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All the United States North Carolina Bryson City Kuwohi
AO Edited

Kuwohi

The highest point in Tennessee is said to be home to the chief of all bears.

Bryson City, North Carolina

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Mike Walker , Thomas Harper
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Observation tower at the top of Kuwohi   Acroterion / CC BY-SA 4.0
  Tony Nicholls / Atlas Obscura User
The walkway to the observation tower.   Billy Hathorn
The balsam woolly adelgid.   Schzmo
Ghost trees of Clingman’s Dome.   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
Sunset at Clingman’s Dome   Poor mans world traveler / Atlas Obscura User
  Tony Nicholls / Atlas Obscura User
Clingmans Dome   thomasharper / Atlas Obscura User
Clingmans Dome   er1ca / Atlas Obscura User
The concrete tower of Clingman’s Dome.   Scott Basford
Sunset at Clingman’s Dome   Poor mans world traveler / Atlas Obscura User
  genejoke / Atlas Obscura User
  genejoke / Atlas Obscura User
  genejoke / Atlas Obscura User
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At 6,644 feet, Kuwohi towers over the Great Smoky Mountains, straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border. The peak is renowned for its sweeping 360-degree views, accessible from a 50-foot-tall concrete observation tower built in 1959. On a clear day, you can see up to 100 miles in every direction, with rolling, misty hills of dense forest extending into both states. However, those forests have been transformed by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that nearly eradicated the region’s once-thriving Fraser fir trees in a 20th-century epidemic. The ghostly remnants of these trees now stand as stark reminders of the fragility of this beautiful landscape.

The name of the mountain means “mulberry place” in the Cherokee language. According to legend, the mountain was home to White Bear, the chief of all bears, and his council house. There was said to be a sacred lake in the area called Ataga'hi, where bears could go to heal their injuries. While most Cherokee were forced out of their lands by the US government in 1938, some stayed behind and became U.S. citizens. This Eastern Band, as they are called now, would later buy back some of their land and still call the Appalachians home to this day.

In 1789, North Carolina gave up their claim to the territory which would later be known as Tennessee. They delineated much of the border along the crest of the Smoky Mountains, including Kuwohi. Settlers moving into the area dubbed it “Smoky Dome.” It was later renamed "Clingman’s Dome" in honor of explorer Thomas Clingman. Clingman famously (and incorrectly) argued the case that Smoky Dome was the highest in the region, not Black Dome (today known as Mount Mitchell). Clingman would later go on to serve as a general in the Confederate Army.

In 2022, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians began an official movement to restore the original name of the mountain. The movement was supported by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and the National Park Service. On September 18, 2024, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the change back to Kuwohi. One of the Cherokee women who proposed the name restoration, Lavita Hill, has said she hopes the change will inspire younger generations to learn more about their language and heritage, and to remind everyone that this is part of the Cherokee homeland.

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Do note that Kuwohi is often fogged out due to the high elevation. They are called the Smokies for a reason. From Newfound Gap in Smoky Mountains National Park at the Tennessee - North Carolina border, drive 7 miles down Clingmans Dome Road, park, and hike 1 mile up the paved trail to the tower. The road is closed in winter.

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mikewalker, thomasharper

Edited By

Rachel, Edward Denny, Coyk, Feather...

  • Rachel
  • Edward Denny
  • Coyk
  • Feather
  • eleanorcpeterson
  • klbrown58
  • Tony Nicholls
  • genejoke
  • Michelle Cassidy
  • er1ca
  • Poor mans world traveler

Published

May 23, 2013

Updated

October 23, 2024

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Sources
  • https://theonefeather.com/2022/07/14/council-supports-clingmans-dome-name-change/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clingmans_Dome
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsam_woolly_adelgid
  • http://www.summitpost.org/clingmans-dome/150543
Kuwohi
Clingmans Dome
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Bryson City, North Carolina, 28713
United States
35.562933, -83.49845
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