Roaring Fork Motor Trail and Historic District
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Roaring Fork is a creek located in the Great Smoky Mountains. The creek was once home to an Appalachian community. Today you can drive or take a stroll along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and witness the true beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains. If you are lucky you might even see a bear or two.
Images
Roaring Fork stream
The Albert Reagan Place.
The Alfred Reagan tub mill.
The Alfred Reagan tub mill.
The serene motor trail.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Roaring Fork Motor Trail is 6 miles long on a one way road. The drive along Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail starts at the Noah “Bud”
Ogle farmstead. The farmstead contains a cabin, barn, and tub mill. In 1977, it was registered on the National Register of Historic Places.
Between the years of 1800 and 1810, the very first Euro-American settlers arrived in the White Oak Flats area. White Oak Flats is now called Gatlinburg. In the years to come their family began to spread out into the surrounding coves and valleys. Richard Reagan (1776–1829), was the son of one of these pioneers. He settled on a piece of land just south of Gatlinburg along LeConte Creek. Some of his children made Roaring Fork their home. Alfred Reagan was one of them that settled here. He had a small farm here along with a tub mill.
Roaring Fork is one of the larger and faster flowing mountain streams located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After a hard rain you can see why the inspiration behind the name. Several homes and historic buildings has also been preserved along the motor trail. Roaring Fork also is home to two of the most popular waterfalls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls. Rainbow Falls is a 80 foot tall waterfall and consists of a 5.4 round trip hike. Roaring Fork was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Between the years of 1800 and 1810, the very first Euro-American settlers arrived in the White Oak Flats area. White Oak Flats is now called Gatlinburg. In the years to come their family began to spread out into the surrounding coves and valleys. Richard Reagan (1776–1829), was the son of one of these pioneers. He settled on a piece of land just south of Gatlinburg along LeConte Creek. Some of his children made Roaring Fork their home. Alfred Reagan was one of them that settled here. He had a small farm here along with a tub mill.
Roaring Fork is one of the larger and faster flowing mountain streams located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After a hard rain you can see why the inspiration behind the name. Several homes and historic buildings has also been preserved along the motor trail. Roaring Fork also is home to two of the most popular waterfalls in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Rainbow Falls and Grotto Falls. Rainbow Falls is a 80 foot tall waterfall and consists of a 5.4 round trip hike. Roaring Fork was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Sources
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/roaringfork.htm
http://smokymountains.com/park/roaring-fork-motor-nature-trail/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Fork_%28Great_Smoky_Mountains%29
Photo Credits: Heidi Oberlin