Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)
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Roan Mountain is a mountain straddling the North Carolina/Tennessee border in the
Unaka Range The Unaka Range is a mountain range on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. It is a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains physiographic province. The Unakas stret ...
of the Southern
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 ...
in the Southeastern United States. The range's highpoint, Roan is clad in a dense stand of
Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...
, and includes the world's largest natural
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 ...
garden, and the longest stretch of grassy bald in the Appalachian range. The
Cherokee National Forest The Cherokee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the U.S. states of Tennessee and North Carolina that was created on June 14, 1920. The forest is maintained and managed by the United States Forest Service. It encompasses ...
and
Pisgah National Forest Pisgah National Forest is a National Forest in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. It is administered by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The Pisgah National Forest is complet ...
converge atop the mountain, with
Roan Mountain State Park Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian ...
located near its northern base. The
Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...
traverses most of the Roan's crest. The Roan High Knob Shelter is the highest back-country shelter on the entire trail. Roan Mountain comprises the greater part of the Roan Highlands, a
massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...
stretching from Big Rock Creek on the west to
U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's southern ...
on the east. Most of this massif lies along the
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 ...
-
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 ...
border, between Carter County and Mitchell County. Yellow Mountain and Little Hump Mountain, on the northern tip of the massif, are part of the Roan Highlands but are generally not considered part of Roan Mountain proper. Roan Mountain encompasses five summits, which are divided into two sections by Carver's Gap. The first section — composed of Roan High Bluff and Roan High Knob — lies west of Carver's Gap and is characterized by a thick coniferous forest. This part of Roan is shaped something like the body of a double-humped camel, with the "humps" being High Bluff and High Knob. Tollhouse Gap lies between the two peaks, and contains the Rhododendron Gardens, the largest of its kind in the world. The second section of Roan Mountain — known as Grassy Ridge — is east of Carver's Gap, and is the longest stretch (approx. ) of grassy bald in the Appalachian Mountains. A ''grassy bald'' is a type of highland meadow characterized by thick grass and sparse tree coverage. The three peaks atop Grassy Ridge are Round Bald, Jane Bald, and Grassy Ridge Bald. The bald area spans the summits of all three, covering an area roughly equal to . The Appalachian Trail, after traversing Iron Mountain to the west, crosses Hughes Gap and ascends Roan's northern slope to Tollhouse Gap. From there, it makes a sharp turn to the east, crossing Roan High Knob, Carver's Gap, Grassy Ridge, and Yellow and Little Hump Mountains before descending to US-19 and the White Rocks Mountain area. From the slopes of
Old Black Old Black is the nickname given to Neil Young's primary electric guitar. Most of Young's electric guitar work has been recorded using this instrument. Though he has used a variety of different instruments, this Les Paul has remained ubiquitous ...
in the
Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...
, some to the south, to
Mount Washington Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934 ...
in the White Mountains of
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, some to the north, Roan Mountain is the only area where the trail rises above the mark.


