Top Mountains in Tennessee

Tennessee's mountains are in the east — the Great Smoky Mountains and the Unaka Range along the North Carolina border. These are ancient mountains, geologically, and the biodiversity in this range (particularly in the Smokies) is among the richest in the temperate world.

Clingmans Dome (6,643 ft)
On the Tennessee-North Carolina border and the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Clingmans Dome is the third-highest peak east of the Mississippi. The paved half-mile ramp to the observation tower is steep but accessible. The surrounding spruce-fir forest is the largest remnant of boreal forest in the southern US. The tower, built in 1959, rises 45 feet above the summit and gives views across multiple states on clear days — though mist or cloud cover is very common.

Mount LeConte (6,593 ft)
Unique among the Smokies high peaks — it has a lodging facility (LeConte Lodge, accessible only on foot or by llama supply trail) and five separate trail routes to the summit. The Alum Cave Trail (4.4 miles) is the most popular approach, passing through Arch Rock, Alum Cave Bluffs, and stunning high-elevation terrain. LeConte has one of the greatest vertical rises in the eastern US: 5,300 feet from the Gatlinburg valley to the summit.

Mount Guyot (6,621 ft)
The second-highest peak in Tennessee, on the NC-TN border in the Smokies. Guyot is named for Arnold Henry Guyot, the Swiss-American geographer who systematically measured these mountains in the 1850s. The summit is heavily forested and has no view, but it's part of the challenging high-ridge traverse connecting the major Smoky peaks.

Roan Mountain (6,285 ft)
On the TN-NC border near Elizabethton, Roan Mountain is famous for its high-elevation rhododendron gardens — the largest natural rhododendron garden in the world. The bloom peak (typically mid-June) draws thousands of visitors to the open balds. The Appalachian Trail crosses several summits of Roan; the highland traverse along the AT from Carvers Gap is one of the finest above-treeline hikes in the eastern US.