Mount Mitchell, Mountain peak in Yancey County, North Carolina, US

Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains, located in the Black Mountain subrange near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina. Its summit, at 2,037 meters (6,684 feet), lies within Mount Mitchell State Park and is reached by a steep paved trail from a parking area. The summit has an observation deck, opened in 2009, replacing a stone tower torn down in 2006.

Elisha Mitchell measured the height of the mountain in 1835, proving it exceeded Mount Washington. He died in 1857 during a second expedition when he fell from a waterfall and was later buried at the summit.

The Cherokee, who long occupied this area, called the mountain Attakulla. European-American settlers first named it Black Dome for its rounded shape before renaming it after Elisha Mitchell, the professor who measured its height in 1835. His grave lies at the summit.

A paved path leads from the parking area to the summit and is manageable for most visitors, though the elevation makes the air thinner. Fog can limit visibility, and temperatures often drop below freezing even in summer.

The temperature at the summit once reached minus 34 degrees Celsius, the coldest ever recorded in North Carolina. Annual precipitation exceeds 2,000 millimeters, keeping the surroundings damp and covered in moss.