The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. Here, the term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain. The general definition used is one followed by the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada to describe the respective countries' physiographic regions. The US uses the term Appalachian Highlands and Canada uses the term Appalachian Uplands..
Roan Mountain is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the Tri-Cities region.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The park contains some of the highest mountains in eastern North America, including Clingmans Dome, Mount Guyot, and Mount Le Conte. The border between the two states runs northeast to southwest through the center of the park. The Appalachian Trail passes through the center of the park on its route from Georgia to Maine. With 14.1 million visitors in 2021, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains, and the name is commonly shortened to the Smokies. The Smokies are best known as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934 and, with over 11 million visits per year, is the most visited national park in the United States.
The Unicoi Mountains are a mountain range rising along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States. They are part of the Blue Ridge Mountain Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Unicois are located immediately south of the Great Smoky Mountains and immediately west of the Cheoah Mountains. Most of the range is protected as a national forest, namely the Cherokee National Forest on the Tennessee side and the Nantahala National Forest on the North Carolina side— although some parts have been designated as wilderness areas and are thus more strictly regulated.
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It may be the mature vegetation type in a particular region and remain stable over time, or a transitional community that occurs temporarily as the result of a disturbance, such as fire. A stable state may be maintained by regular natural disturbance such as fire or browsing. Shrubland may be unsuitable for human habitation because of the danger of fire. The term was coined in 1903.
Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains, the park preserves 2,006 acres (8.12 km2) of mostly hardwood forest. The park is in close proximity to 6,285-foot (1,916 m) Roan Mountain and the Appalachian Trail, both of which are owned and managed by the US Forest Service. On exceptionally clear days, the Charlotte skyline can be photographed from the peak. Most of the town of Roan Mountain is privately owned by the residence, and much of the land in Roan Mountain has been family owned for many generations, being passed down generation after generation through the years.
The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests is an ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. It consists of mesophytic plants west of the Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States.
The Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests are an ecoregion in the Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Biome, in the Eastern United States. The ecoregion is located in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, including the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It covers an area of about 61,500 square miles (159,000 km2) in: northeast Alabama and Georgia, northwest South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and central West Virginia and Pennsylvania; and small extensions into Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.
Roan Mountain is a 6,285 ft (1,916 m) mountain straddling the North Carolina/Tennessee border in the Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in the Southeastern United States. The range's highpoint, Roan is clad in a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, and includes the world's largest natural rhododendron garden, and the longest stretch of grassy bald in the Appalachian range. The Roan Highlands also contain the highest quality remaining stretch of Fraser fir forest throughout the tree's entire range. The Cherokee National Forest and Pisgah National Forest converge atop the mountain, with Roan Mountain State Park located near its northern base. The Appalachian Trail traverses most of the Roan's crest. The Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest back-country shelter on the entire 2,174-mile (3,499 km) trail.
Gregory Bald is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. It has an elevation of 4,949 feet above sea level. The mountain's majestic summit makes it a popular hiking destination. Another feature that attracts many visitors are the flame azaleas that bloom over the bald every summer. The azaleas reach peak bloom around mid-to-late June.
Silers Bald is a mountain in the western Great Smoky Mountains, located in the southeastern United States with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its proximity to Clingmans Dome and its location along the Appalachian Trail make it a popular hiking destination.
Andrews Bald is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 5,920 feet (1,800 m) above sea level, making it the highest grassy bald in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountain is one of two grassy balds maintained in the range by the National Park Service. The other is Gregory Bald, in the western Smokies.
Spence Field is a mountain highland meadow in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 4,920 feet above sea level. The Appalachian Trail traverses the field, and a backcountry shelter just off the trail provides an overnight stopover for through-hikers.
In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends.
The Snake Den Ridge Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Cocke County, Tennessee. Winding its way up the backbone-like crest of Snake Den Ridge, the trail connects the Cosby Campground to the Appalachian Trail and provides the quickest access to the high peaks of the Eastern Smokies. The trail passes through three forest types— a mixed deciduous forest at its lower elevations, a substantial stand of heath bald on the more narrow sections of the ridge crest, and an old growth northern-style coniferous forest at its higher elevations.
The Maddron Bald Trail is an American hiking trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park of Cocke County, Tennessee. Rising from the outskirts of the Cosby community, the trail ascends Maddron Bald, a 5,212-foot (1,589 m) mountain crowned by one of the park's most substantial heath balds. The trail also provides access to Albright Grove, a patch of old growth hardwood forest that contains some of the oldest and tallest trees in the Smokies. The Maddron Bald Trail's terminus— at its junction with the Snake Den Ridge Trail— is just 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from the Appalachian Trail.
The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. The ecoregion is the highest and coldest forest type in the Appalachian range, thriving in elevations above 5,500 feet (1,700 m) where the climate is too harsh to support the broad-leaved hardwood forest that dominates the region's lower elevations. A relict of the last Ice Age, this forest type covers just over 100 square miles (260 km2) and is considered the second-most endangered ecosystem in the United States.
The Central and southern Appalachian montane oak forest is a forest system found in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
The Garden Mountain Cluster is a region in the Jefferson National Forest recognized by The Wilderness Society for its diversity of habitats extending along the east, south and west of Burke's Garden. The cluster, part of the Appalachian Mountains in southwest Virginia, connects wildlands in the high country of Garden Mountain and adjacent streams and ridges in one of the most remote areas of Virginia.
