Clingmans Dome at Hiking In National Parks

The highest point both in the State of Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, Clingmans Dome is also the hub of numerous dayhikes and longer backpacking trips. The mountain itself is one of the most popular destinations in the national park, as a seven-mile paved road allows visitors to park only a half mile from the concrete observation tower erected in 1963, from which views into several states (on clear days) are available.

Clingmans Dome/Clingmans Dome Bypass Trails: The only trail that possibly gets more traffic than the 0.5 mile (0.9 kilometer) Clingmans Dome Trail is the Laurel Falls Trail near the park headquarters. Because of such heavy visitation, the park service has paved each trail, both for better accessibility and to stem erosion. Many visitors to the mountain, however, are unaware of the Clingmans Dome Bypass Trail, which is reached by walking a tenth of a mile off of the main trail, and then rises steeply 0.6 of a mile (1 kilometer) to the Appalachian Trail. Some hikers use this as a means to avoid the clogged paved trail and continue on their way to points beyond the tower, while others see it as a more traditional route to the observation tower, which is a third of a mile (half of a kilometer) to the right of the junction with the Appalachian Trail.

Forney Ridge Trail: Reached by veering left at the base of the Clingmans Dome Trail, the 5.6 mile (9.0 kilometer) Forney Ridge Trail immediately descends via a carefully implemented level of stairs built into the ground for a tenth of a mile to a junction with the Clingmans Dome Bypass Trail. From here the rocky trail continues to the left 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) through highland Appalachian terrain to Andrews Bald, one of only two balds maintained by the National Park Service. The hike to the bald is fairly popular, though not nearly to the extent of its neighboring trail to Clingmans Dome, but very few hikers venture beyond Andrews Bald, as the trail descends down Forney Ridge to Board Camp Gap and a junction with the Springhouse Branch Trail.

Road Prong Trail: Named for the stream the the trail accompanies for its entire length, the 2.2 mile (3.5 kilometer) Road Prong Trail follows an old Indian trail that was used for an unknown length of time before the settlement of whites in the region, who eventually widened the trail into a toll road, which was used from 1839 for nearly a century until the discovery of Newfound Gap and the subsequent construction of Newfound Gap Road, which effectively put Indian Gap Road (as the road had become known) out of commission. The “road” is today little more than a trail that links Clingmans Dome Road, at Indian Gap, to Newfound Gap Road (as the Road Prong Trail runs into the Chimney Tops Trail at its lower terminus) one mile from the junction.