Midnight Hole

Midnight Hole is located in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. Every year my family vacations in Asheville, NC for a big family reunion. We found this place on the internet and decided to try it out. The driving direction will take you down this country road that snakes around in all directions. At the end of that road you will come to a camping area with a parking lot where the Big Creek Trail Begins. Hike 1.5 miles on Big Creek Trail. The hike seems forever long but eventually you'll see a small, rocky opening between the trees, leading down towards the creek and Midnight Hole as seen in the picture. Since the creek is in the Smokey Mountains, the water is freezing cold. That's what makes this such a thrilling adventure!

The red arrows indicate where we usually jump off from the rocks. Although, a few people have gotten to the middle and jumped off right into the waterfall. I personally don't like to jump from there because the water is very shallow at that point and it's very dangerous, but hey if your up for it, be my guest! The main place we jump off of is from where the red arrow on the left is. It is the easiest to get to and you can fit the most people there at one time.

Getting to the rock is the hardest part. The water is about 60 degrees or less but it feels like 0 degrees. The easiest way to get in I feel is to just dive right in. That way you can't back out and you can get the shock of the cold water all over with at once. You then have to swim against the current of the waterfall and make it to the area circled in blue. There is a big rock slab underneath the water here that you can stand on to help you climb up the rock. It's very hard though because the rock is covered with moss and it's very slippery. When standing on top of the rock looking down, the water is so clear that you can see the bottom. I always jump in where the water is foamy from the water fall. Your body falls into the icy water and it feels as if your lungs are frozen (which they probably are). Just keep moving and eventually you won't feel a thing since your whole body is numb. Then just swim back over and jump off again! Watch this video!

On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rank this activity as a 7. It's pretty exciting to jump into a mini waterfall and the whole freezing water factor really adds a lot to it. So get out there and check this thrill out and leave me your feedback on whether you agree with the rank I gave it or not.