My husband and I decided to spend half a day over in Cherokee, NC while we were vacationing in Gatlinburg, TN over the July 4th holiday week/weekend. While we there, we decided to "hike" to Mingo Falls. Mingo Falls was actually ONE of the main reasons for our drive over to Cherokee, NC! MIngo Falls is just a short drive from the Smoky Mountains National Park on the Cherokee side. AND it is only a little over an hour drive from downtown Gatlinburg through the scenic Smoky Mountains National Park!

To get to Mingo Falls: Once you exit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on 441 headed towards Cherokee, you will pass Mingus Mill, the Oconaluftee Visitors Center & Mountain Farm Museum. At the 1st light you come to, you make a left and then turn left onto Big Cove Road. You will drive about 5 miles along a 2 lane country road. You will then see a sign on the right hand side of the road for the Mingo Falls Campground and waterfall. You turn right and drive straight past the campground to the start of the trailhead, where you will park alongside a small creek.

At the start of the trail there is a set of steps. I tried counting them and I came up with either 159 or 160 steps. So there are quite a few steps to climb at the start of this trail. The first couple steps were steep, but they got closer together the further you went up the trail. There was also a wooden handrail along the sides of steps for this trail. The trail was pretty wide and we felt very safe. Along the trail, it was pretty scenic woodlands. We saw trees, bushes, rocks and a creek running along side the trail. At the top of the steps, there was a wooden bench should you want or need to stop & rest before proceeding with the short hike.

After climbing the 159-160 steps, the trail turns into a dirt path with lots of rocks and the occasional above ground tree root. The path was average in width. It was not terribly narrow or wide. BUT, we felt safe navigating the trail. You do need to use some caution as you are walking over wet rocks, dirt, and tree roots. The short (mostly flat) trail will lead you to a wooden observation bridge. Once at the wooden observation bridge, you will need to walk up a few stepsto get out onto the footbridge. From the wooden observation bridge you can see the 120 foot tall waterfall and the small creek that forms at the base of the falls.

Mingo Falls is a very beautiful waterfall. It was absolutely breath-taking to see such a tall waterfall inside the Smokies. It was amazing that such little effort was required to "hike" to it. It was so peaceful standing on the footbridge watching the water cascade down over the rocks. We probably spent at least 15-20 minutes just watching the waterfall and listening to the sound of the water flowing down over the rocks, fallen trees and into the small creek. There were only a few people on the trail when we decided to hike to it. So, that was nice. We actually stood on the wooden foot bridge, waiting for someone to come along---hoping they could take our picture with the Falls in the background. But it was not until we were halfway back down the trail that we saw another person hiking UP to the waterfall. So it REALLY was very quiet and peaceful on this trail. I really enjoyed being able to take in the peaceful beauty of this waterfall and all the sounds of nature. It was a great experience.

The hike back down to the parking lot area was pretty easy. Again, we needed to be careful and watch for wet rocks, tree roots, and dirt/mud. But it was a pretty easy, short "hike". Going back down the 159-160 steps was pretty easy & again there is a handrail for your safety.

It probably only took us 15 minutes or so EACH way to hike this short trail (listed as 0.4 miles in length). The steps may be a little challenging for some, but most will be able to hike this trail. Viewing these beautiful falls was definately worth the drive over from Gatlinburg & the small amount of effort required to actually "hike" to them. I would definately ADD a visit to Mingo Falls to my "to-do" list again if I were to re-visit Cherokee, NC!