The Great Balsam Mountains, or Balsam Mountains, are in the mountain region of western

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Great Balsams are a subrange of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

, which in turn are a part of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

. The most famous peak in the Great Balsam range is Cold Mountain, which is the centerpiece of author

Charles Frazier Charles Frazier (born November 4, 1950) is an American novelist. He won the 1997 National Book Award for Fiction for '' Cold Mountain''. Biography Early life Frazier was born in Asheville, North Carolina, grew up in Andrews and Franklin, Nort ...

's bestselling novel '' Cold Mountain''. The

Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...

runs along its length and at Richland Balsam (milepost 431), the Parkway is at its highest point (6053 feet).

Peaks

Reinhart Knob from Caney Fork Overlook, Oct 2016 (cropped)

Richland Balsam Richland Balsam is a mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Rising to an elevation of , it is the highest mountain in the Great Balsam range, is among the 20 highest summits in the Appalachian range, and is t ...

– 6410 feet *

Black Balsam Knob Black Balsam Knob, also known as Black Balsam Bald, is in the Pisgah National Forest southwest of Asheville, North Carolina, near milepost 420 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is the second highest mountain in the Great Balsam Mountains. The Great Ba ...

– 6214 feet * Mount Hardy – 6120 feet * Reinhart Knob – 6080 feet * Grassy Cove Top – 6040 feet * Tennent Mountain – 6040 feet * Sam Knob – 6040 feet * Cold Mountain – 6030 feet *

Shining Rock Shining Rock is a mountain in western North Carolina. The mountain is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. It is the 38th tallest mountain in the eastern United States. ...

– 6040 feet * Chestnut Bald ()

Other landmarks

Balsam Gap Balsam Gap (el. ) is a mountain pass between the Plott Balsam Range to the northwest and the Great Balsam Mountains to the southeast on the county line dividing Haywood and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The gap allows bot ...

* Devil's Courthouse * Judaculla Rock (see

Tsul 'Kalu Tsul 'Kalu, is known as the Cherokee Devil, a legendary figure of Cherokee mythology that plays the role of "the great lord of the game," and as such is frequently invoked in hunting rites and rituals. The Tsul 'Kalu is also known as judaculla or sl ...

; photos) *

Tanasee Bald Tanasee Bald, also called Tennessee Bald, is a mountain near the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina, on the Haywood/Transylvania border. It is 5561 feet high. It is in the Great Balsam Mountains within the Blue Ridge Mountains, which is ...

(see

)

Flora

The area consists of a transition forest between the

southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest The southern Appalachian spruce–fir forest is an ecoregion of the temperate coniferous forests biome, a type of montane coniferous forest that grows in the highest elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. ...

(which resembles forest types found at northern latitudes) and the mixed deciduous forests of temperate America. p43

Trees

The following trees are at higher elevations: *

Fraser fir The Fraser fir (''Abies fraseri'') is a species of fir native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States. ''Abies fraseri'' is closely related to ''Abies balsamea'' (balsam fir), of which it has occasionally been treated a ...

("balsams" or "She balsams"). Forests of these trees appear black from a distance; however, these trees are declining due to the

balsam woolly adelgid Balsam woolly adelgids (''Adelges piceae'') are small wingless insects that infest and kill firs, especially balsam fir and Fraser fir. They are an invasive species from Europe introduced to the United States around 1900. Because this species ...

. p343 *

Red spruce ''Picea rubens'', commonly known as red spruce, is a species of spruce native to eastern North America, ranging from eastern Quebec and Nova Scotia, west to the Adirondack Mountains and south through New England along the Appalachians to western ...

("He balsams"). The red spruce is distinguished from the Fraser fir by having bark whose rosin cannot be milked (hence, "He balsams") and by having hanging cones.

Shrubs

Catawba rhododendron ''Rhododendron catawbiense'', with common names Catawba rosebay, Catawba rhododendron, mountain rosebay, purple ivy, purple laurel, purple rhododendron, red laurel, rosebay, rosebay laurel, is a species of '' Rhododendron'' native to the eastern ...

Flame azalea ''Rhododendron calendulaceum'', the flame azalea, is a species of ''Rhododendron'' native to North America. All parts of this plant are poisonous to humans. Description It is a deciduous shrub, 120–450 cm tall. The leaves are simple, 3� ...

* Mountain laurel Image:Rhododendron-catawbiense.jpg,

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

Image:Rhododendron calendulaceum.jpg,

Image:Kalmia Latifolia.jpg, Mountain laurel

Peaks

Other landmarks

Flora

Trees

Shrubs

See also