Summits on Roan Mountain

Roan Mountain contains five peaks: Roan High Knob, located between Carver's Gap and Tollhouse, is the highest point on Roan Mountain with an elevation of . The Tennessee-North Carolina border crosses its summit. High Knob is the highest point in Tennessee outside of the Great Smoky Mountains. and the 15th-highest peak in the eastern United States. The Appalachian Trail crosses High Knob's western slope, with a well-marked spur trail leading to the summit. The Roan High Knob Shelter is a few feet from the summit. The distance to the horizon (ignoring the effect of atmospheric refraction and natural obstructions) from Roan High Knob is approximately 164 miles. Roan High Bluff, on the mountain's western end at . It has an elevation of , and is entirely within the state of North Carolina. Unlike its sister peak, High Bluff is steep, rising sharply toward the summit with a rapid drop on its northwest side. While High Bluff's actual summit is closed to the public, an observation platform sits some below it, and offers a 180-degree view of the valley to the northwest. The platform can be accessed via the Cloudland Trail, which rises out of Tollhouse Gap. Round Bald rises near the center of the Roan massif. It has an elevation of about and overlooks Carver's Gap at the far western end of Grassy Ridge. The Appalachian Trail (following the state border) crosses its summit, first passing through a sparse treeline on the mountain's northwestern slope before emerging in the bald area near the top. There is a panoramic view from the summit. Jane Bald is a small knob between Round Bald and Grassy Ridge Bald. It has an elevation of about . A local legend relates its name to a woman named "Jane" who died of
milk sickness Milk sickness, also known as tremetol vomiting or, in animals, as trembles, is a kind of poisoning, characterized by trembling, vomiting, and severe intestinal pain, that affects individuals who ingest milk, other dairy products, or meat from a ...
while crossing the mountain. The bald area atop Jane is much less substantial than its two massive neighbors, and is partially overgrown by rhododendron. The Appalachian Trail (following the state border) crosses its summit.
Grassy Ridge Bald Grassy Ridge Bald is a bald mountain in North Carolina and is part of the Roan Highlands, within the Pisgah National Forest. Its elevation reaches and is on the boundary between Avery County, North Carolina (highest point) and Mitchell County, ...
dominates the center of Grassy Ridge. It has an elevation of about , making it one of the highest grassy balds in the Appalachian Mountains (Black Balsam Knob, located southwest of Asheville, is slightly higher at 6,214 ft.) The bald area atop the mountain covers several , with patches of trees and shrubbery in some places. The Appalachian Trail (following the state border) crosses the mountain's northern slope, with several spurs (usually marked) traversing the top of the mountain. The summit is adorned by a rock pile and a bronze plaque placed to honor the memory of a local highland farmer named Cornelius Rex Peake. There is a panoramic view from the summit, with
Grandfather Mountain Grandfather Mountain is a mountain, a non-profit attraction, and a North Carolina state park near Linville, North Carolina. At 5,946 feet (1,812 m), it is the highest peak on the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, one of the major ch ...
standing prominently to the east and the Black Mountains visible to the south. The summit of Grassy Ridge Bald is almost entirely within North Carolina. Yellow Mountain () and Little Hump Mountain () comprise the northeastern fringe of the Roan Highlands. Both are traversed by the Appalachian Trail.


Geology

Among the rocks that make up Roan Mountain, the oldest are a type of
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
known as Cranberry
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...
. Formed over a billion years ago from ancient ocean sediments, they are among the oldest in the United States. Roan gneiss, another type of metamorphic rock found on the mountain, was formed roughly 800 million years ago. Also in abundance is Beech
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, a type of
igneous rock Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...
believed to be 700 million years old. The mountains themselves were formed between 200 million and 400 million years ago during the
Appalachian orogeny The Alleghanian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 195 ...
, when the North American and African plates collided, thrusting the rock upward.


History

Native Americans were the first human visitors to Roan Mountain. A
Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany *Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...
legend tells of a great battle with the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
atop the mountain that left the rhododendron colored crimson and parts of the mountain treeless. While there is no hard evidence that such a battle ever occurred, numerous Native American settlements have been found around the base of the mountain, and the Cherokee settlement of Old Fields stood near modern-day
Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...
. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, botanists paid frequent visits to the area to collect plant specimens. Among them were John Bartram, who crossed the Roan Highlands in the late 1730s while studying the botanical make-up of what is now the southeastern United States. Andre Micheaux followed in 1794, discovering several
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...
species rarely found outside of the
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
and
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
latitudes. In 1799,
John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...
explored Roan Mountain, collecting specimens of rhododendron and noting the existence of the
fir tree Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...
that now bears his name. Other early explorers included Elisha Mitchell, for whom
Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell, known in Cherokee as Attakulla, is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina in the Black Mountain subra ...
is named, and Harvard botanist
Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...
. The origin of the name Roan is unknown. Hypotheses include that roan refers to the reddish splotches of rhododendron blooms in the spring or
mountain ash Mountain ash may refer to: * ''Eucalyptus regnans'', the tallest of all flowering plants, native to Australia * Mountain-ashes or rowans, varieties of trees and shrubs in the genus ''Sorbus'' See also * Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf Mountai ...
berries in the fall, or that it refers to
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...
's roan horse.


