Clingman’s Dome

NO, these folks are not walking a ramp to the “Mother Ship.”Although, it may look like it in this photo.Some folks are already there.What is this place and why are these people here?

At 6,643 feet, they’re at the Clingman’s Dome observation deck getting a great overview in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Clingmans Dome is not only the highest peak in GSMNP, but also the highest point in Tennessee, and the second highest point east of the Mississippi. Only Mt. Mitchell (6,684 feet) in NC is higher. The tower is located on the state line ridge of North Carolina and Tennessee; the observation tower stands equally in both states.It’s located along the state-line ridge, half in North Carolina and half in Tennessee. To reach the peak, we drove the 7-mile Clingmans Dome Road from Newfound Gap Road (US 441), which runs through the [park. After parking, we walked a steep 0.5-mile paved  trail that lead to this 54-foot observation tower. The Appalachian Trail crosses Clingmans Dome, marking the highest point along its 2,144 mile journey. From the tower, the average viewing distance is about 22 miles.On a clear pollution free day, views can amplify as far as 100 miles into 7 states.

Where did the mountain get its name, I was curious and learned it was named after Thomas Lanier Clingman, Civil War general and U.S. senator from NC. He was appointed senator (D) in 1858 to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Asa Biggs. During the civil war, Clingman was one of 10 senators who refused to resign and was expelled in absentia. During the Civil War, he was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. He  explored and measured mountain peaks, and through his survey work, he spread information that NC was a site to find diamonds, rubies, platinum, corundum, and various other rare minerals. 

Clingmans Dome is open year-round, but the road leading to it is closed from December to April 1, and whenever weather conditions require. Hiking and cross country skiing is allowed on the road during the winter.

The cool, wet conditions on Clingmans Dome's summit make it a coniferous rainforest. But, pests, disease, and environmental degradation threaten the fragile spruce-fir forest. Dead trunks litter the area, and dying trees struggle to survive another year. Berries thrive in the open areas; a young forest will replace the dying trees.

What's killing the trees at Clingmans Dome?

The balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae)  an insect pest that infests and kills stands of Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) in the spruce-fir zone. This fir occurs naturally only in the southern Appalachians and used to be the dominant tree at the highest elevations. Because the adelgid was introduced on trees imported from Europe, the fir has little natural defense against it.

The adelgid blocks the path of nutrients through the tree by injecting it with toxins. The trees starve to death; thousands of dead snags are all that’s left on the highest mountain peaks.

A “cousin” of this insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, is killing hemlock trees throughout GSMNP.

Most Popular U.S. Park

Do you know its name? Hint: Last week we visited one of the 2 states it’s located in.

IF you said the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) – you’re absolutely RIGHT – this is the most visited U.S. national park with 8 to 10 million annual visits.That’s 2X as many visitors as at any other national park.Unlike most other national parks, there is no entry fee to the park.

WHY? The reason for free entry dates to the 1930s. The land that today encompasses GSMNP was once privately owned. The states of Tennessee and North Carolina, and local communities, paid to construct Newfound Gap Road (US-441) which runs through the park.

In 1936,Tennessee transferred ownership of this road to the federal government, and stipulated that “no toll or license fee shall ever be imposed …” to travel the road. Newfound Gap Road was then one of the major routes crossing the southern Appalachian Mountains; the state was concerned with maintaining free, easy interstate access. North Carolina transferred its roads through abandonment, so no restrictions were imposed. If GSMNP ever wanted to charge an entrance fee, it would take action by the Tennessee legislature to lift this deed restriction.

Established in 1934, GSMNP was created from more than 6,000 tracts of private and commercial land bought with money from public and private donations.

About 100 native tree species make their home in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — more than in all of northern Europe. The park also contains one of the largest blocks of old-growth temperate deciduous forest in North America.

GSMNP is a renowned preserve of wildflower diversity and has over 1,660 types of flowering plants, more than in any other North American national park.

It is often called the “Wildflower National Park.”  Peak spring wildflower blooming usually occurs in mid- to late-April at lower elevations in the park, and a few weeks later on the highest peaks. Spring ephemerals include flowers such as trillium (the park has 10 different species), lady slipper orchids, showy orchis, crested dwarf iris, fire pink, columbine, bleeding heart, phacelia, jack-in-the-pulpit, little brown jugs, and violets.

Ephemerals are so named because they appear above ground only in late winter and early spring, then flower, fruit, and die back in a short 2-month period, emerging from February through April, and gone (dormant) by May or June.

These are some of the flowers in bloom the day we visited.

IGSMNP is one of the few places left in the eastern U.S. where black bears live in a wild, natural habitat and are often seen and photographed.

Sorry, no photos as we missed seeing any bears during our visit, but saw several groundhogs and lots of black-capped chickadees.

The GSMNP straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. Nearby Tennessee towns of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, and Townsend and Cherokee, Sylva, Maggie Valley, and Bryson City in North Carolina receive a significant portion of their income from tourism associated with the park.

