Highpoint #23: Tennessee

Vanity Shot at the Highest Point in Tennessee!

Finishing up Kentucky relatively early in the day, I decided to push on to Tennessee to visit its highest point at Clingmans Dome, just outside of Gatlinburg.  The trip was pretty easy going until I wound up in the vicinity of Gatlinburg; then it was nothing but standstill traffic.  Eventually after a half hour of just sitting around (literally), I learned that the roads were being closed for some sort of funeral procession involving firemen.  After that cleared, I proceeded towards Smoky Mountains National Park only to make a grave error.  Instead of taking the “bypass” route, I opted to pass through Gatlinburg itself.  More standstill traffic awaited me!  Apparently it is set up like the Las Vegas strip there, with businesses all up and down both sides of the road, with tourists walking from side to side all along the way.  It might be a tiny tourist trap town, but it took forever to drive through.  I eventually made it though, and found myself within the perimeter of the national park.  For the would-be highpointer, definitely take the bypass!

I followed the main road up through the mountains.  The road is quite windy and goes on for quite a distance, ultimately connecting to Cherokee, NC.  On my visit though, the road was closed at Newfound Gap due to rock fall occurring during the winter.  

Turn-off for Clingmans Dome Road

Luckily, the turnoff for Clingmans Dome occurs just before Newfound Gap when driving in this direction, so the road closure had no effect on my plans.  Of course, the road to Clingmans Dome itself is also closed during the winter, but they had just opened it up a few days before.  So, really I was all set to just enjoy the views and drive to the top. 

Note:  The Road is Seasonally Closed!

It was quite the drive, too!  Just to get to the turn-off for Clingmans Dome, it was 16 miles of mainly switchbacks.  It was so green and inviting.  The park was definitely the kind of place where one would want to do some extended hiking and camping.  It’s not just me either; Smoky Mountains National Park is actually the most visited national park every year out of all the ones we have!  At the turn-off for the dome, it was still another 7 miles to the parking lot!  The road was in fantastic shape though, so I just kept soaking in the beauty. 

Informative Plaque at the Summit Parking Lot

At the parking lot, there was a very large overlook where you could see for a considerable distance.  Mountains abounded in seemingly every direction.  To continue to the summit, it was all on foot from here.  There was a paved trail, one-half mile in length, extending all the way to the summit.  

Final Stretch:  Half-Mile on Foot!

It was all uphill, of course, so they provided benches all along the way for rest stops.  It’s crazy that a 1-mile, round-trip hike would require them, but I guess it makes the trail accessible to everyone that way.

Paved Trail to the Summit

The hike was a very quick jaunt, and surprisingly well-signed.  

Just in Case You get Lost on the 0.5-Mile Stretch!

The superstructure that is Clingmans Dome quickly came into the view.  

First Glimpse of the Summit

I finally made it the dome itself, and proceeded up the smoothed spiral walkway, reminiscent of the Guggenheim, leading to the main lookout deck.  

Up We Go!

From the top of the deck, I had the best view in all of Tennessee, being able to look out for nearly 100 miles in all 360 degrees of viewing directions.  

Half-way Up

The panoramic view was simply gorgeous!  I appreciated it the best I could, but it did start to get a little busy up there.  I kindly had someone take my photo, and decided to head back down to the base of the dome.  I walked all around the base of the dome, but I was unable to find any geological markers commemorating the highpoint.  

View from the Top!

I know the dome itself is man-made, so while going to the top was fun and informative, the true highpoint lied just beneath it somewhere along that mountaintop.  Between my loop of the structure and my attempting to put my foot on top of what looked like the highest point, I felt comfortable in being able to scratch this one off of the list. 

View from the Dome of the True Summit Below

I strolled back down to the parking lot and took another good look out over the distance, before ultimately deciding to head down the mountain for good.  

Equally Impressive Views Can be had from the Parking Lot!

Now the true challenge of the day was before me.  I had left at 4:30am from Washington D.C. and had just visited the highpoints in Kentucky and Tennessee.  It was early evening.  Could I push all the way back to D.C. in the same day?  I decided to go for it.  Believe it or not, I actually made it!  After an unhealthy number of Red Bulls (seriously), I pulled into the garage of my building at 2:30am.  I did the whole trip in a mere 22 hours.  I managed a total of 1160.7 miles of driving all in the same day (defined as a 24-hour period).  That is a new 1-day driving record for me – yay!  To be a good highpointer, it probably helps to have an obsessive personality.  J

Proof of 1-Day Mileage!