Things to do / Travel Guide
The southern Appalachian Mountains region is a large patchwork of a number of smaller destinations known for outdoors activities and culture. The region faithfully follows the Appalachians from the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River and Valley, all the way to the southwestern-most foothills on the North Carolina – Georgia border. These mountains trace a southwestern route, and though the ranges might change, they're Appalachian in every one of them.
About 100 miles wide at most, and stretching about 500 miles from northeast to southwest, the region is comprised of the following areas, though some of these may overlap one another:
- Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, with the Shenandoah River flowing down it, and with the Shenandoah Mountains on its either side
- West Virginia's Potomac Highlands, and the Allegheny Mountains
- West Virginia's New River/Greenbrier Valley
- Virginia's and North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway
- Virginia's and Kentucky's Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians
- North Carolina's and Tennessee's Blue Ridge Mountains
- North Carolina's Black Mountains, the highest mountains east of the Mississippi
- North Carolina's and Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains and Great Smoky Mountain National Park
The southern Appalachians contain a few important cities. Most notable are Roanoke, Virginia, Asheville, North Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee. Roanoke is just south of the Blue Ridge Mountains; Asheville is located in the Smokies, 65 miles from the North Carolina entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park; and Knoxville is located at the head of the Tennessee River, 40 miles from the Tennessee entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
All these mountain ranges forming the southern Appalachians draw in mass amounts of crowds in high season. On account of the ranges' assortment of rock, earth, trees, and water, you'll come across some of the best scenery the U.S. has to offer. It's just around the bend, or the next stop on the parkway.
|
|
|