Mount Kephart

Mount Kephart rises to 1,895 m in North Carolina. Kuwohi stands 2,025 m to the southwest, 7.7 miles off. The nearest named place is The Jumpoff, a cliff 0.2 miles away. Newfound Gap Road Byway passes 1.6 miles off.
The story
Mount Kephart is a mountain in the central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. The Appalachian Trail crosses the mountain's south slope, making it a destination for thru-hikers. The Jumpoff, a 1,000-foot (300 m) cliff on the northeast side of the mountain, has views of the central and eastern Smokies. A stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest coats the mountain's upper elevations. With an elevation of 6,217 ft, Mount Kephart is the 7th-highest mountain in Tennessee. Its topographic prominence is drastically reduced, however, by its close proximity to two higher neighbors, Kuwohi and Mount Le Conte. Like much of the Smokies crests, Mount Kephart lies on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, in Sevier County, Tennessee and Swain County, North Carolina. The mountain rises nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above its northern base at Porters Flat, and approximately 3,400 feet (1,000 m) above its southern base along the Oconaluftee River headwaters. Newfound Gap, at just over 5,000 feet (1,500 m), divides Mount Kephart from Fork Ridge (Mt. Collins) to the west. The gap is traversed by U.S. Highway 441, the only paved road crossing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from north to south.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q8524591, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1895.27 m
How to reach it
- 1.6 mi off the Newfound Gap Road Byway, National
- 9.5 mi off the Blue Ridge Parkway, National
- 12.3 mi off the Nantahala Byway
- 19.0 mi off the Mountain Waters Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Ben Morton Overlook · 2 mi
- Newfound Gap Overlook · 2 mi
- Deep Creek Valley Overlook · 3 mi
- Deep Creek Valley Overlook #1 · 3 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Mount Ambler: 0.5 mi
- Masa Knob: 0.7 mi
- Charlies Bunyon: 0.9 mi
- Horseshoe Mountain: 1.0 mi
- Anakeesta Knob: 1.4 mi
- Sweat Heifer Cascades: 1.0 mi
- Taywa Creek Cascade: 4.0 mi
- Cliff Branch Falls: 4.0 mi
- Grotto Falls: 4.5 mi
- Trickling Falls: 4.5 mi
- Arch Rock: 2.8 mi
- Hellbender: 8.4 mi
- Birdventure: 8.4 mi
- Rail Runner: 8.5 mi
- Ripley's Super Fun Zone: 8.9 mi
- Mills Park: 8.0 mi
- Mynatt Park: 8.6 mi
- Acquoni Road Family Park: 10.6 mi
- ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ ᎤᎾᏓᎪᎾᏙᏗᏱ;Cherokee Indian Fair Grounds: 10.9 mi
- ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ ᎤᏂᏲᏏᏙᎸ ᎨᏥᎸᏉᏗᏍᎬ;Cherokee Veterans Park: 11.0 mi
- The Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum;The Salt & Pepper Shaker Museum: 8.7 mi
- Ripley's Believe It Or Not!: 9.1 mi
- Hollywood Star Cars Museum: 9.1 mi
- Mountain Farm Museum: 9.5 mi
- Oconaluftee Indian Village: 10.7 mi
- The Jumpoff: 0.2 mi
- Alum Cave: 3.2 mi
- Eagle Rocks: 5.6 mi
- Cliff: 6.0 mi
- Cat Stairs: 6.7 mi
- Fort Harry: 4.8 mi
- Sugarlands Stone Cabin: 7.1 mi
- 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops Memorial: 10.7 mi
- Nimrod Jarett Smith: 11.0 mi
- Dolly Parton childhood home: 11.8 mi
- Greenbrier Picnic Pavilion: 5.0 mi
- Greenbrier Picnic Area: 5.6 mi
- Chimneys Picnic Area: 5.6 mi
- Deep Creek Picnic Area: 12.1 mi
- Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion: 12.1 mi
- Bear: 8.7 mi
- Selu Statue: 12.1 mi
- Fish: 14.4 mi
- Veterans Statue: 19.1 mi
- Dolly Parton: 19.1 mi
- Vista Gardens: 8.4 mi
- Bamboo Forest: 11.2 mi
- Sylva Community Garden: 19.9 mi
- Susanna Wesley Garden: 24.4 mi
- Cullowhee Community Garden: 24.6 mi
- Brakeshoe Spring: 15.5 mi
- Mouse Creek Spring: 15.8 mi
- Wildcat Spring: 22.1 mi
- Burnett Spring: 24.3 mi
- Tennessee Welcome Center - Cocke County: 18.4 mi
- North Carolina Welcome Center: 20.2 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Eastbound Rest Area: 22.2 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Westbound Rest Area: 22.5 mi
- Greenbrier: 6.4 mi
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 6.5 mi
- Emerts Cove Covered Bridge: 8.2 mi
- Covered Bridge Trail: 20.0 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 9.0 miles of Mount Kephart. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwohi | SW 232° | 2,024.79 m | 7.7 mi |
| Mount Guyot | NE 55° | 2,019.13 m | 9.0 mi |
| Mount le Conte - High Top | WNW 301° | 2,009.55 m | 3.1 mi |
| Mt. Buckley | SW 234° | 2,004.12 m | 8.1 mi |
| Mount Le Conte | WNW 301° | 2,004 m | 3.1 mi |
| Cliff Top | WNW 298° | 1,996.55 m | 3.5 mi |
| Myrtle Point | WNW 303° | 1,991.56 m | 2.8 mi |
| Mount Chapman | ENE 60° | 1,960.2 m | 7.7 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:38 | 19:12 | 19:46 |
| June solstice | 06:19 | 20:15 | 20:53 |
| September equinox | 07:22 | 18:58 | 19:32 |
| December solstice | 07:40 | 16:45 | 17:25 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 31 | 33 | 39 | 48 | 56 | 62 | 66 | 64 | 60 | 50 | 41 | 35 |
| Precip in | 6.8 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 7.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Newfound GAP, 3 mi away.
Inside the official boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Oct.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/3611148369
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