American Revolutionary War

In 1780, at the height of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, British General
Charles Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
opened his invasion of the southern colonies with the capture of
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
and a victory over American forces at Camden. With South Carolina apparently secure, Cornwallis marched north toward
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
. During this march, Cornwallis dispatched a band of
Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
under the command of Major
Patrick Ferguson Patrick Ferguson (1744 – 7 October 1780) was a Scottish officer in the British Army, an early advocate of light infantry and the designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles C ...
to raid Western Carolina. To counter Ferguson's threat, a group of frontiersmen from the mountains of what is now East Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia assembled at
Fort Watauga Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. The fort was originally built in 1775–1776 by the area's front ...
, located in present-day Elizabethton. This rallied force of frontiersmen — known as the
Overmountain Men The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in th ...
 — crossed the Roan Highlands en route to the other side 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 ...
, where they engaged and defeated Ferguson's forces at the
Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...
. While most returned home afterward, some Overmountain Men continued southward to link up with
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (1735–1736July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
's forces and contribute to the American victory at
Cowpens Cowpens may refer to: * Battle of Cowpens, a battle in the American Revolution * Cowpens National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service that protects the battlefield. * Cowpens, South Carolina * USS Cowpens (CG-63), USS ''Cowpens'' (CG-63 ...
in 1781. Prior to the Revolution, very little gunpowder had been made in the United States. During the colonial period, most gunpowder used in America had been manufactured in
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. In October 1777, the British
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
banned the importation of gunpowder into the rebellious American colonies. To supply the Overmountain Men, five hundred pounds of
black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
was manufactured by Mary Patton and her husband at their Gap Creek powder mill in present-day Elizabethton. On the first night of the march from
Sycamore Shoals The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Archeological excavations have found Native Americans lived near the shoals s ...
, the Overmountain Men stored the Patton black powder in a dry cave known as "Shelving Rock" to protect it from the rain. Shelving Rock is located along TN-143 just outside
Roan Mountain State Park Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian ...
.


Mining and Logging

In 1826, Josh, Ben, and Jake Perkins — three brothers from Crab Orchard, Tennessee — were searching for ginseng on the North Carolina side of Roan (possibly evading an arrest warrant in Tennessee) when they noted deposits of iron ore near Cranberry Creek.Laughlin, 58–60. This led to the discovery of a massive iron ore deposit known as the Cranberry vein and the establishment of the Cranberry Mine, which extracted the ore for nearly a century until being forced to close by the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. In the late 19th century, the logging industry was booming, due in large part to the arrival of the
band saw A bandsaw (also written band saw) is a power saw with a long, sharp blade consisting of a continuous band of toothed metal stretched between two or more wheels to cut material. They are used principally in woodworking, metalworking, and lumb ...
and the logging railroad. As forests in the lower lands were cut down, loggers began moving into the more mountainous areas in search of timber. At Roan Mountain, a steam engine was set up in the gap between Round Bald and Jane Bald (this gap is still called "Engine Gap" to move lumber from the Tennessee side to the mills located on the North Carolina side. A large
log flume A log flume is a watertight flume constructed to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain using flowing water. Flumes replaced horse- or oxen-drawn carriages on dangerous mountain trails in the late 19th century. Logging operations pre ...
was built between Burbank (near Hughes Gap) and the village of Roan Mountain. Erosion brought about by excessive logging was believed to be part of the cause of a massive flood that destroyed much of the area in 1901.


The Cloudland Hotel

Tourists had been visiting Roan Mountain since the mid-19th century. In 1857, two such tourists recalled their visit to the mountain in an article written for ''New Harper's Weekly'':
The sweep of the vision in every direction is unlimited, except by the curvature of the earth or the haziness of the atmosphere. The first idea suggested is that you are looking over a vast blue ocean, whose monstrous billows, once heaving and pitching in wild disorder, have been suddenly arrested by some overruling power.
It was experiences such as this that no doubt persuaded former
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
general and mining tycoon
John T. Wilder John Thomas Wilder (January 31, 1830 – October 20, 1917) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War, noted principally for capturing the critical mountain pass of Hoover's Gap during the Tullahoma Campaign in Central Tenne ...
to construct a 20-room spruce log lodge atop Roan Mountain in 1877. The lodge was built in the area now known as Tollhouse Gap, between Roan High Knob and Roan High Bluff. Quickly seeing the value in providing a summertime escape from the hot, humid lowlands and overcrowded cities, Wilder began construction on a much larger hotel atop Roan in the early 1880s. To move materials up to the construction site (and to keep the hotel supplied once it was finished), Wilder had to construct a road across Carver's Gap. He also built a house and the Roan Mountain Inn in what is now the village of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. The Cloudland Hotel, as it came to be called, was completed in 1885. The hotel stood a few hundred meters away from the spruce log structure that preceded it. The Cloudland Hotel was billed as a health resort, especially for those suffering from
Hay fever Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...
. Over the years, its guest list grew to include various American politicians and European royalty. Rates were $2/day, $10/week, or $30/month. The hotel sat right along the state line, and a white line was even painted across the dining room, following the border. During this period, alcohol consumption was legal in Tennessee, but illegal in North Carolina, so alcoholic drinks could only be served on the Tennessee side of the line. One story tells of a local North Carolina sheriff who "guarded" the dining room to ensure no one imbibed on the North Carolina side. The high operating costs of maintaining a mountain-top hotel eventually doomed the Cloudland. The hotel would be abandoned by 1910, and quickly fell into a state of disrepair. Wilder sold the hotel shortly before his death, and the new owner auctioned off the decaying building room-by-room. By 1927, a pile of rubble was all that remained.


