View source for Blue Ridge Mountains

{{Short description|Mountain range in the Eastern U.S.}}
{{Use American English|date = August 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = August 2019}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name=Blue Ridge Mountains
| photo=Rainy Blue Ridge-27527.jpg
| photo_size= 350
| photo_caption=The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from the [[Blue Ridge Parkway]] near [[Mount Mitchell]] in [[North Carolina]]
| country= United States
| subdivision1_type= States
| subdivision1= {{hlist|[[North Carolina]]|[[Virginia]]|[[Tennessee]]|[[Maryland]]|[[Pennsylvania]]|[[West Virginia]]|[[South Carolina]]|[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]|[[Alabama]]}}|
| parent= [[Appalachian Mountains]]
| highest=[[Mount Mitchell]]
| elevation_ft= 6684
| coordinates= {{coord|35|45|53|N|82|15|55|W|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology= {{hlist|granite|gneiss|limestone}}
| orogeny=Grenville orogeny
| area_mi2= 
| length_mi= 
| width_mi=
| length_orientation= 
| width_orientation=
| map_image=Blue_Ridge_Province.jpg
| map_caption= 
}}
The '''Blue Ridge Mountains''' are a [[Physiographic regions of the United States|physiographic province]] of the larger [[Appalachian Highlands]] range. The mountain range is located in the [[Eastern United States]] and extends 550 miles (885 km) southwest from southern [[Pennsylvania]] through [[Maryland]], [[West Virginia]], [[Virginia]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]], [[Tennessee]], and [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name="USGS-Geographical Names Information System">{{cite web |title=Blue Ridge |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=138:3:0::NO::P3_FID%2CP3_TITLE:1023842%2CBlue+Ridge |access-date=December 19, 2018 |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224043255/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=138:3:0::NO::P3_FID%2CP3_TITLE:1023842%2CBlue+Ridge |url-status=live }}</ref> The province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the [[Roanoke River]] gap.<ref name="USGS-Water">{{cite web |title=Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S. |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |url=http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml |access-date=December 6, 2007 |archive-date=December 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205095639/http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/metadata/usgswrd/XML/physio.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the [[Great Appalachian Valley]], bordered on the west by the [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Ridge and Valley]] province of the Appalachian range.

The Blue Ridge Mountains are known for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the [[isoprene]] released into the atmosphere.<ref>{{cite book|author=Johnson, A. W.|title=Invitation To Organic Chemistry|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |date=1998|page= [https://archive.org/details/invitationtoorga0000john/page/261 261] |isbn= 978-0-7637-0432-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/invitationtoorga0000john|url-access=registration|quote=blue mountains chemical terpene.}}</ref> This contributes to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their perceived color.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Ridge Parkway, Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=National Park Service |year=2007 |url=https://www.nps.gov/blri/faqs.htm |access-date=December 29, 2007 |archive-date=December 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228054036/http://www.nps.gov/blri/faqs.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: [[Shenandoah National Park]] in the northern section and [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]] in the southern section. The [[Blue Ridge Parkway]], a {{convert|469|mi|km|adj=on}} long scenic highway, connects the two parks and runs along the ridge crest-lines, as does the [[Appalachian Trail]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Leighty |first=Dr. Robert D. |year=2001 |title=Blue Ridge Physiographic Province |url=http://www.tec.army.mil/publications/ifsar/lafinal08_01/five/5.1.1_frame.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521021115/http://www.tec.army.mil/publications/ifsar/lafinal08_01/five/5.1.1_frame.htm |archive-date=May 21, 2008 |access-date=December 29, 2007 |work=Contract Report |publisher=Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD) Information Sciences Office}}</ref> Eight national forests include [[George Washington and Jefferson National Forests|George Washington and Jefferson]], [[Cherokee National Forest|Cherokee]], [[Pisgah National Forest|Pisgah]], [[Nantahala National Forest|Nantahala]] and [[Chattahoochee National Forest|Chattahoochee]].

