High Knob is the peak of Stone Mountain, that forms part of the border between Scott County and Wise County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, near the city of

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada *Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

that rises to above mean sea level.

Location

High Knob is found on the western front range 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 ...

, along the mountainous southeastern edge of the

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms "Alle ...

Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Vir ...

. It is unique to Virginia in containing both

Appalachian Plateau The Appalachian Plateau is a series of rugged dissected plateaus located on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachian Mountains are a mountain range that run down the Eastern United States. The Appalachian Plateau is the nort ...

and

Ridge and Valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

topography; although it is largely a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

ic landform of the Ridge and Valley Province. High Knob stretches across portions of southern Wise County, northern Scott County, and the northeastern tip of Lee County. It is a significant physical feature in Virginia and is among the widest singular mountains in the southern Appalachians, being locally greater than 13 miles ( 21 km ) wide from base to base and more than long. It represents the "pivot point" of the Cumberland Mountain Overthrust Block. (first described in notable detail during the 1920s and 1930s by geologists Charles Butts and John Rich). Although some lower in elevation than the

Mount Rogers Mount Rogers is the highest natural point in Virginia, United States, with a summit elevation of above mean sea level. The summit straddles the border of Grayson and Smyth Counties, Virginia, about WSW of Troutdale, Virginia. Most of the mo ...

highcountry to the east (Mount Rogers is the highest peak in Virginia), the terrain surrounding the High Knob of Stone Mountain forms a true highcountry with respect to the western slopes of the Appalachians in Virginia (i.e., the

Cumberland Mountains The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the ...

Features

The area around High Knob is dominant structural feature of the Powell Valley Anticline of the Cumberland Mountain Overthrust Block. With its adjoining faults (Hunter Valley-Clinchport system), this region possesses the greatest concentration of significant caves in Virginia. The summit of High Knob in particular exerts a significant impact upon the climate of

and surrounding areas, being one of the rainiest and snowiest locations in both Virginia and the southern Appalachians. This orographically forced climate has, through the vastness of time, worked in intimate union with the geology and topography to create a richly diverse landscape possessing vast biological diversity. High Knob unofficially holds the record for the most snow ever measured in Virginia during a single season, with during the 1995–96 winter. During a typical year, of total precipitation falls across the area, to make it one of the wettest areas north of the Great Smokies, and the wettest in Virginia for which there are available records. Significant additional moisture contributions occur from

fog drip Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily in ...

off trees and

rime Rime may refer to: *Rime ice, ice that forms when water droplets in fog freeze to the outer surfaces of objects, such as trees Rime is also an alternative spelling of "rhyme" as a noun: *Syllable rime, term used in the study of phonology in ling ...

deposition on trees, with many days during the year being spent amid

orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discipl ...

feeder butts that cap its upper elevations. On a clear day, four other states can be seen from the summit:

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, and

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 ...

High Knob Lookout Tower

At its peak stood one of the few remaining fire towers of the Appalachian Mountains. Built in 1938–39 by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

, the original structure was a 14' × 14' wooden house. The replacement lookout, a three-story structure, was built by the Flatwoods

Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...

in 1978–79. High Knob's fire tower is listed in the National Historic Lookout Registry. On October 31, 2007, the High Knob Lookout Tower was destroyed by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

. The tower was set on fire in the early hours of

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

morning. By the time the Jefferson Forest Service and local fire departments arrived on scene, the fire tower was fully engulfed in flames, and could not be saved. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to the rest of the Knob, which was suffering from drought conditions. In 2009 work began in earnest to replace the destroyed tower. A tower replacement project was spearheaded by The High Knob Enhancement Corporation who raised required funding from donations. Under the direction of the National Park service Hill studio architects and Landscape Architects submitted designs and construction documents for the new tower now roughly standing where the lost tower once stood. The tower was built by DOT Construction. The tower was completed on August 22, 2014. The new tower achieves accessibility for physically impaired visitors by conceiving a properly graded and surfaced loop trail that culminates in a bridge crossing which connects the tower with the trail.

References

External links

Clinch Coalition
* * * {{Mountains of Virginia Landforms of Lee County, Virginia Landforms of Scott County, Virginia Mountains of Virginia Landforms of Wise County, Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps in Virginia Tourist attractions in Wise County, Virginia