Ancient Name Returns to Smokies' Highest Peak

Sunrise view from Kuwohi

S. Reinhold

Take in the view from Kuwohi this spring

by Smokies Life

Long before the Great Smokies’ tallest mountain was christened “Clingmans Dome,” the Cherokee people knew it by a different name—Kuwohi, which means “mulberry place.”

Following a grassroots effort led by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, whose land abuts the park boundary in North Carolina, this ancient name was restored in September 2024. The previous name had honored Thomas Clingman, a mountaineer and US Senator who became a Confederate brigadier general after the mountain was named for him in 1859.

Reaching 6,643 feet above sea level, Kuwohi (pronounced koo-WHOA-hee) is not only the tallest mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park but the third-tallest east of the Mississippi River. Two long-distance trails—the Appalachian Trail and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail—cross near its summit, and its high-elevation habitat is home to many species found in few other places this far south. Winters at the top can be quite severe.

Kuwohi is a sacred place to the Cherokee, and some of their traditional stories take place there. The mountain was a refuge for Cherokee people evading forced removal on the Trail of Tears in the 1830s, and it has long been a destination for medicine people seeking guidance on behalf of their tribe. Its namesake is something of a mystery, as mulberry trees aren’t known to grow above 3,500 feet in elevation.

Kuwohi Road opens from its winter closure on April 1, and a celebration of the Kuwohi name restoration will be held this spring.