Top 20 Facts about the Appalachian Mountains
Originally published by Lilian in August 2020 and Updated by Ruth in August 2022 and Updated by Vanessa R in July 2023 and Updated by Diana K in May 2024
The great Appalachian Mountains are found on the eastern side of the United States. They are some of the oldest natural landmarks in the US. The mountains provide a rich source of natural resources and spill over to Canada.
The mountain range is massive such that it is divided into three sections, the northern, central and southern. These mountains are a source of many rivers and lakes, home to a variety of plants and animals.
The natural beauty bestowed by this mountain range has earned it a place in so many people’s hearts. Several people visit the mountain for hikes, camping and other recreation activities. It is no wonder then that it is among the most visited natural reserves.
Being amongst the top wonders of the world, I have gathered 15 facts about the Appalachian Mountains.
1. The Appalachian Mountains extend to Canada
These mountains are not only found in the United States but also the southwestern side of Canada. The mountains start from Alabama and end in Newfoundland, Canada.
That is not all about these mountains, the range extends in 14 states making it 2,200 miles long. The states are Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
It is also interesting to note that the mountain range is divided into five geological provinces defined by its formation. One of the provinces is Adirondack, while this forms part of the geological province, they are different mountain ranges.
The other four provinces are the Appalachian Basin, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Piedmont Province and the New England Province.
2. The Appalachian Mountain range is the oldest in America
These Mountains form the oldest mountain chain in North America. They stretch for 1,500 miles in Canada and the United States. Geologists estimate that the mountains are 480 million years old.
The mountains were formed during the Ordovician period from the Palaeozoic era, this was way before the Ice age period.
Would you also believe that the highest peak was as high as the Himalayas! Well, it is no longer the case because of consistent erosion that has weathered it down.
Its highest peak today stands at 6,684 feet. How it got its name was through the Indian tribe called the Apalachees that lived around it.
3. The Appalachian Mountains has a humid climate
The weather of the Appalachians changes with the time of year. However, the weather is mostly pleasant and humid. This is loved by many tourists and hikers that go up the mountain.
This beautiful climate and weather have provided a conducive environment for wildlife and plant species. Animals found in the forest around the mountain range include black bears, moose, white-tailed deer, foxes, chipmunks and a variety of birds.
This does not mean that there are no extremes. An example is the White Mountains in Canada that have arctic climate while Mount Washington experiences strong hurricane winds for the most of the year.
The soil in the Appalachian valley is said to be the most fertile in the United States.
4. The Appalachian Trail is the longest in America
The Appalachian Trail is said to be the longest footpath in the United States, it is approximately 3,500 kilometres long. It extends from the Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine.
If one was to walk the entire trail, they would have taken 5 million steps. Walking or hiking up the trail one will be part of unspoiled scenery of wooded, pastoral, wild and clean crisp air.
A large part of the trail is found in Virginia while the shortest segment of the trail is in Maryland.
5. The Appalachian Mountains is rich with minerals
These Mountains are rich with major mineral deposits of coal, petroleum and natural gas. The coal found here is initially formed as anthracite found in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Western Pennsylvania and western Maryland have the sedimentary form of coal.
Other minerals found here include iron, zinc, natural gas, and petroleum. Petroleum was discovered in 1859 in western Pennsylvania, soon after commercial quantities were ready for production.
The discovery of natural gas also led to commercial production of the same.
6. The Appalachian Mountains features different wildlife
The Appalachian forests are thick and are home to more than five species of tree squirrels. Other unique and rare species of wildlife live here such as moose, black bears, foxes, bobcats, coyotes, porcupines, bats, raccoons, white-tailed deer, skunks, weasels, beaver, chipmunks, and rabbits.
Birds such as flycatchers, wrens, warblers and hawks can also be found here.
Other interesting animals found here are the wild horses. They are related to domesticated horses but have adapted to their life in the wild. They have lived in the forest since the early 1600s.
7. Tallest Appalachian Mountain Mount Mitchell
The tallest peak from the Appalachians is Mount Mitchell found in North Carolina. It stands at 2,037 meters above sea level. This is the highest point in eastern North America.
The summit of this mountain has mild summers and cold winters. The weather patterns around Mount Mitchell is similar to south-Eastern Canada.
Another interesting peak is Mount Washington found in New Hampshire. It stands at 1,916 meters above sea level and is known for having extreme weather conditions. The mountain experiences strong tropical cyclones winds at the summit, about 100 days every year.
