Mill Creek (conservation area) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mill Creek (conservation area) |
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Mill Creek is a special natural area in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Western Virginia, United States. It's a "wildland," which means it's a place where nature is kept safe and mostly untouched by people.
A group called The Wilderness Society saw how special Mill Creek was. They wanted to protect it from things like logging (cutting down trees) and new roads being built through it. They even called it a "Mountain Treasure"!
This area is a beautiful valley nestled between two mountain ridges. It has many cool cliffs, rocky spots, and thick plants. This makes it feel like a secret, isolated place, even though it's not far from nearby towns. You can explore the area using several trails.
Mill Creek is also part of a larger natural area called the Angels Rest Cluster.
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Mill Creek Falls: A Natural Wonder
Mill Creek Falls is a beautiful waterfall found in Giles County, Virginia. It's located inside the Mill Creek Nature Park, a big area of over 140 acres next to the town of Narrows. You can find it along County Route 652 and the New River, just south of Narrows. The waterfall is about 2,362 feet (720 meters) above sea level.
Mill Creek Falls is quite famous! In 2013, it won a silver award in "Best of the Blue Ridge." It was even featured in a national TV commercial for Barbarsol shave cream.
The Old Mill Creek Dam
About half a mile downstream from Mill Creek Falls, you'll find the Mill Creek Dam. This dam was built a long time ago to create a spillway. This spillway helped use the running water to turn a waterwheel, which then powered a mill. A mill is a building where grain is ground into flour.
The reservoir (a kind of artificial lake) created by the dam was also used as a source of drinking water for the town of Narrows until the 1970s. The oldest part of the dam, made from hand-cut stone, is still working today! It dates all the way back to the 1780s, making it very old.
Mercy Branch Falls
Very close to Mill Creek Falls, you can also find another waterfall called Mercy Branch Falls. This waterfall is formed by Mercy Branch, which is a smaller stream that flows into Mill Creek.
The area around these falls uses the ZIP code 24124.
Images for kids
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Boundary of the Mill Creek wild area as identified by the Wilderness Society
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Mill Creek Falls
