Tennessee, USA: Appalachian Mountains
Photographs Copyright 2008 by Tom Dempsey. I last modified this page on Feb 7, 2009.
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Index to
Tennessee Appalachians (map): Great Smoky
Mountains National Park (
Cades Cove ,
geology ,
Little River Road ,
Roaring Fork
Motor Nature Trail & Grotto Falls ,
Clingmans Dome , see also
North Carolina side ) ;
Cherokee
Lake
See also:
- North Carolina: Page 1: Appalachians: Map ; Great Smoky Mountains ; Blue Ridge Parkway ; Hanging Rock, Piedmont | 2: Durham: Duke University Chapel
& Gardens, Eno River. Outer Banks: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Bodie Island Lighthouse, Wright Brothers Memorial, Kitty Hawk
- Virginia: Appalachians: Page 1: Shenandoah National Park , Luray Caverns , geology | 2: Cumberland Gap , Natural Tunnel State Park | 3: Plantations: historic maps , Historic Jamestowne (Pocahontas), Colonial Williamsburg , Shirley Plantation , Monticello/Jefferson , UV Rotunda
- West Virginia:
Babcock State Park , Harpers
Ferry , Green Bank Telescope , New River Gorge Bridge , Hawks Nest State Park , geology map
A pleasant trail of 2.6 miles round trip takes hikers to and behind Grotto Falls (click to see more), from the Roaring Fork
Motor Nature Trail on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, at Gatlinburg.
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Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This page shows images from the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which also spans into North Carolina (click to see more), in
southeastern USA. The Great Smokies are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are part of the larger Appalachians (see map).
Just west of Sugarlands Visitor Center, Little River Road provides pretty views of mountains and fall leaf colors on the Tennessee side of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.
Clingmans Dome
A popular observation tower on Clingman's Dome gives a panoramic view
of Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee and North Carolina,
in southeastern USA. Clingmans Dome (6,643 feet or 2,025 meters
elevation) is the highest mountain in the Great Smokies, the highest in
Tennessee, the highest along the 2,174-mile (3,499 km) Appalachian
Trail, and the third-highest mountain in the Appalachian range. A paved
road connects it to U.S. Highway 441 (Newfound Gap Road).
The summit is coated by a Spruce-fir (or "boreal") forest, common in
northern latitudes, but found only in the highest elevations in the
southeastern United States. Clingmans Dome, like most of the Great
Smokies, consists of a type of lightly metamorphosed sedimentary rock
(especially sandstone) that is part of the Ocoee Supergroup formation,
created from ancient ocean sediments nearly one billion years ago. The Smoky Mountains are among the oldest in the world, lifted approximately 200-300 million years ago in the Alleghenian orogeny.
Left: A few miles south of Sugarlands Visitor Center, the Newfound Gap Road winds through
tunnels of poplar trees turned bright yellow in autumn.
Below: The Great Smoky Mountains recede into the distance beyond the tree snags on Clingman's Dome.
Left: A 1 mile round trip walk takes you to observation tower on Clingman's Dome at 6,643 feet or 2,025 meters elevation, the highest point on the 2,174-mile (3,499 km) Appalachian Trail. Clingmans Dome, the third-highest mountain in the Appalachian range, gives
an expansive view of Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee
and North Carolina. The paved Clingmans Dome Road connects to U.S. Highway 441
(Newfound Gap Road). The summit is coated by a Spruce-fir (or "boreal")
forest, common in northern latitudes, but found only in the highest
elevations in the southeastern United States.
Below: Visitors ascend the ramp to the Clingman's Dome observation tower.
The popular observation tower on Clingman's Dome gives a panoramic view
of Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Tennessee and North Carolina,
in southeastern USA. (Panorama stitched from 9 images.) Clingmans
Dome (6,643 feet or 2,025 meters elevation) is the highest mountain in
the Great Smokies, the highest in Tennessee, the highest along the
2,174-mile (3,499 km) Appalachian Trail, and the third-highest mountain
in the Appalachians. A paved road connects it to U.S. Highway 441
(Newfound Gap Road). The summit is coated by a Spruce-fir (or "boreal")
forest, common in northern latitudes, but found only in the highest
elevations in the southeastern United States. Clingmans Dome, like most
of the Great Smokies, consists of a type of lightly metamorphosed
sedimentary rock (especially sandstone) that is part of the Ocoee
Supergroup formation, created from ancient ocean sediments nearly one
billion years ago. The Smoky Mountains are among the oldest in the
world, lifted approximately 200-300 million years ago in the
Alleghenian orogeny.
