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Kuwohi
Kuwohi (Cherokee: ᎫᏩᎯ, also known as Clingmans Dome, its former official name) is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina in the Southeastern United States.
At an elevation of 6,643 feet (2,025 m), it is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the 2,192-mile (3,528 km) Appalachian Trail. It is also the third highest point in eastern mainland North America, after Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet or 2,037 meters) and Mount Craig (6,647 feet or 2,026 meters).
Kuwohi has two subpeaks: 6,560-foot (2,000 m) Mount Buckley to the west; and 6,400-foot (1,950 m) Mount Love to the east. The headwaters of several substantial streams are located on the slopes of Kuwohi, including Little River on the north slope, and Forney Creek and Noland Creek, both of which are tributaries of the Tuckasegee River, on the south slope. The mountain is located entirely within the watershed of the Tennessee River.
Kuwohi is protected as part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A paved road connects it to U.S. Highway 441 at Newfound Gap 6.7 miles (10.8 km) away.
A 45-foot (14 m) tall concrete observation tower at the summit, built in 1959 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, offers a panoramic view of the mountains. An air quality monitoring station, operated by the Environmental Protection Agency, is the second highest in eastern North America.[citation needed]
The Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest that covers Kuwohi occurs only at the highest elevations in the Southeastern United States and has more in common with forests at northern latitudes than with the forests in the adjacent valleys. Kuwohi stands prominently above the surrounding terrain, rising nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m) from base to summit. The forest on and around Kuwohi has experienced a large die-off of Fraser fir caused by non-native insect balsam woolly adelgid.
Built in 1959, the observation tower features a circular observation platform accessed by a spiral ramp. The ramp is 375 feet (114 m) in length, and rises at a 12 percent grade, in sync with the Clingmans Dome Trail. The platform, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter, allows spectators a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding terrain. Cantilevered signs point out the various peaks, ridges, cities, and other features visible in the distance. Depending on the haze, visibility ranges from 20 miles (32 km) on hazy days to 100 miles (160 km) on very clear days.
The tower was one of nine observation towers constructed as part of the Mission 66 program (1955–1966), an effort by the National Park Service to upgrade its facilities to accommodate an influx of visitors to national parks during the post-World War II era. Designed by Hubert Bebb of the Gatlinburg-based architecture firm Bebb and Olson, the tower's modern design, especially the use of concrete as the primary building material, marked a departure from previous park structures, which favored more rustic elements. Although some criticized the Clingmans Dome tower as too "urban", two other park service observation towers—the nearby Look Rock tower along Foothills Parkway and the Shark Valley tower at Everglades National Park—were built using similar designs.
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Kuwohi
Kuwohi (Cherokee: ᎫᏩᎯ, also known as Clingmans Dome, its former official name) is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina in the Southeastern United States.
At an elevation of 6,643 feet (2,025 m), it is the highest mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest point in the state of Tennessee, and the highest point along the 2,192-mile (3,528 km) Appalachian Trail. It is also the third highest point in eastern mainland North America, after Mount Mitchell (6,684 feet or 2,037 meters) and Mount Craig (6,647 feet or 2,026 meters).
Kuwohi has two subpeaks: 6,560-foot (2,000 m) Mount Buckley to the west; and 6,400-foot (1,950 m) Mount Love to the east. The headwaters of several substantial streams are located on the slopes of Kuwohi, including Little River on the north slope, and Forney Creek and Noland Creek, both of which are tributaries of the Tuckasegee River, on the south slope. The mountain is located entirely within the watershed of the Tennessee River.
Kuwohi is protected as part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A paved road connects it to U.S. Highway 441 at Newfound Gap 6.7 miles (10.8 km) away.
A 45-foot (14 m) tall concrete observation tower at the summit, built in 1959 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, offers a panoramic view of the mountains. An air quality monitoring station, operated by the Environmental Protection Agency, is the second highest in eastern North America.[citation needed]
The Southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest that covers Kuwohi occurs only at the highest elevations in the Southeastern United States and has more in common with forests at northern latitudes than with the forests in the adjacent valleys. Kuwohi stands prominently above the surrounding terrain, rising nearly 5,000 feet (1,500 m) from base to summit. The forest on and around Kuwohi has experienced a large die-off of Fraser fir caused by non-native insect balsam woolly adelgid.
Built in 1959, the observation tower features a circular observation platform accessed by a spiral ramp. The ramp is 375 feet (114 m) in length, and rises at a 12 percent grade, in sync with the Clingmans Dome Trail. The platform, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter, allows spectators a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding terrain. Cantilevered signs point out the various peaks, ridges, cities, and other features visible in the distance. Depending on the haze, visibility ranges from 20 miles (32 km) on hazy days to 100 miles (160 km) on very clear days.
The tower was one of nine observation towers constructed as part of the Mission 66 program (1955–1966), an effort by the National Park Service to upgrade its facilities to accommodate an influx of visitors to national parks during the post-World War II era. Designed by Hubert Bebb of the Gatlinburg-based architecture firm Bebb and Olson, the tower's modern design, especially the use of concrete as the primary building material, marked a departure from previous park structures, which favored more rustic elements. Although some criticized the Clingmans Dome tower as too "urban", two other park service observation towers—the nearby Look Rock tower along Foothills Parkway and the Shark Valley tower at Everglades National Park—were built using similar designs.