Among the Clouds, Clingmans Dome, Smokey Mountains National Park

What is: At 6,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi. On clear days views expand over a 100 miles…although air pollution now impacts that.

What Was: The Cherokee Indians, a branch of the Iroquois nation, trace their history in this region back 1000 years. Clingmans Dome was a sacred spot for the Cherokee where the Magic Lake was seen. The Magic Lake was a place to go when you were old and sick, if you had loved the earth and family, to be made well again. During the Indian Removal Period of the 1800s and the Trail of Tears, the mountains were a safe refuge and place to hide from the soldiers.