Whitetop Mountain

Last updated
Whitetop Mountain
Whitetop.jpg
View from Whitetop of Buzzard Rock and Beech Mountain.
Highest point
Elevation 5,525 ft (1,684 m) [1]
Prominence 1,040 ft (320 m) [2]
Coordinates 36°38′19″N81°36′19″W / 36.6387294°N 81.6053920°W / 36.6387294; -81.6053920 [1]
Geography
Location Grayson / Smyth / Washington counties, Virginia, U.S.
Parent range Appalachian Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains
Topo map USGS Whitetop Mountain
Geology
Mountain type granite
Climbing
Easiest route Hike

Whitetop Mountain is the second highest independent mountain in the U.S. state of Virginia, after nearby Mount Rogers. [3] It is also the third highest named peak in Virginia, after Mount Rogers and its subsidiary peak, Pine Mountain. It is located at the juncture of Grayson, Smyth, and Washington Counties, and is also within the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of the Jefferson National Forest. Whitetop was the location of the White Top Folk Festival from 1932 to 1939, with the exception of 1937. Like nearby Mount Rogers, it represents an ecological "island" of flora and fauna commonly found much farther north than Virginia, such as old growth red spruce and other northern softwoods.

Contents

Whitetop Mountain is within a conservation area of the same name. [4]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Whitetop Mountain". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  2. "Whitetop Mountain, Virginia". Peakbagger.com.
  3. "Whitetop Mountain". www.virginia.org. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  4. Virginia's Mountain Treasures, report issued by The Wilderness Society, May, 1999