Could the magnolia have been the Mountain Magnolia?

The trough was probably made with an adze.

Rhododendron and Mt Laurel are two different plants- compare the flowers

Here's a picture of the trough. I agree about it being made with an adze. No doubt about it.



I'll look into those magnolia and rhododendron questions. I got my answers from the NPS website.

There are lots of Rhododendrons found in the Smoky Mountains National Park as well as Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

There are a few different Magnolias found in that area and Fraser Magnolia (Magnolia fraseri) is also one found in the southern Appalachians of East Tn.

I've looked into it. Mountain Rosebay is what we saw. We didn't see any Kalmia during our trip.

The magnolias we saw were the long leaf magnolias. I have photos but haven't dug them out of my files yet.