Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)

The highest mountain in the Smokies, the highest point in the state of Tennessee.

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Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) Details

Half in North Carolina, half in Tennessee, Kuwohi is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains and the third-highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It stands 6,643 feet above sea level and is also the highest point on the Appalachian Trail. The Cherokee originally called the mountain Kuwohi, meaning "the mulberry place." Later known as Smoky Dome, it was eventually renamed for Thomas Lanier Clingman, a Civil War general who explored and promoted the Smokies. The name stuck despite Clingman losing his argument that it was the highest peak in the range—Mount Mitchell actually stands about 39 feet higher. A paved road, closed in winter, leads from Newfound Gap Road to a parking area below the summit. From there, a half-mile trail climbs to a concrete observation tower, built in 1959, which offers panoramic views of the Smokies. The peak is also home to a spruce-fir forest, a rare ecosystem in the southern Appalachians, more like the forests of Canada than the valleys below.

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Low

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