Mount Le Conte is the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains, and the sixth highest in the entire Appalachian chain. From its summit, Le Conte drops a vertical mile (5280') down to Gatlinburg over a distance of 5.8 miles--nowhere else in the eastern United States is there a greater drop over a shorter distance. Its massive bulk, projecting north from the main Smokies crest, is clearly one of the dominant summits of the South. |