Tricorner Knob is a high mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, known as a crossroads where trails, ridges, and county lines converge. Named for the triangular ridge formed where the Balsam Mountains meet the Smokies crest, it rises steeply from the Little Pigeon River and ranks among the higher peaks in both states. Its dense spruce-fir forest and remote setting kept it largely apart from human history. After Arnold Guyot surveyed it in 1859, few visitors came until the Appalachian Trail crossed its western slope in 1935. Even today, it remains a secluded destination reached only by long hikes.