Roan in the 20th century

In 1933, 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 ...
constructed a fire tower and fire warden's cabin at the summit of Roan High Knob. Although the tower proved ineffective and did not last long (the cabin was renovated in 1980 and now serves as the Roan High Knob Shelter), the
United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
purchased atop Roan Mountain in 1941, putting an end to abusive logging practices. Between 1959 and 1974, the state of Tennessee acquired just over of land that would eventually comprise Roan Mountain State Park.Laughlin, 138–140. In the mid-20th century, Cornelius Rex Peake would operate the highest cultivated farm in the U.S. east of the
Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
, and would be instrumental in bringing the conservationist movement to the mountain. A plaque at the summit of Grassy Ridge Bald honors his memory. Most recently in the latter part of the 20th century, parts of the same farm areas have been re-cultivated by S.Kenneth Wilson, a direct descendant of the Peake and Ayers families that owned a significant amount of land which now makes up much of the North Carolina side of the Roan. In addition to herding livestock on and around the balds, his family has made significant efforts to restore many of the medicinal plant species that have been hunted to near extinction in the area. In 2007 the USDA recognized his livestock farm to be the highest operating on the entire east coast of the US.


Access

State Routes TN 143/ NC 261 — which connect the village of Roan Mountain in Tennessee with
Bakersville, North Carolina Bakersville is a town in Mitchell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 464 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mitchell County. History In prehistoric times, local mica deposits were extensively mined by Native Amer ...
 — ascend the northeast slope of Roan Mountain, crossing its crest at Carver's Gap. The Appalachian Trail can be accessed from Carver's Gap (it runs perpendicular to the highway), where there is a small parking lot. To the east (across the street from the parking lot), the trail ascends Round Bald and proceeds across Grassy Ridge. To the west, the trail swings around Roan High Knob just over one mile (1.6 km) to Tollhouse Gap, where it turns north. A paved road crosses the south side of Roan High Knob, connecting Carver's Gap with Tollhouse Gap, although this road is closed in Winter. This road leads to the Cloudland Trailhead, which crosses the Rhododendron Gardens and ascends the western slope of Roan High Bluff to the observation platform just below the summit. The trail is just over a mile long. The Roan High Knob Shelter, near the summit of Roan High Knob, can accommodate 15 backpackers. The shelter is maintained by the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing Club. However, Overmountain Shelter (found approximately 5.5 miles from Carver's Gap towards 19-E) has been indefinitely closed since September 4, 2019. The U.S. Forest Service has deemed this famous red barn structurally unsound.


See also

*
Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...
*
Carter County, Tennessee Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), an early settler active in the "Lo ...
*
Doe River The Doe River is a tributary of the Watauga River in northeast Tennessee in the United States. The river forms in Carter County near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park, and flows to Elizabethton. Hydrography The D ...
*
Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a hydrographic divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico watershed. The divide nearly span ...
*
Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...
* Perseids meteor shower *
Roan Mountain, Tennessee Roan Mountain is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,360 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City&nd ...
*
Roan Mountain State Park Roan Mountain State Park is a Tennessee state park in Carter County, in Northeast Tennessee. It is close to the Tennessee-North Carolina border and near the community of Roan Mountain, Tennessee. Situated in the Blue Ridge of the Appalachian ...


References


External links


Roan Mountain State Park
- official State of Tennessee website.
Roan Mountain and Roan Highlands
- Peakbagger.com

- SummitPost.org
Roan High Knob Shelter
- Information on the backcountry shelter at Roan High Knob {{Authority control Mountains on the Appalachian Trail Mountains of North Carolina Mountains of Tennessee Southern Sixers Protected areas of Carter County, Tennessee Protected areas of Mitchell County, North Carolina Appalachian culture Cherokee National Forest Pisgah National Forest Landforms of Mitchell County, North Carolina Landforms of Carter County, Tennessee Roan Mountain, Tennessee