Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge, segment of the Appalachian Mountains in the United States. The mountains extend southwestward for 615 miles (990 km) from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, through parts of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, to Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. The range, a relatively narrow ridge, is 5 to 65 miles (8 to 105 km) wide, with average elevations of 2,000 to 4,000 feet (600 to 1,200 metres).
Included in the Blue Ridge system are the Black Mountains—with Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, at 6,684 feet (2,037 metres) the highest peak east of the Mississippi River—and the Great Smoky and Unaka mountains. Among the notable Blue Ridge peaks are Mount Rogers (5,729 feet [1,746 metres]), the highest point in Virginia; Sassafras Mountain (3,560 feet [1,085 metres]), the highest point in South Carolina; Brasstown Bald (4,784 feet [1,458 metres]), the highest point in Georgia; Stony Man (4,011 feet [1,223 metres]) and Hawksbill (4,051 feet [1,235 metres]), in Virginia; and Grandfather Mountain (5,946 feet [1,812 metres]), in North Carolina.
The whole region has been intricately dissected by many small streams, and three major rivers have cut gaps through the ridge—the Roanoke, James, and Potomac, all in Virginia. Beginning south of Front Royal, Virginia, the Skyline Drive runs through Shenandoah National Park and connects at Rockfish Gap, Virginia, with the Blue Ridge Parkway, a scenic motor route that runs southwestward to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The mountains lie within Chattahoochee, Cherokee, Nantahala, Pisgah, Jefferson, and George Washington national forests, and more than 700 varieties of trees and plants have been catalogued. The region, although traditionally known for its isolation, contains numerous small farms with picturesque log cabins. Intensive truck farming, tobacco production, and cattle raising are important activities. The hardwood forests of the Blue Ridge are a source of timber, and some minerals are worked. In addition, the region is renowned for its traditional, folk, and bluegrass music, which is highlighted at the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia at the border with North Carolina.