| Date | Distance | Time | Elevation Gain | Average Moving Time | Year to Date Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/17/2021 | 3.8 miles | 1 hour 51 minutes | 61' | 2.2 | 464.4 |
Map:
- 100 Favorite Trails of the Smokies and the Carolina Blue Ridge (for directions)
- National Geographic Great Smoky Mountains National Park (not really useful for navigation)
- Hiking Trails of the Smokies book (has a very useful detailed description of the Oconaluftee River trail)
- More reading: Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill - Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
- Cherokee syllabary: Cherokee syllabary - Wikipedia
Parking: Oconaluftee VisitorCenter
Carolina Mountain Club Challenges:
- 100 Favorite Trails #16 Oconaluftee River Trail
This was our second hike in the Smokies, just a short drive from the Mingus Creek trail. This visitor center is a popular area, with a mountain farm museum (collection of buildings) right next to the visitor center. We decided to walk along the river trail first, and then visit the farm. The river trail is an out and back trail, 1.5 miles each way. It's a wide, very easy, level trail, that mostly follows the river. Information boards along the trail tell Cherokee stories - both in English and in Cherokee. The trail is one of two trails in the Smokies which allows dogs. We saw a couple of men fly fishing in the river. The trail ends in the town of Cherokee, on the border of the Cherokee Reservation. We were fascinated to see signs printed in both English and Cherokee.
After returning back to this visitor center, we walked around the buildings of the farm museum. Then we stopped inside the visitor center. A sign in the visitor center said that you can see elk before 8:37 am and after 5:02 pm. The times were funnily specific. We really, really wanted to see elk. We've seen them once before in Point Reyes, California. Glen went back to the car, and I lagged behind a bit. All of a sudden I noticed a herd of elk in the field next to the visitor center. Score! And yes, it was before 5:02 pm, lol. We walked over to the edge of the field to watch them. They were pretty far away, so not so easy to see in the photos. There were many, many signs saying to keep your distance from them.
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