Oconaluftee River Trail
| Trail Features: | River Walk, History |  |
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| Trail Location: | Oconaluftee Visitor Center | ||||
| Roundtrip Length: | 3.0 Miles | ||||
| Total Elevation Gain: | 70 Feet | ||||
| Avg. Elev Gain / Mile: | 47 Feet | ||||
| Highest Elevation: | 2103 Feet | ||||
| Trail Difficulty Rating: | 3.14 (easy) | ||||
| Parking Lot Latitude | 35.51386 | ||||
| Parking Lot Longitude | -83.30662 | ||||
Directions to Trailhead:
The Oconaluftee River Trail begins just behind the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, located about 2 miles north of Cherokee, NC on U.S. 441.
Trail Description:
To reach the trailhead, walk behind the visitor center and head towards the Mountain Farm Museum. The Oconaluftee River Trail goes around the Museum on the right. You also have the option of walking though the Museum, as the trail can be picked-up at the far end of the Museum.
The Mountain Farm Museum is a collection of log buildings
from various locations around the park. Most of the log structures were built
during the late 1800's and early 1900's, and depict a typical farm from the
Smoky Mountains region during this time period. The farmstead includes a
furnished two-story log house from the 1840's, a large barn, pig pens, corn
cribs, split rail fence, drovers' barn, a working blacksmith shop, and several
other outbuildings. The Davis House built from chestnut wood before the
chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut in the 1930s and early 1940s.
The site also demonstrates historic gardening and agricultural practices, including livestock. For additional historical information, be sure to pick up the inexpensive, self-guiding tour booklet.
The trail itself is a pleasant walk along the Oconaluftee River.
The term "Oconaluftee" comes from the Cherokee word egwanulti, which means "by the river," a reference to one of the oldest Cherokee villages along the river. The Cherokee word was corrupted in pronunciation and spelling by the European settlers who arrived in the early 1800s. The word became Oconaluftee, and soon, by association, grew to mean the river itself.
Long ago the park service spread gravel on the trail as a result of the large number of visitors that hike this path. The Oconaluftee River Trail is also one of two trails in the park in which visitors can walk dogs and ride bicycles (the Gatlinburg Trail is the other).
As the trail meanders along the river it travels among
Eastern hemlock, yellow buckeye, Eastern sycamore, white basswood, flowering
dogwood, and tuliptrees.
Late April is the best time for viewing wildflowers along the Oconaluftee River Trail. More than 40 species of wildflowers have been identified along the trail, making it an especially worthwhile walk during the spring or fall. During the springtime hikers can find several varieties of trillium and violets, Jack-in-the-pulpit, squirrel corn, stonecrop and May apple.
During the fall asters are the main attraction.