The two main visitors' centers in the park are Sugarlands Visitors' Center near the Gatlinburg, TN entrance and Oconaluftee Visitors' Center near Cherokee, NC. Ranger stations provide exhibits on wildlife, geology, history of the park, and sell books, maps, and souvenirs.

Establishing most of the older parks located in the western United States, such as Yellowstone, was different than creating GSMNP. In those cases, Congress carved parks from government-owned lands owned, usually where no one wanted to live.

But people were living in the current GSMNP areas. Land was owned by small farmers and  large timber and paper companies. Farmers didn’t want to leave family homesteads; corporations didn’t want to abandon huge forests of timber, miles of railroad, logging equipment, and villages of employee housing.

In the late 1890s, people talked about a public land preserve in the  southern Appalachians; a bill entered the NC legislature, but failed. By the early 20th century, Northerners and Southerners were calling for some type of preserve: a national park or a national forest.

What’s the difference?  In a national forest, consumptive use of renewable resources is permitted; but in a national park, the environment and resources are protected for everyone to enjoy.

In May, 1926, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill that provided for the establishment of the GSMNP and Shenandoah National Park, allowing the Department of the Interior to assume responsibility for administration and protection of a park in the Smoky Mountains after 150,000 acres of land had been purchased.

The government was not allowed to buy land for national park use, so fund raising was started. In the late 1920s, the Tennessee and North Carolina legislatures each appropriated $2 million for land purchases, money was also raised by individuals and private groups. By 1928, $5 million had been raised, but land costs had doubled. The Rockefeller Memorial Fund gave $5 million for purchase of the remaining land.

Farms and timbering operations were abolished to establish the protected area of the park. Mountain homesteaders, miners, and loggers were evicted – 6.000 small farms, large tracts, and other parcels were surveyed, appraised, and sometimes condemned. Timber and paper companies had valuable equipment and inventory which required compensation. The park was officially established in June 1934.  During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), Works Progress Administration (WPA), and other federal organizations made trails, fire watchtowers, and other improvements to the park.

• Bears over 1,500 black bears live in the park, which equals a population density of approximately two bears per square mile.
• Hiking there are over 800 miles of trails ranging from quiet walkways to multi-day backpacking backcountry treks.
• Historic Buildings GSMNP has one of the best collections of log buildings in the eastern United States. Nearly 80 historic structures — homes, barns, churches, schools, and grist mill.
• Waterfalls can be found on nearly every river and stream in the park.
• Fontana Dam is the tallest dam in the eastern United States, and is  located near Fontana Village, North Carolina.
• Mountain Farm Museum  at the Oconaluftee visitor’s center is a unique collection of farm buildings assembled from locations throughout the park.
• Clingmans Dome at 6,643 feet this is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We hiked the half mile up and half-mile down. (MORE in an upcoming post.)

GSMNP Mountain Farm Museum

The Mountain Farm Museum is a collection of 10 historic log buildings located at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) on U.S. Hwy 441 near Cherokee, NC. The park assembled buildings from throughout the Great Smoky Mountains to create the farmstead which has a house, barn, apple house, spring house, chicken house, corn crib, blacksmith shop, and meat house. Other buildings include a hog pen, sorghum press, ash hopper, woodshed, and out house.The museum is based on a typical 1880s mountain farm in pioneer Appalachia. It’s open year-round and admission is free. In season, park staff and volunteers demonstrate how families may have lived 100 years ago. Gardens are planted during the spring and summer, and barn fowl roam the premises.

Most of the structures were built in the late 19th century and moved to the park in the 1950s. Because most of them were not moved from their original locations intact, they are ineligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The John Davis Cabin was built in 1900 and originally located on Indian Creek several miles to the west above Bryson City. John Davis moved to the area in 1885 to free-range his livestock. The cabin was constructed with matched chestnut logs joined with dove-tail notches. The house is a rare chance to view a log house built from chestnut wood before the chestnut blight decimated the American Chestnut during the 1930s and early 1940s.

The Enloe Barn was built around 1880 by Joseph Enloe, grandson of Abraham Enloe who owned the land where the museum is now found. This large barn housed livestock in its lower stalls and grain and fodder in its lofts. The roof consists of over 16,000 hand-split shingles.This is the only structure that was originally located in Oconaluftee and moved only 200 yards from its native spot.

The Messer Apple House,was built by Will Messer of Cataloochee, a valley located in the park on the other side of Cataloochee Mountain to the east. At its original location, the apple house was partially underground to help insulate it from summer heat and winter cold.

The meat house (not shown) was moved from Cataloochee. To cure meat (usually pork) and give it flavor, a small fire was built just inside the meat house, exposing the meat to several hours of smoke.

The Baxter/Jenkins Chicken house was built by Willis Baxter in the late 19th century and originally located in Tennessee. Chicken houses were used to protect chickens from carnivorous animals.

The blacksmith shop was built around 1900.

The springhouse was used by farmers for refrigeration.

This is one of two corn cribs, built around 1900, that were moved from north of Bryson City. Corn crib roofs were raised to place the recently-cut corn crop inside protecting it until it was ready to be taken to the mill.