The
cold and flu bug has been hanging around our house for a week now, this morning
is shaping up to be a gorgeous day.
Enough laying around the house, I need to get outside, maybe going
hiking is just what the doctor ordered.
As soon as the thermometer hits 40° I hit the road, since I don’t want
to push my luck I hope to keep the hike short and sweet.
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Mill Creek
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Pruitt
on the Buffalo River makes for a relatively short drive so I’m going to check
out Mill Creek Trail. We hiked the Mill
Creek Trail once over ten years ago, my enduring memory from that day
was of two young men hanging out on the creek one playing a banjo the other a
guitar. Long before we saw them we kept
hearing distant music, it was kind of eerie reminding us of the movie ‘Deliverance’.
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Mill Creek Trailhead
 | Hurd Desmond Bluff
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Ahh,
the things that stick in our memories, but that was then, now there are new bridges
that weren’t there back in 2012. Back
then we crossed Mill Creek on the road which I seem to remember having a low-water
bridge, but I doubt that will still be around.
When I pull in there are a couple white NPS trucks at the trailhead, I
park next to them.
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| mouth of Mill Creek |
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Sentinel Pedestals atop Hurd Desmond Bluff
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Instead
of jumping right on Mill Creek Trail which is clearly marked, I head down an
unmarked trail in the southeast corner of the parking area to the Buffalo
River. On the gravel bar I continue downstream,
across the river is 250 feet tall Hurd Desmond Bluff, a year ago last fall I
was up on top of this bluff looking down at the Buffalo (see: 184 Pruitt Exploration and Bluff Vistas). I spot
the two pedestals at the top where I took pictures as I hiked along the edge.
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on clean Mill Creek Trail
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Upon
reaching the mouth of Mill Creek I turn back and head up the bank into the
woods finding a spur trail that takes me to Mill Creek Trail. This trail is really nice clean and level
heading upstream along the west bank of Mill Creek, in fact it appears the
weeds were just trimmed. The easy trail
affords many nice scenic views of Mill Creek, not long I start hearing ‘noise’...
no not banjos this is power equipment.
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scenic Mill Creek
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Getting
closer I spot three people in Hi-Viz orange vests with gas-powered weed-whackers,
it’s not hard to sneak up on them with all the noise, I actually
have to stop and wait for someone to notice me.
Then we have a quick visit, these are NPS maintenance employees, two
guys and a gal. I didn’t realize the
National Park Service did any trail work, they tell me with all the
budget cuts, they do less now, but still try to keep the most popular trails
clean. |
| trail clearing in progress |
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bridge high above Mill Creek
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They
get back to work after I tell them ‘you’re doing a fine job’ and I’m on my way
continuing north upstream. Soon I notice
the new NC 3580 bridge high overhead, the trail curves around and passes under
the bridge. This is about the time I
meet the fourth member of the trail cleaning crew. This young man is cutting out fallen timber
with a chainsaw, I ask where’s the creek crossing and he says ‘wherever you
want’.
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along Mill Creek north of bridge
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Okay
then, the trail keeps going north so I do to, thinking when the trail goes down
next to the creek that’s where I’ll cross.
I go probably 300 more yards before I give up on a designated
crossing and head back south down next to Mill Creek checking water depth and
looking for stones to cross on. Mill
Creek varies from ten to twenty feet wide from here back to the bridge, and that’s
where I end up, never finding that ‘perfect’ spot to cross.
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lock shaped rock (not a trail indicator)
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Under
the bridge my new friend with a chainsaw is busy placing big rocks in the
creek. I ask him ‘are you building a
bridge?’ He chuckles, I cross slowly
balancing on the wet round river rock.
On the other side I thank him and we both confirm ‘that wasn’t bad’. I follow the old road which now is just a
grass path. But before getting up the
hill to the new roadway at the end of the bridge, I see what looks like
the trail, so naturally I follow it. |
| up the gentle hill |
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nice porch on log cabin
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Maybe this was the trail
back before the new bridge was built, but not anymore. The first 100 feet or so is a good trail and
even has a rock with a hole in it someone hung from a small tree, this has to
be the way. But then the trail just ends
in a thick patch of brush and greenbrier next comes big jagged rocks under the
bridge. Following that a little more
underbrush before I’m back in the woods heading up through an old trash dump
and over a fence line.
