Mingus Mill, Great Smokey Mountains, NC

One of the places I love is the Great Smokey Mountains.  Inside them are several treasures to explore and discover and see.  This week for Travel Tuesday I'd like to take you to Mingus Mill, North Carolina.  You can actually get to this Mill from about 1/2 mile North of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center

This grist mill was built in 1886, and was powered by water turbines instead of what a lot of the old mills that were powered by waterwheels.
If you go inside during visiting hours which when I went were between 9-5, you can watch a miller do a demonstration as they demonstrate the process of turning corn into cornmeal.
You can actually purchase this cornmeal to take home for your own use later on as well.

You can walk along the trail next to the Mill race, and explore it.  Everything has pretty much stood the test of time here.

I personally found it to have quite a bit of beauty to it all.

You can walk the Millrace, toward the mill and get the full understanding on how using water alone it is all powered.  This is I guess you can call it man made waterfall coming off of the Mill after the water came through to power it.

So when I visited this area it was just after opening weekend in the park, and it was early April.  Which also means it was just before all the little buds on the tree's were on bloom.  So if you visit this area late spring, through summer, you can tell it is a beautiful lush forest.  I imagine visiting it in the fall, with all of the fall colors would be spectacular as well!  They are closed in the winter, I believe closed November through March each year.

IF YOU GO:

* Because this is a National Park, you will have to pay the park entrance fee to visit the park.
* The mill is just one sight to stop and hike around and see.  There are plenty of other areas.
* Great Smokey Mountains is home to lots of black bears, they will for the most part ignore you.  If you do see one, keep your distance and watch them from afar.
* FYI: This section is in the North Carolina end, where you can find lots of interesting Indian exhibits just outside the park.