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Aerial view of forested Blue Ridge ridgelines under a hazy sky.

Regions

The Blue Ridge

The high, old mountains of metamorphic and igneous rock, from the Cohuttas in Georgia through the Smokies and the Unakas. Most of the named ranges in the atlas belong here.

Blue Ridge Mountains, western North CarolinaCredit

The high country.

The Blue Ridge is the part of the Appalachians built mostly from metamorphic and igneous rock, old crust pushed up and worn down for a very long time. Down here it holds the highest ground in the eastern United States: Mount Mitchell in the Black Mountains stands at 6,684 feet, and Kuwohi in the Smokies at 6,643. The Eastern Continental Divide runs through it, so one creek ends up in the Gulf of Mexico and the next one over in the Atlantic.

The atlas splits it into the ranges people actually name, from the Cohuttas and the Nantahalas to the Blacks and the Balsams. Some sit inside others, and where one ends and the next begins is often a matter of usage. Each range page says how it is being drawn.

Sunrise over the grassy summit of Black Balsam Knob, fog in the valleys below.
Black Balsam Knob, Great Balsam Mountains, North CarolinaCredit

Ranges

Snow on a spruce tree at the summit of Roan Mountain.
Roan HighlandsBalds, farms & high-elevation forests
Ridge after ridge of the Nantahala country under a pale dawn sky, fog lying in the valleys.
Nantahala MountainsWayah, Standing Indian & the gorge
Pastel sunset over tall grass and layered ridges in the Cohutta Wilderness.
Cohutta MountainsWilderness rivers & the Blue Ridge's southern end
Fog filling the valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains at sunrise in autumn.
Great Smoky MountainsThe high crest and its coves
Blue ridges stacked into haze beyond spruce and laurel at an overlook high on the Cherohala Skyway.
Unicoi MountainsOld growth, high meadows & the Tellico country
Whitewater Falls dropping through dense forest, photographed with a long exposure.
The Blue Ridge EscarpmentThe Highlands–Cashiers plateau and the drop to the Piedmont
Ridges of the Georgia Blue Ridge fading in bands of blue under an orange and pink sunset sky.
The Georgia Blue RidgeBrasstown, Blood & Rabun; Springer's terminus
Sunrise over the grassy summit of Black Balsam Knob, fog in the valleys below.
Great Balsam MountainsSpruce ridges and open summits along the Parkway
Ridges fading into the distance beyond a line of summit trees under a partly cloudy sky.
Black MountainsThe highest ground east of the Mississippi
17 more landscapes in the Blue Ridge without pages yet
  • Unaka MountainsThe state-line wall, and an old name for the whole chain
  • Iron MountainsThe long ridge above Watauga Lake & Shady Valley
  • Stone MountainsThe state-line ridge north of Ashe County
  • New River PlateauRolling high country at the head of the New River
  • Bald MountainsGrassy balds from the Pigeon to the Nolichucky
  • Amphibolite MountainsSweet-soiled peaks of Ashe & Watauga
  • Grandfather MountainThe massif where three counties meet
  • Linville GorgeThe deep gorge below Linville Falls
  • Plott BalsamsA short high range above Maggie Valley
  • Snowbird MountainsThe Cherokee–Graham divide above Santeetlah
  • Cheoah MountainsCheoah Bald & the climb from the Nantahala
  • Tusquitee MountainsRafter ridges above the Hiwassee
  • Valley River MountainsThe ridge along the Cherokee–Clay line
  • Cowee MountainsThe Jackson–Macon crest & Cowee Bald
  • Shining Rock and the Pisgah LedgeWhite quartz, burned ground & the Pisgah Ledge · Within Great Balsam Mountains · An editorial grouping
  • Newfound MountainsThe cross range west of the French Broad
  • Great Craggy MountainsHeath balds northeast of Asheville

Key places

All peaks and landmarks
  1. Ridges fading into the distance beyond a line of summit trees under a partly cloudy sky.
    Mount Mitchell6,684 ft · The highest summit east of the Mississippi
  2. Fog filling the valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains at sunrise in autumn.
    Kuwohi6,643 ft · The highest summit in the Great Smoky Mountains
  3. Snow on a spruce tree at the summit of Roan Mountain.
    Roan Mountain6,285 ft · A five-mile summit ridge on the North Carolina–Tennessee line
  4. Sunrise over the grassy summit of Black Balsam Knob, fog in the valleys below.
    Black Balsam Knob6,214 ft · An open summit on the Great Balsam crest, in country cleared by logging and fire
  5. The pointed summit of Cold Mountain standing above autumn ridges under a clear sky.
    Cold Mountain6,030 ft · A 6,030-foot summit in the Shining Rock Wilderness
  6. Snow on a spruce tree at the summit of Roan Mountain.
    Big Yellow Mountain5,440 ft · A grassy bald in the Roan Highlands still kept open by cattle

Map

Locator map of The Blue Ridge, showing 12 placesTennesseeNorth CarolinaGeorgiaSouth CarolinaVirginiaKentuckyRoan HighlandsNantahala MountainsCohutta MountainsGreat Smoky MountainsUnicoi MountainsThe Blue Ridge EscarpmentThe Georgia Blue RidgeGreat Balsam MountainsBlack MountainsBlack Balsam KnobBig Yellow MountainGregory Bald
Range, at the center point given on its page SummitNo boundaries are drawn. State lines: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the Field Guide

Living in the Blue Ridge

Species and habitats with a sourced record in the Blue Ridge's ranges or on its summits.

Open the Field Guide

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