Lilian Sandburg wrote in 1945 that the land rose to the very top of Big Glassy Mountain, at least a mile of real climbing from the house, with seemingly endless timber and hills that would be white with dogwood blossoms in spring. Glassy Mountain has granite outcroppings visible for miles that glint in the sunlight, and local legends hold that the Cherokee and early pioneers named the mountain for these reflections. Five miles of hiking trails extend within this national historic site.