Mount Collins is a mountain in the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of above sea level. Located along the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

between Clingmans Dome and

Newfound Gap Newfound Gap (el. ) is a mountain pass located near the center of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States of America. Situated along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, the state l ...

, the mountain is a popular destination for thru-hikers. A backcountry shelter and a major trail junction are located along the mountain's northeastern slope. The mountain's summit is located amidst the

Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

that covers much of the upper elevations in the central Smokies. Like most of the Smokies crest, Mount Collins is situated along the

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

border, with Sevier County to the north and Swain County to the south. The mountain rises approximately above its southeastern base near Bryson City

and just over above its northwestern base near Meigs Post Pron

The mountain is the 25th-highest mountain in the Eastern United States, the 7th-highest in Tennesse

and the 10th-highest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Par

The Sugarland Mountain

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

— which rises in the

Sugarlands The Sugarlands is a valley in the north-central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. Formerly home to a string of small Appalachian communities, the valley is now the location of the Great Smoky Mountains National P ...

and stretches nearly across the north-central section of the park— intersects the Smokies crest at the summit of Mount Collins. Two major watersheds—

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

and the West Fork of the Little Pigeon River— have their sources high on the mountain's northern slopes. The former flows down to

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

and drains the northwestern Smokies before emptying into the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River is a tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portions of three national ...

. The latter drains the north-central section of the park, flowing through the Sugarlands, Gatlinburg,

Pigeon Forge Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Pa ...

, and

Sevierville Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...

en route to the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

. Mount Collins is named after Robert Collins, an Oconaluftee resident who guided

Arnold Guyot Arnold Henry Guyot ( ) (September 28, 1807February 8, 1884) was a Swiss-American geologist and geographer. Early life Guyot was born on September 28, 1807, at Boudevilliers, near Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He was educated at Chaux-de-Fonds, then ...

across the crest of the Smokies in the late 1850s. In 1859, Guyot correctly measured the mountain's summit at . While originally named "Mount Collins", the mountain was known as "Meigs Post" throughout the late-19th century and early-20th century after a station constructed by Return Meigs near its summit. In 1931,

Horace Kephart Horace Sowers Kephart (September 8, 1862 – April 2, 1931) was an American travel writer and librarian, best known as the author of '' Our Southern Highlanders'' (a memoir about his life in the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina) ...

requested the mountain be named for him, but due to protests from Tennesseans (who favored their statesman Robert Collins over the North Carolinian Kephart), he settled on the mountain that now bears his name several miles to the east.Frome, 106-108.

Hiking trails

Several major trails intersect atop Mount Collins. The Appalachian Trail crosses the summit from southwest to northeast, with Clingmans Dome nearly to the west and Newfound Gap just over to the east. The Sugarland Mountain Trail intersects the Appalachian Trail a few hundred meters from the summit, and connects the Smokies crest with the Sugarlands and Elkmont areas to the north. The

Mountains-to-Sea Trail The Mountains-to-Sea State Trail (MST) is a long-distance trail for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The trail's western endpoint is at Clingman's Dome, where it connects ...

, which connects the crest of the Smokies with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, also intersects the Appalachian Trail near the summit, just opposite the Sugarland Mountain Trail junction (this leg of the MST is called "Fork Ridge Trail" on park maps). The Noland Divide Trail descends Collins' south slope, connecting the Appalachian Trail to Bryson City, North Carolina. All of these trails can be accessed from Clingmans Dome Road, which is typically open between April 1 and December 1 (in winter, the A.T. can be accessed from U.S. Route 441 at Newfound Gap). The Mount Collins Shelter is located along the Sugarland Mountain Trail, a half-mile north of the Appalachian Trail junction. The shelter can accommodate 12 backpackers.

References

External links

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Trail Map
- .pdf format

- SummitPost.org

- Challenge sponsored by the Carolina Hiking Club and the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Mount Mountains of Great Smoky Mountains National Park Mountains on the Appalachian Trail Mountains of North Carolina Mountains of Tennessee Southern Sixers Protected areas of Sevier County, Tennessee Protected areas of Swain County, North Carolina Mountains of Swain County, North Carolina Mountains of Sevier County, Tennessee