On a map of North America the Appalachians are easy to miss. They have none of the jagged height of the Rockies, and their summits are rounded and wooded. Yet they run for most of the length of the eastern side of the continent, from Newfoundland and Quebec in Canada down to central Alabama, and they long marked the western limit of the early colonies.
Old mountains, worn down
The Appalachians are among the oldest mountain ranges on Earth. They were raised when ancient continents collided, long before the Atlantic Ocean opened, and they have been eroding ever since. That is why they look so different from the Rockies on a relief map: lower, smoother, and cut into long parallel ridges rather than a single high wall.
How the range runs
From north to south, the main sections are:
- The northern Appalachians in Canada and New England, including the Notre Dame and Chic-Choc mountains of Quebec, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Green Mountains of Vermont.
- The central Appalachians in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia, where the Allegheny Plateau and the Ridge-and-Valley belt dominate.
- The southern Appalachians in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, home of the Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky Mountains.
The highest summits are in the south. Mount Mitchell in North Carolina is the highest summit east of the Mississippi, and the Great Smoky Mountains on the Tennessee and North Carolina border hold several other high peaks.
Ridges and valleys
The most striking feature on a map of Pennsylvania or Virginia is the pattern of long, narrow ridges running side by side, separated by valleys. This Ridge-and-Valley belt is the result of folded rock that erosion has carved into stripes. The Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a natural corridor for travel and farming.
East of those ridges, the Blue Ridge forms a clear front range facing the Piedmont. The Blue Ridge Parkway follows it for a long distance between Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains.
The gaps that opened the West
For the colonists on the Atlantic coast, the Appalachians were a barrier. A few gaps let people through:
- The Cumberland Gap, where Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee meet, was the main route west for settlers heading into Kentucky.
- The Hudson and Mohawk valleys in New York offered a low-level route between the coast and the Great Lakes, later followed by the Erie Canal.
- The Potomac cuts through the ridges at Harpers Ferry, where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet.
Rivers on both sides
The range divides water flowing to the Atlantic from water flowing to the Gulf of Mexico through the Ohio and Mississippi. Rivers such as the Susquehanna, the Potomac and the James run east to the coast. On the western side, streams feed the Ohio and the Tennessee. One exception puzzles geographers: the New River, which flows north across the ridges, is often described as one of the oldest rivers on the continent.
The Appalachian Trail
The best way to understand the length of the range is the trail that follows it. According to the National Park Service, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a public footpath that follows more than 2,100 miles of Appalachian Mountain ridgelines between Maine and Georgia. It is open year-round and can be reached from many access points.
The trail is managed by the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, numerous state agencies and thousands of volunteers. A white paint blaze marks the route along its whole length. Most people walk sections of it, while thru-hikers attempt the full distance in a single season.
Parks and seasons along the range
Several of the best known protected areas in the eastern United States sit on the range: Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Tennessee and North Carolina border, and the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire. In autumn the hardwood forests turn red and gold, starting in the north and moving south, and the northern summits can hold snow and ice well into spring.
Coal country and mountain culture
The central and southern Appalachians, especially West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and south-west Virginia, grew around coal mining. The region also kept strong musical and craft traditions, from old-time fiddle music to quilting. On a map, the word Appalachia often refers to this cultural region rather than to the mountains as a whole.
Reading the Appalachians with the rest of North America
The map of North America shows the range against the rest of the continent, and the map of the Great Lakes covers the lowlands just north and west of it. For contrast, the map of the Rocky Mountains describes a younger and much higher system on the other side of the plains. And the map of the Atlantic Ocean explains the ocean whose opening split the Appalachians from their old twins in Europe and Africa.
The National Park Service publishes access points, safety advice and permits for the trail on its Appalachian Trail planning page.