Little River Road
Little River Road passes through tunnels of yellow poplar leaves in
autumn on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Left: Autumn colors line the Little River, near the picnic area on Little
River Road, in the East Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
Above: Little River Road enters grand forests of poplar leaves turned yellow in
autumn on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Left: Fall leaf colors glow on the Little River, near the picnic
area on Little River Road, in the East Tennessee section of Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
Below: Yellow and orange fall colors in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
Left: The trail takes hikers behind Grotto Falls, which is an easy walk of 2.6 miles round trip from the Roaring Fork
Motor Nature Trail, on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, south from Gatlinburg. The source of Roaring Fork is
located nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m) up along the northern slopes of
Mount Le Conte, where several small springs converge. From its source,
Roaring Fork drops 2,500 feet (760 m) over just two miles (3 km),
spilling over Grotto Falls. The Roaring Fork valley is underlain by
Precambrian Class II sandstone of the Ocoee Supergroup, a rock
formation formed from ancient ocean sediments nearly a billion years
ago, as in most of the Smokies.
Below: Tall evergreen rhododendron trees grow around Grotto Falls. The flower blooms of rhododendrons are attractive in the spring.
Left: The attractive Grotto Falls is a hike of 2.6 miles round trip from the Roaring Fork
Motor Nature Trail, on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park
Below: This cascade on the Roaring Fork tumbles a short distance below Grotto Falls, on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. From its source,
Roaring Fork drops 2,500 feet (760 m) over just two miles (3 km). The source of Roaring Fork is
located nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m) up along the northern slopes of
Mount Le Conte, where several small springs converge. The Roaring Fork valley is underlain by
Precambrian Class II sandstone of the Ocoee Supergroup, a rock
formation formed from ancient ocean sediments nearly a billion years
ago, as in most of the Smokies.
Left: I photographed this woodland stream
image from a one-lane bridge (a few miles below Grotto Falls)
where the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail crosses Roaring Fork on the
Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Roaring
Fork empties
into the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River in Gatlinburg, TN.
Below: Yellow fall leaf colors surround a log cabin built by former
settlers, on the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Below: Fall leaf colors glow on Cherokee Orchard Road just south of
Gatlinburg, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, on the Tennessee
side, in southeastern USA.
Cades Cove
Tipton Place
Left: This replica replaces the original cantilever barn dating from the 1870s at
Tipton Place, at Cades Cove, an isolated valley located in the East
Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In 1850, Cades Cove was home to 685 members of 137 settler households
in an isolated valley which is now
located in the East Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National
Park, USA. Today, Cades Cove is the most popular destination for
visitors to the park, attracting over two million visitors a year, due
to its well preserved homesteads, scenic mountain views and abundant
display of wildlife. The eleven-mile Cades Cove Loop Road follows many
of the grades and turns of the old wagon roads and fording occasional
streams. Along the way you are likely to see domestic cattle or horses
grazing, wild deer and wild turkey year-round and groundhogs in the
summer. Driving the eleven-mile Cades Cove loop can take a surprisingly
long time (allow 2 to 6 hours) on a typical summer or fall day, unless
you start very early in the morning. The most crowded times are July
through August and leaf season which runs through mid October into
early November. The Cove entrance is 25 miles from Gatlinburg, TN and
56 miles from Cherokee, North Carolina.
Below: Horses graze to help preserve and keep open the ranch land in
Cades Cove, an isolated valley located in the East Tennessee section of
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA.
Left: Helmets are recommended by this sign for bicycle riders on the paved 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road.
Below: A modern barn at Cades Cove helps service grazing animals.
Left: This replica replaces the original cantilever barn dating from the 1870s at
Tipton Place, at Cades Cove in the East
Tennessee section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Below: An old wooden buggy is stored under a barn at Tipton Place in Cades Cove.
Left: Tipton Place was built in the early 1870s, with a smokehouse and
a woodshed in the front yard, at Cades Cove, in the East Tennessee
section of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Below: Yellow and red fall colors in Cades Cove.
Cable Mill Historic Area
Left: The John P. Cable Grist Mill still makes flour at Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee.
Below: The drive-through allows easier loading and unloading of hay, and the
overhang in this cantilevered barn provides shelter for animals and farm
equipment, at Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee.
Left: Old farm equipment at Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee.
Below: The overhang in cantilever barns provided shelter for animals
and farm equipment. Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee.
