One could spend all day at Mill Creek Nature Park! Mill Creek Nature Park is owned and managed by the Town. It’s free to access, but it never hurts to put a few dollars in the donation box to help offset the costs and maintenance of the park.
Coming via Route 460, at the Narrows stoplight, turn off 460 and head towards downtown. Once in Narrows you’ll turn left onto Main Street. In approximately one and a half miles turn right onto Northview Street. It’s important to note this is residential area and the road can be narrow, so be careful but you’ll find the entrance to Mill Creek at the end of Northview.
Seriously you could spend all day enjoying the picnic shelters and easy creek access within minutes of the parking lot. Just below the first shelter at the creek, you’ll find two spots where you can get right down to the water. The water is cold, beware! There are benches along this section of trail and you’ll see signs for other trails throughout the property.
Trout fishing is excellent in this little stream. Native species abound for fly or bank fishing. Don’t forget your license that can be purchased online or a local shop that sells gear.
Starting up the waterfall trail you’ll follow an old road, then you’ll come to a unique spot that also could make a perfect picnic location. They’ve built a sleeping shelter, because you’re on a spur trail off of the Appalachian Trail. You’ll also notice here that the water pools up behind a stone wall. In the olden days, this creek along with this reservoir provided all the water to town residents.
From here you have a lot of options to traverse the mountain. If you’re a family of mountain bikers, then you’ve found a great spot! Trails with single track crisscross the landscape providing fairly challenging treks and switchbacks.
If you’d rather go on foot, I highly recommend the waterfall trail, because as the name suggests there’s a waterfall to enjoy! It’s only a 1.3 mile hike (overall about 3 miles parking lot out and back).
Going beyond the falls you can hike all the way up to Sentinel Point. On a clear day this viewpoint of the Town of Narrows is amazing. The last quarter mile is steep and challenging, but overall the hike is gentle sloping through hardwood forests.
