Off Trail Hike to the Spectacular Mill Creek Cascade in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains
Published at : April 19, 2022
This was a very tough off trail hike to the Mill Creek Cascade (sometimes called Mill Creek Falls) located in Cades Cave in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mill Creek Cascade is one of the (if not THE) largest waterfalls in the Smokies and at over 200' is the longest continuous cascade in the national park. We hiked over 13 miles in total with the majority (~8miles) of it off trail.
Our hike began near the southwestern part of Cades Cove and traveled through a portion of Whistling Gap which once was home to several families and farms. We made our way through new growth forest thickets, including several creek crossings as we tried to find the best path to follow. We eventually made our way up to a nice rock outcropping which included an arch formation where we decided it was time to take a quick break and refuel a bit. After our break, we continued on up, mostly following the creek, and were greeted with many small but beautiful falls and cascades on both the Sugar Cove Branch and Mill Creek. We eventually encountered the Mill Creek Monster as it is known, a giant poplar tree that has now fallen, but is still impressive.
Just beyond the Mill Creek Monster is the main falls. When I say it is impressive, spectacular, amazing, etc., none of those words are appropriate. It is truly a sight to behold, and no picture or video appropriately conveys how (any of those words) it truly is.
We scurried up the side of the falls for better views and then moved on to the upper falls. We saw the first of the upper falls but was not able to appropriately capture it on video or picture. The second of the upper falls is where we crossed Mill Creek for the last time and stopped for lunch. This upper falls was quite nice by itself, even had we not experienced the main section.
After lunch, we made a decision to continue climbing up the mountain to meet the Appalachian Trail for our way back to camp instead of returning the way we came in. The next couple of hours were some of the toughest moments I have experienced in the woods. We not only had to climb (literally in some areas) the steep elevation, but had to do so with no path and extreme thickets of briars, rhododendron, and whatever else was growing on the mountainside. There were moments of trying to crawl and slide underneath the growth and certainly moments where we tried to just push through it and were stopped dead in our tracks. Our legs and arms were getting sliced up by the vegetation and we were wearing long sleeves and pants!
After several moments of pure exhaustion came and went, we finally stumbled onto the AT. This moment breathed new life and energy into both of us and we hiked very quickly to the Russell Field Shelter and then down the Russell Field Trail back to camp. We had made it before nightfall which enabled us to jump in my car to drive back around the Cades Cove loop to pick up the truck we had left earlier that morning.
*Hike off trail at your own risk
#bootsonthetrail #Waterfalls #CadesCove #GSMNP #offtrail
Music provided by Tunetank.com
Our hike began near the southwestern part of Cades Cove and traveled through a portion of Whistling Gap which once was home to several families and farms. We made our way through new growth forest thickets, including several creek crossings as we tried to find the best path to follow. We eventually made our way up to a nice rock outcropping which included an arch formation where we decided it was time to take a quick break and refuel a bit. After our break, we continued on up, mostly following the creek, and were greeted with many small but beautiful falls and cascades on both the Sugar Cove Branch and Mill Creek. We eventually encountered the Mill Creek Monster as it is known, a giant poplar tree that has now fallen, but is still impressive.
Just beyond the Mill Creek Monster is the main falls. When I say it is impressive, spectacular, amazing, etc., none of those words are appropriate. It is truly a sight to behold, and no picture or video appropriately conveys how (any of those words) it truly is.
We scurried up the side of the falls for better views and then moved on to the upper falls. We saw the first of the upper falls but was not able to appropriately capture it on video or picture. The second of the upper falls is where we crossed Mill Creek for the last time and stopped for lunch. This upper falls was quite nice by itself, even had we not experienced the main section.
After lunch, we made a decision to continue climbing up the mountain to meet the Appalachian Trail for our way back to camp instead of returning the way we came in. The next couple of hours were some of the toughest moments I have experienced in the woods. We not only had to climb (literally in some areas) the steep elevation, but had to do so with no path and extreme thickets of briars, rhododendron, and whatever else was growing on the mountainside. There were moments of trying to crawl and slide underneath the growth and certainly moments where we tried to just push through it and were stopped dead in our tracks. Our legs and arms were getting sliced up by the vegetation and we were wearing long sleeves and pants!
After several moments of pure exhaustion came and went, we finally stumbled onto the AT. This moment breathed new life and energy into both of us and we hiked very quickly to the Russell Field Shelter and then down the Russell Field Trail back to camp. We had made it before nightfall which enabled us to jump in my car to drive back around the Cades Cove loop to pick up the truck we had left earlier that morning.
*Hike off trail at your own risk
#bootsonthetrail #Waterfalls #CadesCove #GSMNP #offtrail
Music provided by Tunetank.com
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