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south beyond this post Mill Creek Trail continues
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The old homesite is just up
the gentle hill maybe 150 feet, this is a one room log cabin with an add-on at
the east side for a second room. With a
nice front porch on the west side, all the doors are gone and the tin roofing
is peeling off on the north side. A
small place built in the 1930s, with no evidence of ever having a
fireplace. I head out to the southwest
corner of the yard where there’s a post marking the trail.
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south towards the Buffalo on Mill Creek
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Now heading south on the east
side of Mill Creek the trail obviously doesn’t see the traffic encountered on
the other side, but is still in good condition.
After about 250 yards the trail comes along side the bank of the creek,
at a spot where people have been hopping down off the low bank onto the
cobblestone along the creek I leave the trail following Mill Creek downstream.
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low bluffs and green pools
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Hiking along the creek is
clean and easy, most of the stone is more like large gravel so nothing too
rough. Mill Creek is very pretty this
time of year with many green pools and lots of little fish. I cross back and forth a couple times as the channel
of the creek sort of zigzags from left bank to right bank, after 300 yards or
so where the west bank is low I head back up to the trail. From here it isn’t far back to the parking
lot.
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coming to the end of Mill Creek
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Not done yet, I walk down
the road to the Buffalo then upstream on the sand-gravel mix beach. This is ‘Big Rock Hole’ a popular swimming spot
in summer, (see: 119 Back to Crow Hole) Kat and I came here to cool off
and relax, but relaxation wasn’t possible here that day so we moved
on. There’s no one here today though,
west of the beach is the launch area for canoe/kayak concessionaires then the
gravel bar ends where the river turns north. |
| Pruitt Landing on the Buffalo River |
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trailhead for ORT
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I get back on the road and
head around to the east through the parking lot with vault toilets at the east
end, here also is the well-marked trailhead for the Old River Trail. Getting on the ORT which heads uphill almost immediately,
nothing steep just a gradual steady climb up the well-used horse trail. Where the trail tops out is an impressive old
growth pine forest before the trail starts downhill toward the curving Highway
7 bridge.
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| uphill on Old River Trail |
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ORT passes under the highway
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The ORT passes under the
bridge but up high above the river, there is a guardrail for safety and some
spectacular views. Out from under the
bridge on the west side I don’t go much further, I could conclude my hike crossing
the highway then on the road back down to the parking lot. But that doesn’t sound like much fun, I turn
around instead going back the way I came.
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under the bridge views
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About 250 feet past the
bridge is an obvious path to the right, down to a nice rock patio or small
meadow that has a fire-ring (maybe a campsite?). At the east end the grassy trail continues
down on what appears to be an old road, but not far to the south I notice
exposed rock at the edge of the bluff.
Down the steep hillside I go, the first rock outcrop I come to has some
nice views but obstructed by trees, just a little further down I see an even
better vista rock with a clearer view.
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more bridge shots
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I’m calling this spot
Swimming Hole Vista, and a beautiful spot it is. Directly below is ‘The Swimming Hole’ and
some slabs of sharp rock that have broke loose from the bluff, river views
upstream include the highway bridge and downstream the gravel bar canoe launch
area with Hurd Desmond Bluff beyond. A
beautiful spot that even has a handy flat rock to sit on, I continue downhill
on the old grassy road rather than backtracking to the ORT. |
| rock patio or small meadow |
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from Swimming Hole Vista
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This route works fine, even
though a bushwhack the undergrowth is mostly tall grass and the descent
gentle. I end up back on the roadway
between the launch area and the big parking lot with restrooms. Just a short walk over to Mill Creek
Trailhead where I’m parked is the end of today’s hike, I had a great time, this
hike was definitely ‘short and sweet’ at 3.2 miles with 244 feet of elevation
gain.
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Beauty at the Buffalo River
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Mill Creek Trail: Statistics Chart 209 It’s easy to get here in any car, turn east
300 feet north of the wide curved bridge over the Buffalo River off Scenic
Highway 7 onto the Pruitt Landing access road, there are signs. Head downhill about 0.4 miles to Mill Creek
Trailhead and parking on the left and a bigger parking lot above the river is
to the right.
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