8. Millions of people visit the Great Smoky Mountains, National Park
Millions of tourists and hikers visit the Great Smoky Mountains that is part of the Appalachian mountain range.
The national park welcomes more than 12 million people each year for different activities. This park has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983.
The main attractions in this park include rivers, lakes, ponds, hiking trail, bird watching, skiing and other recreational activities. The park is made up of 76,000 hectares of old-growth forest.
This mountain is naturally foggy and from a distance, one would take it to be a cloud of smoke. The name smoky therefore refers to the fog.
At least a million people hike up the trail of the Smoky mountain national park every year.
9. The Appalachian Mountains are the best for recreational Sports all four seasons
During the winter season, the Appalachian Mountains turns into a paradise of snow sporting activities. There are snowmobiles, ice skating, tubing and skiing that tourists enjoy. The ski resorts have 849 ski lifts serving more than 100 snow slopes
The summer and fall seasons welcome several hikers and motorists using its hiking trails and parkways. The campers also take advantage of this and spend some quiet and pleasant time in the wild. Summer activities include rafting, fishing and balloon ride over the range.
10. The Appalachian region functions as a geographical divide
The Appalachian Mountains form a geographical boundary between the eastern seaboard and the Midwest. Its Eastern continental divide creates a border along the stretch between Georgia and Pennsylvania.
The northern section of the mountain range extends from Newfoundland in Canada to the Hudson River in New York.
In each region that the range crosses, the mountains have their names like Smoky mountains, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the Blue Ridge mountains among other names.
11. The oldest parts of the Appalachian Mountains are more than 1 billion years old
The Appalachian Mountains have been a fixture of the North American landscape for a long time. Mountains in the Appalachian region have cropped up several times only to erode again.
The first mountains that appeared did so a billion years ago, when North America and South America merged together as part of a supercontinent. After those mountains wore away, another set emerged about 450 million years ago, and the cycle continued.
West Virginia University geology professor Steve Kite told West Virginia Public Broadcasting, that some areas are made up of rocks about 1.2 billion years old.
12. The Southern Appalachian Mountains formed when two continents collided
Three hundred million years ago, the landmass that would become North America collided with something called Gondwana, a supercontinent made up of today’s Africa and South America. The result of the crash pushed Gondwana northward on top of North America, over which it slid for as far as roughly 186 miles.
A short 100 million years later, the two continents finally separated again, leaving the southern base of the Appalachians behind as a souvenir.
13. The Appalachian Mountains contributed to the Ice Age
High levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lead to a rise in global temperature. The huge number of volcanic eruptions that helped form some of the northern Appalachian Mountains 460 million years ago and spewed the most carbon dioxide the world had ever seen while they were at it didn’t lead to long-term high temperatures.
15 million years after the eruptions, the earth plunged into an ice age. As acid rain from the carbon-dense air hit the Appalachians, it created limestone that ultimately eroded into the now-disappeared Nevada sea, sequestering the carbon and driving the global temperature down.
14. Coal mining has destroyed some Appalachian Mountain peaks
The Appalachian mountains include some of the most plentiful coal reserves in the world. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, miners reached these lucrative deposits by drilling into the mountains, but things have since taken quite a turn.
In the 1990s, mining companies debuted the much more efficient strategy of blowing the tops off mountains to get at the valuable resources within. In the process, forests were destroyed, streams were polluted, and iconic mountain silhouettes were no more.
New guidelines introduced in 2010 by the Environmental Protection Agency aimed to reduce the damage, and advocacy groups have pressured multiple companies to agree to cease the practice.
15. The oldest rivers in the world are found in the Appalachian Mountains
There are 3 rivers in the Appalachian Mountains that rank among the oldest rivers in the world, the French Broad River, the New River, and the Susquehanna River.
At approximately 300 million years old, all three of these rivers predate the more recent formation of the Appalachian Mountains.
16. The Appalachian Mountains were a Barrier to Early American Settlers
When the early American settlers tried to push westward across this vast continent The Appalachian Mountains must have seemed like an immense, daunting wall blocking the path. The ancient, sprawling peaks stretch from Canada down to Alabama. A formidable obstacle of rocky ridges, plunging valleys, and tangled forests as far as the eye could see.
