Standing Indian Mountain is a 5,499-foot peak in North Carolina’s Southern Nantahala Wilderness within Nantahala National Forest, just north of the Georgia border and the highest point along the Nantahala River. The Appalachian Trail crosses its summit, linking it to one of the eastern United States’ best-known long-distance footpaths. In Cherokee tradition, the mountain is Yunwitsule-nunyi, “where the man stood,” and is tied to a story of a warrior set to watch for a child-stealing winged monster. After the Great Spirit destroyed the creature, the warrior fled and was turned to stone, a tradition that gave the mountain its English name and remains central to its identity.