The Bald Mountains are a mountain range rising along the border between
Tennessee and
North Carolina in the southeastern United States.
They are part of the
Blue Ridge Mountain Province of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains. The Bald Mountains stretch from the
Pigeon River in the south to the
Nolichucky River in the north, and comprise parts of
Cocke County
Cocke County is a county on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,662. Its county seat is Newport. Cocke County comprises the Newport, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is part o ...
,
Greene County, and
Unicoi County in Tennessee and parts of
Madison County and
Yancey County
Yancey County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,470. Its county seat is Burnsville.
This land was inhabited by the Cherokee prior to European settlement, as was much of ...
in North Carolina. The
Great Smoky Mountains border the range to the south, and the
Unakas rise opposite the Nolichucky to the north. The range gets its name from the relatively frequent occurrence of
grassy balds atop the more prominent summits.
The
Cherokee National Forest and the
Pisgah National Forest protect substantial sections of the Bald Mountains. The
Appalachian Trail traverses the crest of the range. Populated areas within the range include
Erwin and
Del Rio in Tennessee and
Hot Springs
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
in North Carolina. The highest summit in the Bald Mountains is
Big Bald
Big Bald is a mountain in Tennessee and North Carolina, located along the Appalachian Trail. at an elevation of , it is the highest peak in the Bald Mountains, which are part of the larger Blue Ridge Mountains subrange of the Appalachian Mounta ...
, which rises to an elevation of .
See also
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Max Patch
References
*
*
External links
*
Big Bald Banding Station— An annual migratory bird banding and monitoring project that operates atop Big Bald
Mountain ranges of North Carolina
Mountain ranges of Tennessee
Blue Ridge Mountains
Mountains of Cocke County, Tennessee
Landforms of Greene County, Tennessee
Landforms of Unicoi County, Tennessee
Landforms of Madison County, North Carolina
Mountains of Yancey County, North Carolina
Cherokee National Forest
Pisgah National Forest
Mountains on the Appalachian Trail
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