Mingus Mill, Great Smoky Mtns

Mingus Mill is a picturesque spot that's worth a stop. Here an historic turbine mill from 1886 sits beside a creek. Trees bend over the creek overflowing with flowers. It's lovely! We came when it was raining and the mill proved to be a great spot to peek out at nature without getting wet. You can look down from the window at the stream rushing by.

Just half a mile south, stop at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center where you will find the Mountain Farm Museum, with late 19th century log farm buildings that have been moved to this location to give visitors a sense of farm-life at that time. There is a farmhouse, blacksmith shop, apple house, springhouse, and barn, in a valley below the mountains. Here you will find a river lined with trees with big, glossy leaves.
These attractions are located at the southern end of Newfound Gap Road.
Make sure to hike to Grotto Falls while in the Great Smokies- a 1 1/2 hour drive north from Mingus Mill. You will pass through Gatlinburg town to get to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, where the trailhead begins. You can have lunch in Gatlinburg town, as there is nowhere in the park to eat.

Directions

Mingus Mill is located half a mile north of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center which is at 1194 Newfound Gap Road, Cherokee NC 28719, call (828) 497-1904.
Open daily 8-5:30.

Click on map for interactive view