Left: Old wooden wagon with iron tred, at Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee.
Below: In Cable Mill Historic Area, Cades Cove, Tennessee, this
old barn allows driving through the center to more easily
transfer hay to the loft. Draft animals and milk cows were fed the hay
in the stalls below during winter months.
Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church
Left: Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church was organized June 16, 1827.
Above: The grave stone of William Hamby (1744-1840), a member of the North
Carolina Militia in the American Revolutionary War, rests at the graveyard of
Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church (organized June 16, 1827), in Cades
Cove, Tennessee, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Left: The grave stone of Russell Gregory reads "1795-1864; Founder of
Gregory's Bald about 1830; murdered by North Carolina Rebels", in the
graveyard of Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church (organized June 16,
1827), in the valley of Cades Cove, on the Tennessee side of Great
Smoky Mountains National Park. Gregory supported the Union during the
American Civil War (like most Cades Covers) and was murdered by
Confederate guerrillas in 1863. The Civil War shattered Cades Cove. No slave ever worked the Cove
and the mountain people shared few cultural ties with the South, but
young men still fought for both sides (mostly for the Union). Cades
Covers named the local mountain Gregory Bald (4949 feet elevation) in
honor of Russell Gregory who lived atop it in the spring and summer to
graze cattle. The original Cherokee name for Gregory Bald was "Tsistu'yi," or "Rabbit Place."
John Oliver Cabin
Below: In Cades Cove, John Oliver Cabin was built circa 1822, making
it one
of the oldest structures in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Oliver
fit the log corners with half dovetail notches draining outwards to
discourage rot. The cabin roof was fitted with 3,000 handmade shakes
(wooden shingles).
Left: Wild deer graze in front of John Oliver Cabin, in Cades Cove, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Below: The grave stone reads "John Oliver 1793-1864 and wife
Lurena Frazier Oliver 1795-1888, first permanent white settlers of
Cade's Cove 1817-1818", at the graveyard of Cades Cove Primitive
Baptist Church (organized June 16, 1827).
Geology of Cades Cove
Most of the Great Smoky Mountains are underlain by Precambrian Class II sandstone of
the Ocoee Supergroup, a rock formation formed from ancient ocean
sediments nearly a billion years ago.
Cades Cove is a type of valley known as a "limestone window,"
created by erosion that removed the older Precambrian sandstone,
exposing the younger Paleozoic limestone beneath. The weathering of the
limestone produced deep, fertile soil, making Cades Cove attractive to
early farmers. More weather-resistant formations, such as the Cades
sandstone which comprises Rich Mountain to the north and the Elkmont
and Thunderhead sandstones which comprise the Smokies crest to the
south have surrounded the cove, leaving it relatively isolated within
the Great Smokies.
Appalachians Map
Left: The Appalachians are a vast system of mountains in
eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of
the Appalachians. The USGS defines the Appalachian Highlands
physiographic division as consisting of thirteen provinces: the
Atlantic Coast Uplands, Eastern Newfoundland Atlantic, Maritime Acadian
Highlands, Maritime Plain, Notre Dame And Megantic Mountains, Western
Newfoundland Mountains, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Saint
Lawrence Valley, Appalachian Plateaus, New England province, and the
Adirondack provinces. A common variant definition does not include the
Adirondack Mountains, which are often said to have more in common with
the Canadian Shield than the Appalachians.
Below: The "Valley and Ridge" province of the Appalachian Highlands
forms parallel ridges near Kingsport, in northeastern Tennessee. On
the lower right are the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge
Mountains province of the Appalachians. On the lower left center is Cherokee Lake, and Kingsport is at the center right.
Cherokee Lake, Clinch Mountain Lookout
Above: The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) dammed the Holston River in 1941
to form Cherokee Lake, as seen from Clinch Mountain Lookout, near Bean
Station, in the northeast corner of Tennessee. Clinch Mountain is a
ridge in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Virginia, lying in the
ridge-and-valley section of the Appalachian Mountains. It runs in a
general east-northeasterly direction from near Blaine, Tennessee to
Garden Mountain near Burke's Garden, Virginia. It separates the Clinch
River basin, to the north, and the Holston River basin, to the south.
Clinch Mountain is named after the Clinch River, named after an unknown
pioneer. Cherokee Reservoir is named for the tribe of Native
Americans who once lived here. The great Indian warpath, once followed
by Daniel Boone, crossed the basin now filled by the reservoir.
Tennessee, USA: Appalachian Mountains
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