Newfound Gap can be seen way over on the left (west) side of this seven-photo stitch. It's the low point on the long ridge. This panorama shows something close to a 180 degree view of the Smokies, with 6,205 ft. Mt. Kephart being the high point in the photo. The green of spring has yet to reach the top of the highest ridges on this day, May 19, 2006.

You have to look really close, but over on the right side of the photo (south), you can pick out both Hughes Ridge and just in front of it, Richland Mountain as they both drop down towards Cherokee and the Ocunoluftee River valley. This has always been one of my favorite roadside views of the Great Smokies.

The Sweat Heifer trail, probably named after the steep climb that early herders made when driving their cattle to the grassy crests on the high ridges, climbs up the green drainage near the center of the photo. The Appalachian Trail traverses the highest ridges as it meanders constantly between Tennessee and North Carolina, while the Grassy Branch trail climbs up from the deep valley of Kephart Prong to the high ridge of Richland Mountain and the Dry Sluice Gap trail.

This entire, vast watershed drains into the Oconaluftee River and eventually into the Little Tennessee River system.