The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina attracted more than 9 million visitors in 2005 making it the most popular national park in the United States. However, not all of the memorable places of the area are confined within park boundaries. On your next trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, plan to visit Mingo Falls on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. This waterfall is just outside the park's boundaries and is a delight to see and hear.
I have seen numerous estimates online about how tall Mingo Falls is, but according to the U.S. National Park Service the official height is 120 feet. As such, Mingo Falls is one of the tallest, and most impressive, waterfalls in the area.
The best time to see Mingo Falls, as is the case with most waterfalls, is shortly after it rains. Of course this can be hard to plan. The best months for precipitation are January, March, and May for this area according to weather.com.
The photographs in this article were taken in the autumn of 2005 during the month of October. It is obvious Mingo Falls was not at its best regarding water flow even though it rained a bit the day before. However, the intricate detail of the creek bed, and laced look of the streams of water tumbling down the algae and moss laden cliff, was a very pleasing and peaceful sight to see. The fall colors added to the beauty. The dampness of the creek bed, coupled with the mist in the air, saturated the colors of the red and yellow leaves all over the terrain.
What is not visible in the first photograph is the very top of the waterfall. The crest of Mingo Falls was being baked in sunlight while the rest of it was in the dark shade of the forest. This caused exposure problems and portrayed a different mood than I was aiming to capture.
A second smaller fall about 15 feet in height is reported to exist above the main falls that is not visible from the trail and has no path leading to it. It probably is a bit dangerous to get to so I would advise against doing so.
These photographs were taken from a small wooden bridge that spanned across the Mingo creek in front of the falls. Supposing water is not too high, it could be possible to walk/hike along the rocks and creek bed right up to the bottom of the falls.
The trail to Mingo Falls begins at a parking lot near a campground off Big Cove Road a few miles north of US 441, north of Cherokee (map is below). It is not long, measuring about 0.2 miles in length (0.4 mile round trip). However, the trail is considered to be moderate in difficulty mainly because it contains a staircase of about 150 steps at the very beginning. There are benches to sit on and rest at the top of the stairs. Once past the steps the trail is mostly flat and wide. You can hear the Mingo creek flow as you hike since it runs alongside the trail.
Below is an interactive map marking the location of Mingo Falls. Click on the red marker to open an information window containing the coordinates to the location and a button to get directions. You can use this map to zoom in and out, move around, and switch between map and satellite views (by default it is set to display the satellite with the map superimposed over it, but the roads are easier to see if only the map is turned on).
Mingo Falls is an impressive waterfall in southern Appalachia. So the next time you visit the Great Smoky Mountains make sure you plan to visit this lovely spot. Photographic prints of Mingo Falls can be purchased on the
gallery page.
