I spotted more elk in the field next to the museum when coming out of the barn.

He didn't seem to mind having his picture taken by the paparazzi.

It actually looks like he's striking a pose for a picture.

I mentioned earlier that this museum is quite functional. Along with growing a variety of crops typical of the era, several common farm animals are also raised on the property.

The Hog Pen sits at the far end of the museum next to the Oconaluftee River.

Hogs were quite common on mountain farms due to their extreme versatility and high degree of self-sufficiency.

They were easy to raise and reproduced often thus providing a reliable source of meat that was also pretty easy to preserve via curing with salt and/or smoking. The lard produced from the fat was used to make soap.

At this point, I had reached the far end of the museum and turned to head back toward the Visitor Center along the river.

I passed by the Blacksmith Shop originally built around 1900 in the Cades Cove area of the park.

Having a Blacksmith Shop onsite wasn't particularly common. But if a family could pull it off, it was extremely valuable not only for everyday life, but also as a bartering tool with other farms.

The Blacksmith Shop is another of the museum's functional displays. Metal working demonstrations are held often, as are various programs for school kids.

My last stop on the museum tour was at the Springhouse. As the name implies, a Springhouse provided a source of fresh water. No water = no life, which made the Springhouse the most important building on the farm.

A good source of fresh water, such as a small stream or river, often determined the location of the farm, itself. The position of the Springhouse was determined by the nearest source of water on the property. The building shown above and below originally came from the Cataloochee Valley area.

The Springhouse provided an effective source of refrigeration. Water would be diverted into channels inside the building. Perishable foods were placed in containers within the channels of cool running water. It may have been primitive, but it worked !

I followed the walking trail along the river on my way back to the parking lot.

With the tour of the Mountain Farm Museum completed, it was now time for me to bid farewell to Cherokee, North Carolina and head east toward Asheville.

The final leg of my Fall Foliage Tour would feature a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the entrance to which sits about 1/4 mile down the road.

The photos above and below show what I was expecting to see during my trip, and I wasn't disappointed.

Time to hit the road.