Straight ahead are SharpTop Mountain and Flat Top Mountain, two of the three prominent summits that surround the Peaks of Otter area about 6.5 miles away. No one knows for certain why the area is called the Peaks of Otter. The Cherokee may have called the peaks “ottari,” meaning high places. Settlers arriving in the early 1800s may have named the Peaks of Otter after Scotland’s Ben Otter Mountain, which resembles Sharp Top. The name may also refer to otters that once inhabited nearby rivers.