Blue Ridge Mountains

Lore & Background

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands, stretching 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The range is divided into northern and southern regions near the Roanoke River gap. To its west lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered by the Ridge and Valley province. The mountains appear blue from a distance due to isoprene released by trees, which creates a characteristic haze. This range contains the highest peaks in eastern North America south of Baffin Island, with about 125 summits exceeding a notable elevation. The highest point is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. The Blue Ridge includes the Great Smoky Mountains, Great Balsams, Roans, and Blacks, as well as lower eastern foothills like the Brushy and South Mountains in North Carolina and the Southwest Mountains in Virginia. It extends north to South Mountain in Pennsylvania, with ancient rock bands continuing through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands into the Berkshires and Green Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along the crests, linking Shenandoah National Park in the north and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the south. The rocks are primarily ancient granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestone, with gneiss showing folded mineral bands. At emergence, the Blue Ridge rivaled the Alps in height, but hundreds of millions of years of weathering have reduced them. Indigenous tribes including the Siouan Manahoacs, Iroquois, and Shawnee hunted and fished at the range’s foot. German explorer John Lederer first reached the crest in 1669 and recorded the Virginia Siouan name Ahkonshuck.

Reader's Guide

The range is defined by its ancient geology, with rocks including granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestone. At the time of their emergence, the Blue Ridge were among the highest mountains in the world, comparable to the much younger Alps, but weathering and erosion over hundreds of millions of years has resulted in much shorter peaks. The range supports diverse flora and fauna, including stunted oak and oak-hickory forests, Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests at highest elevations, and animals such as the American black bear, bobcat, coyote, and many endemic fish species.

Did You Know?

• The range's bluish color is caused by isoprene released from trees into the atmosphere.