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.