For decades, the Appalachians frustrated and delayed western migration. Rough terrain made the going painfully slow for ox-drawn wagons. Dense woods and steep slopes provided endless opportunities to get turned around and lost. Newcomers had to take enormous risks just to seek out the rare paths and gaps that allowed passage through the mountains. It took real courage and determination to conquer the Appalachian barrier.
17. Appalachia Has Its Own Unique Culture
Isolated by the rugged terrain, mountain communities developed their own traditions and ways of life. Appalachian music, like bluegrass and clogging dances, are deeply rooted in this region. Clogging dances incorporate fancy footwork, keeping rhythm with the tunes.
Folk arts like quilting, woodcarving, and pottery persist as cherished crafts. Even the local dialects reflect the region’s independence, echoing speech patterns of Scottish and Irish settlers. While modern life encroaches, Appalachians take pride in their rich artistic legacy.
18. Meteors have Helped Sculpt the Appalachian Trail
As earlier mentioned the Appalchian trail is very popular amongst hikers. Believe it or not, some of the hikable Appalachian ridges were formed by meteors slamming into Earth millions of years ago. There are two major crater sites in the range that were caused by these ancient space rocks.
In Quebec, there is the massive Charlevoix crater (a beast by all means) that measures over 3 miles across. It formed around 342 million years ago when a meteor the size of a small mountain came crashing down. The Flynn Creek crater in Tennessee is another one, which is a little smaller but still impressive. That one dates back nearly 360 million years to the late Devonian period.
19. The Cherokee Called Them “Eternal Mountains”
The Cherokee have been looking-out over those ancient Appalachian peaks and ridges for eons. To them, those worn-down mountains stood as immortal titans watching over the lands for longer than anyone could comprehend. That is why the Cherokee revered them as the “Eternal Mountains” or “Endless Mountains.”
Each rocky ridge and frosted cliffside struck them with awe and reverence for its sheer grandeur. While we build cities that rise and crumble in a short time, the Appalachians have endured. A steady, weathered majesty that dwarfs our biggest monuments. No surprise the Cherokee viewed them as immortal guardians of the wilderness.
20. Home to the Appalachian Dulcimer
From the Appalachian Mountains come the coolest little folk instrument known as the dulcimer! This humble stringed instrument has such a sweet, melodic sound. The dulcimer emerged from the Scots-Irish and German settlers who made their homes in there.
Even though it looks simple, with its long hollow body and just 3 or 4 strings, there’s something magical about those tunes plucked out on a dulcimer. It’s like the music captures the soul of Appalachia itself – rugged yet beautiful, steeped in heritage, and meant to be shared among good friends.
Secrets of The Appalachian Mountains
If you ever get to hike in the Appalachian mountains, you need to understand that it is quite difficult. For hikers, it is more difficult to accomplish because of the distance and the worry about paranormal activity. For everyone who wants to be ready in advance in case they encounter anything odd when hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, you need to know some of the secrets of the Appalachian mountains.
The Appalachian Trail is said to be home to some very strange creatures who escaped from a deep underground research facility. They resemble humans on the surface yet are considerably different from them. They are thought to live largely in the trail’s hidden tunnels. These tunnels have indeed been discovered at the Blue Ridge Summit, against the remains of a former military installation, the question is, what exactly are they? are they yetis?
In addition to yeti-looking people, there might also be a haunting witch around. The Bell Witch legend is said to have started in the Tennessee community of Adams around the beginning of the 19th century. John and Lucy Bell made the decision to relocate to Adams and purchase a new house. They had two daughters, and for a while, the family lived in peace in the village. But after a while, they started hearing odd noises and seeing ghostly sightings in their home. The ghost hunting the Bell family, who was allegedly a witch out to get John Bell, attracted a large crowd of onlookers.
The witch’s ghost did not vanish once the father passed away, though, and kept looking for his daughters. This happened under very bizarre circumstances. The Bell Witch was reportedly present in the area at the turn of the 20th century, but it’s possible that her ghost is still roaming the popular Appalachian Trail today.
If you happen to spot Brown Mountain Lights then you should know that this hasn’t happened in over a century and it’s actually a rarity, these lights are actually known as ghost lights. There are other stories that explain their origin because there are reports of them from before the 20th century as well. One of the most well-known ones is that these are the ghosts of Native American women looking for their loved ones who perished in the conflict between the Cherokee and Catawba tribes. Another widely believed legend claims that these lights are the torches of a slave who is still looking for his missing forest master.
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