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 Ridg ...

, 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 Tra ...

between

Kuwohi Kuwohi (, 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 topographical summit, elevation of , it is the highest mountai ...

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. Situated along the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, the state line crosses ...

, the mountain is a popular destination for

thru-hikers Thru-hiking, or through-hiking, is the act of hiking an established long-distance trail end-to-end continuously. The term is most frequently used regarding trails in the United States, such as the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the Appalachian Trail ( ...

. A backcountry shelter and a major trail junction are located along the mountain's northeastern slope. The mountain's summit is covered by a

southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of Montane ecosystems, montane Conifer, coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains o ...

Description

Like most of the Smokies crest, Mount Collins is situated along the

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

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

Bryson City Bryson City is a town in Swain County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. The population was 1,558 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in what was historically the land of the Cherokee, Bryson City was found ...

and just over above its northwestern base near Meigs Post Prong. The mountain is the 25th-highest mountain in the Eastern United States, the 7th-highest in Tennessee, and the 10th-highest in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Sugarland Mountain

massif A massif () is a principal mountain mass, such as a compact portion of a mountain range, containing one or more summits (e.g. France's Massif Central). In mountaineering literature, ''massif'' is frequently used to denote the main mass of an ...

—which rises in the Sugarlands 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 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 (CDP), Massachusetts, th ...

and drains the northwestern Smokies before emptying into the

Little Tennessee River The Little Tennessee River (known locally as the Little T) 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 dra ...

. The latter drains the north-central section of the park, flowing through the Sugarlands 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, North Carolina, Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston R ...

. 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 a ...

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 after 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 Kuwohi 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 in the US for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. Its western endpoint is at Kuwohi, where it connects to the Ap ...

, which connects the crest of the Smokies with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

, 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. All these trails can be accessed from Kuwohi Road, which is typically open between April 1 and December 1 (in winter, the A.T. can be accessed from

U.S. Route 441 U.S. Route 441 (US 441) is a auxiliary route of U.S. Route 41. It extends from US 41 in Miami, Florida to US 25W in Rocky Top, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 travels through the states of Florida, Georgia, North ...

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