"Drove the Blue Ridge Parkway on a picture perfect fall day. Sunny clear blue sky and tree covered mountains showing off some fall colors. Parked in the lot and walked up the summit trail. Great views from the observation deck. We will definitely be back to do a nice long hike up there next time." — jodola • Oct 6, 2022

"Long line of traffic driving up to the parking lot, so we turned around to park on the other side of the road and walked the rest of the way, then continued on to the paved summit trail. Very crowded up there, but great views of the Smokies from the top." — jodola • Oct 4, 2022

"Don't do what I did. I hiked to Green Knob's fire tower for the sunrise. That was a mistake since there weren't any good views from up there. I should have watched the sun come up from the "Green Knob Overlook" parking area right off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Despite running as fast as I could down the Green Knob trail, I only caught the very end of the sunrise from the overlook spot. Silly me. The sky looked pretty damn impressive, too. This isn't the first time that this has happened. If there's a photogenic sunrise or sunset opportunity, I will usually find a way to miss it! This is especially true in faraway places that I might never get to revisit. " — theascent • Apr 27, 2022

"This was the most crowded peak that I have ever visited in my 5-10 years of peakbagging. Washington, Whitney, Hadley, and even Lantau Peak in densely-populated Hong Kong had nothing on Clingman's crowds. It was a zoo! There was a whole line of cars waiting for parking spots to open up, which brought back unpleasant memories of my undergrad experience at a large state university. The paved trail was a conga line of humanity that made Times Square look like a remote location in Canada's Northwest Territories. Keep in mind this was midweek during shoulder season; I can't even fathom how bad it must be on holidays, summer weekends, and during peak fall foliage! " — theascent • Apr 27, 2022

"Shortly after sunrise, I left the Green Knob Overlook and continued my drive up the uncharacteristically empty Blue Ridge Parkway. It was now time to go up the highest peak in the Eastern U.S. Wanting to get at least *some* hiking in, I parked at the Old Mitchell trailhead a couple miles from the top. The trail was a bit rockier than I expected. No complaints here. It made the journey more memorable than it otherwise would have been. There was even a short roped section that I didn't need to use. There was no one else on the Old Mitchell Trail or Mount Mitchell's summit, making for a much superior experience than Clingman's Dome later that day! My only real gripe was the chilly and constant wind. Well, that and missing the sunrise from Green Knob's Overlook because I spent too much time exploring the fire tower area that had no open views. " — theascent • Apr 27, 2022