mingus mill

Mingus Mill is a working mill. Stop in and chat with the friendly miller who is more than happy to tell you all about the mill and it's history. Walk along the trails and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Really a neat little place to stop at and look around. But some corn meal and you won't regret it! This is a great spot to visit if you are at the park looking for elk.

A restored working mill gives insight into the lives of the early settlers of this area. Cornmeal for sale. Park workers give interesting facts about the mill.

Don't look for a water wheel here as this is a 'turbine' driven grist mill. Water under gravity pressure drives the turbine which drives the grinding wheels. The mill is well restored and operates, although not during our visit. Buy some stone ground corn meal.

We were driving along US 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park returning to North Carolina from Tennessee and we saw signs to Mingus Mill and decided to investigate. There is a large parking area and adjacent toilets. It is then a short stroll along Mingus Creek to where the mill sits. This is a fairly large building and is powered by the water that rushes into the "millrace" from a diversion upstream. The path leads all the way to where this diversion occurs. Next to the mill building, built in 1886, is its water-powered turbine which it uses instead of a water wheel to power all of the machinery in the building. Inside the building is a small gift shop selling, among other things, flour ground by the mill and you can also see the grinding wheels etc. The area is very attractive and we were glad we had made the short diversion to see it.

Mingus Mill is about 4 seconds up the road from the Oconaluftee Vistor Center once you enter Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is worth a quick stop to check it out. The hand dug flume outside that feeds water to the turbine that runs the mill is really interesting and you can go into the mill itself and see how it works.

This mill is so convenient to the main Parkway road that you should really take a few minutes to see it. It's charming and some historical information can be had.

My mom and I saw the sign to Mingus Mill and decided...hey why not. So glad we did. What a hidden jewel of history!! They have restrooms right at the parking lot, then you walk down a beautiful path. Of course I fell in love with the bridge over the stream. There are other walking paths, but we went straight to the mill. The two men there running the mill were great. They explained the history of the mill and showed us the mill stones grinding cornmeal at that time. It is a functioning historical mill and you can buy fresh ground cornmeal. With my disabilities, I was still able to walk the path to the mill. The only con for me was not being able to climb the stairs to the upper floors. I did see one lady in a wheel chair that was able to follow the path and into the first floor.

Such a nice and quiet surprise! It was very interesting to see the mill grinding corn and the men that were there "manning" the place were very nice and informative. If you are in Cherokee or on your way over the mountain to Gatlinburg, this place is a definite stop.

It is nice to see history preserved in locations like this. It was a nice walk to the mill and the sound of the water flowing was very relaxing. We purchased some of the ground cornmeal produced at the mill. Great stop for just a quick look around.

This is a relatively "new" mill, built in 1866. It is driven by a flume and water turbine. It is in excellent condition, well restored, with working machinery. The long flume makes it more interesting than most. Definitely worth a stop.

This is the best way to find an old mill.......just stumble upon it while you are on the back roads. We decided to walk around outside first and by the time we got back to the mill they had closed. Lesson learned.....go inside first. But the best part was seeing a mama and baby elk by the side of the road. We pulled over to take pictures and sat there a while and just watched these beautiful animals.

Mingus Mill is a perfect stop on your Smokey Mountain getaway. The mill is a water powered grist mill. The turbine runs and grinds corn into meal. Packages of corn meal and flour are sold on site. Inside the building there is a park guide who will share information about the mill as well as displays on the history of the mill. There is also a path you may walk that follows the spillway. Beautiful scenery. There is a nice parking lot as well as clean bathroom facilities (which is a plus when traveling, especially with children). The kids will LOVE the bridge over the creek.

Very interesting Mill with a wonderful old spillway providing the power. The guide inside really did provide some interesting information and history. You can buy some flour and other products that have been ground here.

A short little visit to an old mill. It was very interesting to see how people got their corn meal and flour a hundred years ago. It was quite inventive how their redirected the creek to produce the power to turn the millwheel.