==Geography==
{{See also|List of mountains of the Blue Ridge|Southern Sixers}}
[[File:Blue Ridge Mountains - Front Royal, Virginia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Blue Ridge Mountains - Front Royal, Virginia|Blue Ridge Mountains - [[Front Royal, Virginia]]]]
Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Ridge and Valley]] area, encompassing the [[Great Smoky Mountains]], the [[Great Balsam Mountains|Great Balsams]], the [[Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)|Roans]], the [[Black Mountains (North Carolina)|Blacks]], and other mountain ranges. In North Carolina, two lower elevation ranges to the east, referred to as [[foothills]], are also often included as "spurs" of the Blue Ridge: the [[Brushy Mountains (North Carolina)|Brushy Mountains]] and the [[South Mountains (North Carolina)|South Mountains]]. In Virginia, the [[Southwest Mountains]] are an anticlinal range that similarly parallels the Blue Ridge.

[[File:Blowing Rock.jpg|thumb|left|The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from [[Blowing Rock, North Carolina]]]]
[[File:Blue Ridge Nelson Co VA.jpg|thumb|left|The Blue Ridge near Massies Mill, [[Nelson County, Virginia]]]]
The Blue Ridge extends as far south as [[Mount Oglethorpe]] in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] and as far north into [[Pennsylvania]] as [[South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)|South Mountain]]. While South Mountain dwindles to hills between [[Gettysburg, Pennsylvania|Gettysburg]] and [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]], the band of ancient rocks that form the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the [[New Jersey]] and [[Hudson River]] highlands, eventually reaching the [[Berkshires]] of [[Massachusetts]] and the [[Green Mountains]] of [[Vermont]].

The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America south of [[Baffin Island]]. About 125 peaks exceed {{convert|5000|ft|m}} in elevation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Medina |first=M.A. |author2=J.C. Reid |author3=R.H. Carpenter |title=Physiography of North Carolina |publisher=North Carolina Geological Survey, Division of Land Resources |year=2004 |url=http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/proj_earth/pdf/color_physiography_600dpi.pdf |access-date=December 29, 2007 |archive-date=December 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216035933/http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/proj_earth/pdf/color_physiography_600dpi.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in the entire Appalachian chain) is [[Mount Mitchell]] in [[North Carolina]] at {{convert|6684|ft|m|0}}. There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than {{convert|6000|ft|m|-2}}; by comparison, in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain only [[New Hampshire]]'s [[Mount Washington]] rises above {{convert|6000|ft|m|-2}}. [[Southern Sixers]] is a term used by [[peak bagging|peak baggers]] for this group of mountains.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://webpages.charter.net/sws4024/beyond6000.html |title=South Beyond 6000 |access-date=September 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211844/http://webpages.charter.net/sws4024/beyond6000.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Blue Ridge Parkway]] runs {{convert|469|mi}} along crests of the southern Appalachians and links two national parks: [[Shenandoah National Park|Shenandoah]] and [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park|Great Smoky Mountains]]. In many places along the parkway, there are [[metamorphic rock|metamorphic]] rocks ([[gneiss]]) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake.

==Geology==
[[File:Chimney Rock Mountain Overlook.jpg|thumb|right|Blue Ridge Mountains, viewed from Chimney Rock Mountain Overlook in Virginia]]
Most of the rocks that form the Blue Ridge Mountains are ancient [[granitic]] [[charnockite]]s, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestone. Recent studies completed by Richard Tollo, a professor and geologist at [[George Washington University]], provide greater insight into the petrologic and geochronologic history of the Blue Ridge basement suites. Modern studies have found that the [[Basement (geology)|basement geology]] of the Blue Ridge is made of compositionally unique gneisses and [[granite|granitoids]], including orthopyroxene-bearing charnockites. Analysis of [[zircon]] minerals in the granite completed by John Aleinikoff at the [[U.S. Geological Survey]] has provided more detailed emplacement ages.

