Clingman's Dome is in the Great Smoky Mountains NP, and quite a hefty detour from the Blue Ridge parkway.

Blue Ridge, Skyline Drive, Shenandoah, etc.

Great Smoky Mountains NP (huge file)

Some friends of mine from a park I worked at years ago had a son who worked in Washington D.C., and in his spare time hiked in the Skyline Drive/Blue Ridge area. He found an old cabin that the NPS missed when, years ago, they decided that if this was a wilderness or natural area then all signs of human habitation must be destroyed. The fools razed dozens of historic old cabins made of the huge logs that were found in the area. They missed a few, and he researched and wrote about one. I have the book somewhere but I can't find it. It was self-published, or maybe by the Eastern Parks and Monuments group that stocks visitor centers in many National Parks.

Here is a report that might have similar kinds of information: Brinegar Cabin. Reading ahead of the trip about some of the people in the area or things they built is a great way to go in with an eye to the landscape and the people on it.