Spence Field is a high mountain meadow on the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the Great Smoky Mountains, known as a grassy bald and a major trail junction where the Appalachian Trail meets routes linking the crest to Cades Cove, Fontana Lake, Tremont, and the Benton MacKaye Trail. Named for James Spence, who built a cabin there in 1830, it was tied to seasonal livestock herding and mountain life in the high country. Its open landscape may have been partly shaped by human clearing and later grazing. Since Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established in the 1930s, much of the field has gradually become more wooded, though it remains an important backcountry stop.