[[File:South Mountain-airphoto.jpg|thumb|left|The northernmost extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in northern Maryland]]
Many of the features found in the Blue Ridge and documented by Tollo and others have confirmed that the rocks exhibit many similar features in other North American [[Grenville orogeny|Grenville-age]] [[terrane]]s. The lack of a calc-alkaline affinity and zircon ages less than 1.2 billion years old suggest that the Blue Ridge is distinct from the [[Adirondack Mountains|Adirondacks]], Green Mountains, and possibly the [[New York–New Jersey Highlands]]. The [[Petrology|petrologic]] and [[Geochronology|geochronologic]] data suggest that the Blue Ridge basement is a composite orogenic crust that was emplaced during several episodes from a crustal magma source. Field relationships further illustrate that rocks emplaced prior to 1.078–1.064 billion years ago preserve deformational features. Those emplaced post-1.064 billion years ago generally have a massive texture and missed the main episode of Mesoproterozoic compression.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Richard P. |last1=Tollo |first2=John N. |last2=Aleinkoff |first3=Elizabeth A. |last3=Borduas |title=Petrology and Geochronology of Grenville-Age Magmatism, Blue Ridge Province, Northern Virginia |journal=Northeastern Section (39th Annual) and Southeastern Section (53rd Annual) Joint Meeting |year=2004 |publisher=Geological Society of America |url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004NE/finalprogram/abstract_69016.htm |access-date=November 9, 2006 |archive-date=October 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022055149/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004NE/finalprogram/abstract_69016.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
<!--Inconsistent paragraph with the previous one  The Blue Ridge Mountains began forming during the [[Silurian Period]] over 400 million years ago. Approximately 320&nbsp;million years ago, North America and Europe collided, pushing up the Blue Ridge.  -->

At the time of their emergence, the Blue Ridge were among the highest mountains in the world and reached heights comparable to the much younger [[Alps]]. [[Weathering]], [[erosion]], and [[mass wasting]] over hundreds of millions of years has resulted in much shorter peaks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Donald E. |last2=Colten |first2=Craig E. |last3=Nelson |first3=Megan Kate |last4=Saikku |first4=Mikko |last5=Allen |first5=Barbara L. |title=Southern United States: An Environmental History |date=2006 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781851097807 |page=261 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kZsqfbPPHRcC&q=Mount+Mitchell+highest+peak+east+mississippi&pg=PA261 |access-date=22 April 2019 |language=en |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125044630/https://books.google.com/books?id=kZsqfbPPHRcC&q=Mount+Mitchell+highest+peak+east+mississippi&pg=PA261 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Blue Ridge Mountains from Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA IMG 4115.JPG|right|thumb|The Blue Ridge Mountains, looking especially blue in the background, seen from [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]], Virginia]]
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2014}}
<!--The English who settled [[colonial Virginia]] in the early 17th century recorded that the native [[Powhatan]] name for the Blue Ridge was ''Quirank''. This is unsupported information.  See Barbour, 1964 which does not clearly identify the Blue Ridge as Quirank<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barbour |first=Philip L. |url=http://archive.org/details/threeworldsofcap00barb |title=The three worlds of Captain John Smith |date=1964 |publisher=Boston, Houghton Mifflin |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> -->
At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including the [[Siouan]] [[Manahoac]]s, the [[Iroquois]], and the [[Shawnee]] hunted and fished. A German physician-explorer, [[John Lederer]], first reached the crest of the Blue Ridge in 1669 and again the following year; he also recorded the [[Virginia Siouan]] name for the Blue Ridge (''Ahkonshuck'').

At the [[Treaty of Albany]] negotiated by Virginia Lieutenant Governor [[Alexander Spotswood]] with the Iroquois between 1718 and 1722, the Iroquois ceded lands they had conquered south of the [[Potomac River]] and east of the Blue Ridge to the [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia Colony]]. This treaty made the Blue Ridge the new demarcation point between the areas and tribes subject to the Six Nations, and those tributaries to the colony. When colonists began to disregard this by crossing the Blue Ridge and settling in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] in the 1730s, the Iroquois began to object, finally selling their rights to the valley, on the west side of the Blue Ridge, at the [[Treaty of Lancaster]] in 1744.

