Located at the end of Clingmans Dome Road, 7 miles from Newfound Gap, this visitor center sits at an elevation of 6,300 feet. A 0.5-mile trail leads from the visitor center to the Clingmans Dome observation tower atop Clingmans Dome, the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains and the third highest mountain in the East. Exhibits in the center provide an overview of the history of the area and the rare spruce-fir forest ecosystem.