16 Clingmans Dome

The Smokies’—and Tennessee’s—highest peak (6,643 feet) is more than just another chance to add to your life list of grandiose summits to conquer. The vista is astounding when the weather’s right.

Distance: 1.0 mile out and back

Approximate hiking time: 1.5 hours

Difficulty: Moderate

Trail surface: Paved

Other trail users: None

Best season: November is the clearest nonwinter month

Canine compatibility: Dogs not permitted

Fees and permits: None

Schedule: The Clingmans Dome Road is closed in winter, from Dec 1 through Mar 31 (when cross country skiers rule the road).

Maps: USGS Clingmans Dome; TOPO! Tennessee, Kentucky

Trail contacts: Information about trails, camping, road closures, as well as downloadable maps and a “Smokies Trip Planner” are available online under the “Plan Your Visit” part of the park’s excellent Web site, www.nps.gov/grsm. The Backcountry Information Office is open 9 a.m. to noon, 865-436-1297.

Special considerations: Get going early on this hike. It’ll be clearer, and the parking lot will be emptier.

Finding the trailhead: The Clingmans Dome parking area is on the Clingmans Dome Road, 7.6 miles west of the junction with Newfound Gap Road. Restrooms are in the parking lot. GPS: N35 33.389'/W83 29.721'

The Hike

Grab that restroom break at the parking lot, then take the steep paved path past rest benches. You’ll pass a connector to the AT on the left (north), then reach and ascend the tower that corkscrews its way above the peak. The increasingly decimated evergreen forest here (take the Spruce-Fir Nature Trail to learn more about the park’s ecological problems) affords even better views than when a tower was first needed to reach above the trees.

Winter offers the best views from Clingmans Dome, but the road is closed December to March due to predictably heavy snowfalls. Only cross-country skiers willing to ski 14 miles round-trip (or backpackers on the Appalachian Trail) are likely to see the broadest curve of the Earth.

Nevertheless, the high southern Appalachians routinely receive summer cold front incursions that redeem the mountains’ reputation for the region’s coolest, and clearest, summer weather. Use your clearest day for this hike—or not. There is definitely something to be said for exploring the inside of a cloud at nearly 7,000 feet. You’ll remember the damp, cool, dripping realm of Clingmans Dome even if you can’t see down to Cherokee.

Miles and Directions

0.0 Start in the parking lot.

0.5 Reach the top of Clingmans Dome.

1.0 Arrive back at the trailhead.