This Land, Your Land

A 3.5-mile trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is among "25 Unforgettable National Park Hikes" compiled by the National Park Foundation.

The Andrews Bald Trail leaves from the parking area at Clingmans Dome, about 20 miles from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, and "climbs almost 900 feet to the bald, mostly along a rocky creekbed, to a grassy, treeless mountaintop with panoramic views of the southern Smokies," the guide says. The trail is rated as moderate.

Andrews Bald, at 5,920 feet, is the highest bald in the Smokies. From there, the Fontana Reservoir can be seen below, the NPF guide says.

The full-color guide, the second in a series of National Parks owner's guides, is available as a free .pdf download at the link above.

Clingmans Dome Road, the route to the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be closed for construction work next week, from Monday, September 13 until Saturday morning, September 18, the National Parks Service has announced.

Work on the parking lot below the observation tower and to the shoulders of the road will conclude reconstruction and repaving of the seven-mile road begun in February.

A.T. Journeys, the monthly magazine of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, looks at quick opportunities to bag peaks on the AT, and all three it suggests are in North Carolina.

"ATC’s Laurie Potteiger notes that deep in the heart of the southern Appalachians are magnificent A.T. 'peak' experiences that require little more effort than turning off your vehicle’s motor, silencing your cell phone, and stretching your legs," the article says.

Potteiger visits Wayah Bald, with its "expansive views of rows and rows of other pristine mountains in the distance," Clingman’s Dome, at 6,643 feet the highest peak on the A.T., which features "a large concrete observation tower with a circular ramp that provides spectacular 360-degree views of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park," and Roan Mountain, where "flower lovers make the pilgrimage to see one of the most notable displays anywhere in world" when wild rhododendron blooms in June.

Though some of the A.T. at Roan Mountain is inaccessible most of this summer as the day use area is renovated, hikers can still access the mountain from nearby Carver’s Gap, Potteiger says.