina dam. Leave your vehicle in the parking lots for the Fontana Village Resort Marina off of Fontana Dam Road (north of Fontana Road) and walk a segment of the AT north to the dam, for a 3.75-miles round trip.

Elk herd
At one time, elk were common in the southern Appalachian Mountains but were overhunted with the last one killed during the late 1700s. More than two centuries later, 26 elk were transplanted in the national park’s picturesque Cataloochee Valley; today, there are more than 140 in the herd. To see them, bring a binoculars and hike the Big Fork Ridge Trail 1.8 miles (3.6-miles round trip) to its summit, which rises 810 feet above a valley the herd often grazes.

Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls
Among the park’s prettiest stretches of water is a half-mile run of Big Creek in North Carolina. Take the Big Creek Trail on a 4-mile round trip to where the stream spills between two large boulders to form the Midnight Hole, then a half-mile later come to where Mouse Creek empties into Big Creek via a 35-foot waterfalls.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Day hike passes two waterfalls in GSMNP

Indian Creek Falls. Photo courtesy of Great Smoky Mountains NPS.

Topo map for Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trail, Plate 1

Topo map for Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trail,
Plate 2

Topo map for Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls Trail,
Plate 3

Old road heads
alongside
pair of creeks

Day hikers can enjoy two waterfalls and a series of small cascades on a trail in south-central Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Located near Bryson City, N.C., the Deep Creek/Indian Creek Falls trails are an easy walk over fairly flat terrain. The 1.6-mile round trip also is much less crowded than the national park’s popular Laurel Falls area.

Spring marks the best time to hike the route; with snowmelt and rain, the waterfalls will be more spectacular, and you’ll also miss all of the noise from intertubers heading downstream during the summer swelter. Autumn also is nice with fall leaf colors in September and October, but water flow will be diminished.

To reach the trailhead, from Bryson City take West Deep Creek Road (aka Route 1337) into the park via the Deep Creek Entrance. The parking lot sits where West Deep Creek and Tom Branch roads meet near the Deep Creek Campground. From the lot, walk back onto Deep Creek Road and go left/northeast into the turnaround; there, the Deep Creek Trail heads northwest into the woods.

Wildflowers
The trail is an old road paralleling Deep Creek, so it’s a solid and wide walking surface. Hemlock, oak and pine trees line the route.

In short order, the trail comes to the Juney Whank Falls Trail intersection. Continue straight/northeast, where the trail comes alongside Deep Creek.

Wildflowers dot the ground beneath the tree canopy. During May and April, expect to see flame azalea in bloom; in May look for mountain laurel, and in June keep an eye out for rhododendron.

You'll soon hear the roar of the first waterfalls, where Tom Branch meets Deep Creek. A bench near the creek provides an opportunity to rest as enjoying the 60-foot-high Tom Branch Falls.

The three creeks encountered on the hike flow over the remnants of what are among the oldest mountains in the world. The Great Smoky Mountains were formed approximately 200 million-300 million years ago and likely once soared as high as today’s Rockies.

Indian Creek Falls
After the trail veers north, it crosses Deep Creek via a footbridge, offering views of cascades from both railings, then heads northeast again. Deep Creek now is on the trail’s left.

Don’t be surprised if you spot wildlife on the walk. Eastern cottontail rabbit, groundhogs, river otter, and white-tailed deer all inhabit the region. Also present but much more elusive, as they keep to themselves, are black bear, bobcat, coyote, red fox, red wolf, and wild boar.

As the creek and the trail curve northwest, you’ll reach the Indian Creek Trail intersection. Go right/east onto it; Indian Creek flows on the trail’s left side.

In no more than 200 feet, the trail reaches a spur leading to picturesque Indian Creek Falls. Take the short spur to the falls, which cascades about 25 feet down a series of ledges into a wide pool. Keep children off the rocks, which can be wet and slippery.

After taking in the falls, return the way you came.

Learn about other great trails at this national park in Best Sights to See at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Discover the Great Smoky Mountains' Best Trails

Day hiking trail maps for Great Smoky Mts.

No one ever should hit the trail without a topo map. Here are topo maps for three day hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Trails are marked in yellow on the maps. Click each map or open it a new window for a larger, printable version.

National park road map (map courtesy of NPS):

Chimney Tops Trail near Gatlinburg, Tenn.:

Mingus Creek Trail segment near Blue Ridge Parkway:

Rainbow Falls Trail opening segment, Gatlinburg:

Rainbow Falls Trail middle segment:

Rainbow Falls Trail waterfalls segment:

Learn about other great national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.