Tricorner Knob
An elevation of 6,120 feet (1,865 m), with 160 feet (48 m) of clean prominence.
Plan Around Tricorner Knob
A good stop is not just something to read about. Once it belongs on the day, move into a saved trip and build the route around it.
Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.
Tricorner Knob Details
Tricorner Knob is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. It has an elevation of 6,120 feet (1,865 m), with 160 feet (48 m) of clean prominence. The Appalachian Trail and Balsam Mountain Trail intersect near the mountain's summit, making Tricorner Knob the great crossroads of the Eastern Smokies. The Tricorner Knob Shelter, which occupies a flat area on the mountain's southern slope, provides a key rest stop for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. Like much of the Smokies crest, Tricorner Knob is on the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. As its name implies, the mountain is at the point where the Balsam Mountains intersect the crest of the Great Smokies, creating a triangular-shaped ridge. Three counties intersect at the summit of Tricorner, with Sevier County, Tennessee to the west, Haywood County, North Carolina to the northeast, and Swain County, North Carolina to the southeast. The mountain rises appx. 3,300 feet (1,000 m) above its western base at the mouth of Buck Fork, along the Little Pigeon River. Tricorner is the 9th-highest mountain in Tennessee and the 27th-highest mountain in North Carolina. Tricorner Knob's remote situation in the dense Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest of the Eastern Smokies has left it largely untouched by human history. Arnold Guyot measured its elevation on his survey of the crest of the Smokies in 1859, placing Tricorner's elevation at 6,188 feet (1,886 m). Other than surveyors and the occasional naturalist, the mountain was devoid of human visitors until a segment of the Appalachian Trail was constructed across its western slope in 1935. An isolated spring on the mountain's southern slope was the key reason behind its selection for the back country campsite where the Tricorner Knob Shelter sits today. Laura Thornborough, a writer who visited the mountain in the late 1930s, called Tricorner Knob one of the last "true wilderness areas, where one can commune with nature and leave the cares of the world behind." Source: Wikipedia
Difficulty
Low
Distance
N/A
Estimated time
Region
N/A
Nearby Parks Around Tricorner Knob
Compare nearby parks around Tricorner Knob when deciding whether to expand the route after this stop.
Nearby Points of Interest Around Tricorner Knob
Use nearby POIs to quickly expand your options beyond Tricorner Knob while the map context is still fresh.
0.7 mi away
Mount Guyot
At 6,621 feet (2,018 m) above sea level, Guyot is the fourth-highest summit in the eastern U.S.
1.1 mi away
Marks Knob
A popular bushwhacking destination and one of the most difficult-to-reach summits.
1.1 mi away
Mount Chapman
Among the 10 highest mountains in the Appalachian range, if subpeaks are not included.
1.3 mi away
Old Black
The 4th-highest mountain in Tennessee and the 7th-highest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
2.0 mi away
Mount Sequoyah
An elevation of 6,003 feet and one of the most remote places in the park.