==Flora and fauna==
[[File:Blue Ridge Parkway by Grandfather Mountain NC.jpg|thumb|View of Blue Ridge Mountains from Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina]]

===Flora===
{{See also|Category: Flora of the Appalachian Mountains}}
The Blue Ridge Mountains have stunted oak and [[oak-hickory forest]] [[habitat]]s, which comprise most of the Appalachian slope forests. Flora also includes grass, shrubs, hemlock and mixed-oak pine forests.<ref name=georgia>{{cite news|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2141|title=Blue Ridge Mountains|work=The New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=4 September 2016|archive-date=June 17, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617083818/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2141|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the Blue Ridge range includes the highest summits in the eastern United States, the climate is nevertheless too warm to support an [[alpine zone]], and thus the range lacks the [[tree line]] found at lower elevations in the northern half of the Appalachian range. Statistical modelling predicts that the alpine tree line would exist at above 7,985 feet (2434 m) in the climate zone and latitude of the southern Appalachians.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4033963|jstor = 4033963|title = Predicting Treeline Elevation in the Southern Appalachians|last1 = Cogbill|first1 = Charles V.|last2 = White|first2 = Peter S.|last3 = Wiser|first3 = Susan K.|journal = Castanea|year = 1997|volume = 62|issue = 3|pages = 137–146}}</ref> The highest parts of the Blue Ridge are generally vegetated in dense [[Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest]]s.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

===Fauna===
The area is host to many animals, including:
*Many species of [[amphibians]] and [[reptiles]]
*[[Ocoee salamander]]
*A large diversity of [[fish]] species, many of which are [[endemic]]
*[[American black bear]]
*[[Songbird]]s and other bird species
*[[Bobcat]]
*[[Coyote]]
*[[Red fox]] 
*[[Gray fox]]
*[[Grouse]]
*[[North American river otter]]
*[[Whitetail deer]]
*[[Wild boar]]
*[[Wild turkey]]
*[[Raccoon]]

==Population centers==
The largest city located in the Blue Ridge Mountains is [[Roanoke, Virginia|Roanoke]], located in [[Southwest Virginia]], while the largest Metropolitan Statistical Area is the [[Greenville metropolitan area, South Carolina|Greenville metropolitan area]] in [[Upstate South Carolina|Upstate, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-maps/2020/demo/state-maps.html |title=2020 State-based Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas Maps }}</ref> Other notable cities in the Blue Ridge Mountains include [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]], [[Frederick, Maryland|Frederick]], [[Hagerstown, Maryland|Hagerstown]], [[Chambersburg, Pennsylvania|Chambersburg]], [[Asheville, North Carolina|Asheville]], [[Johnson City, Tennessee|Johnson City]], and [[Lynchburg, Virginia|Lynchburg]].

==See also==
*[[Appalachian balds]]
*[[Appalachian bogs]]
*[[Appalachian temperate rainforest]]
*[[Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests]]
*[[Cove (Appalachian Mountains)]]
*[[Blue Ridge National Heritage Area]]
*[[List of subranges of the Appalachian Mountains]]
* ''[[Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition]]'' by John R. Finger
*[[Take Me Home, Country Roads]] by [[John Denver]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*Olson, Ted (1998). ''Blue Ridge Folklife'', University Press of Mississippi. {{ISBN|1-57806-023-0}}.

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{Wikivoyage inline|Blue Ridge Mountains}}

{{Mountains of Georgia (U.S. State)}}
{{Mountains of Maryland}}
{{Mountains of North Carolina}}
{{Mountains of Pennsylvania}}
{{Mountains of South Carolina}}
{{Mountains of Tennessee}}
{{Mountains of Virginia}}
{{Mountains of West Virginia}}
{{Pennsylvania}}
{{Maryland}}
{{West Virginia}}
{{Virginia}}
{{Tennessee}}
{{North Carolina}}
{{South Carolina}}
{{Georgia (U.S. state)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Blue Ridge Mountains| ]]
[[Category:Subranges of the Appalachian Mountains]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of North Carolina]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Virginia]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Maryland]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Tennessee]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of South Carolina]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of West Virginia]]
[[Category:Geography of Appalachia]]
[[Category:Regions of Tennessee]]
[[Category:Appalachia]]
[[Category:Culture of Appalachia]]
[[Category:Roanoke River]]
[[Category:Shenandoah River]]
[[Category:Rappahannock River]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]
[[Category:Physiographic regions of the United States]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Virginia]]