Clingmans Dome is a sacred mountain to the Cherokees, where the Magic Lake was once seen. The Great Spirit told the Cherokees that, “if they love me, if they love all their brothers and sisters, and if they love the animals of the earth, when they grow old and sick, they can come to magic lake and be made well again.”

For Cherokees, these mountains have meant a refuge, homeland, and a mythical and spiritual foundation for their people. During the Indian Removal Period of the 1800s known as the Trail of Tears, the mountains meant safety from pursuing soldiers. Today these slopes provide a refuge and offer inspiration for visitors from a hectic modern society.

Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find that going to the mountains is going home.

Naturalist John Muir, 1898

What do these mountains mean to you?

Marker can be reached from Clingmans Dome Road 7.2 miles west of U.S. 441.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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