Nov 10 2023
Kuwohi | Clingman’s Dome Rising above a seemingly endless succession of blue-green ridges, Kuwohi is the highest mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the highest point in Tennessee, and one of the most important summits of the southern Appalachian Mountains. For generations it appeared on federal maps as Clingmans Dome, but in September 2024 …
Nov 10 2023
Mount Guyot Hidden beneath dense red spruce and Fraser fir on the remote Tennessee–North Carolina border, Mount Guyot is the second-highest mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and one of the great high summits of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Unlike nearby Kuwohi, however, there is no road, observation tower, maintained summit trail, or panoramic …
Nov 09 2023
Mount Foraker Rising as an immense white massif southwest of Denali, Mount Foraker is the second-highest major summit in the Alaska Range and one of the great glaciated mountains of North America. At 17,400 feet (5,303.5 meters), it towers above the Kahiltna Glacier and an extraordinary wilderness of icefalls, crevasses, sharp ridges, hanging glaciers, and …
Nov 09 2023
Taylor Mountain Rising above Lake Guntersville and the Tennessee River in northeastern Alabama, Taylor Mountain is a broad sandstone mountain within Lake Guntersville State Park and the southernmost reaches of the Appalachian Mountains. Its elevation is modest by national standards, but its position above the reservoir creates sweeping water views, forested slopes, rocky trails, and …
Nov 09 2023
Sand Mountain Stretching across much of northeastern Alabama as a long, elevated tableland above the Tennessee River and neighboring valleys, Sand Mountain is one of the defining landscapes of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Despite its name, Sand Mountain is not a single conventional mountain with one obvious summit. It is an extensive sandstone plateau district …
Nov 09 2023
Oak Mountain Rising immediately south of the Birmingham metropolitan area, Oak Mountain is one of the best-known mountain landscapes in central Alabama and the centerpiece of Oak Mountain State Park, the largest state park in Alabama. Its forested sandstone ridges, lakes, rocky overlooks, waterfalls, streams, rare plants, mountain-bike trails, and extensive hiking network create an …
Nov 09 2023
Bald Rock Mountain Rising above the valleys between Birmingham and Pell City, Bald Rock Mountain is one of the most topographically significant summits in central Alabama. At 1,586.6 feet (483.6 meters), it is not among the very highest mountains in the state, yet its approximately 856 feet of prominence makes it a substantial independent landform …
Nov 09 2023
Lookout Mountain Stretching for more than 80 miles across Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, Lookout Mountain is one of the most distinctive long ridges of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Its sandstone-capped plateau rises abruptly above Chattanooga at its northern end, continues through northwestern Georgia, and extends deep into northeastern Alabama before finally descending toward Gadsden. Lookout …
Nov 08 2023
Cheaha Mountain | Mount Cheaha Rising above the forested ridges of east-central Alabama, Cheaha Mountain is the highest natural point in the state and the dominant summit of the Talladega Mountains. Modern LiDAR places its summit at 2,407.8 feet (733.9 meters), making Cheaha modest by the standards of the Rockies or higher Appalachians but remarkably …
Nov 08 2023
Red Mountain Rising immediately south of downtown Birmingham, Red Mountain is one of the most historically consequential ridges in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Its elevation is modest, with the familiar Birmingham crest reaching roughly 1,025 feet (312 meters), yet few American mountains have influenced the creation and identity of a major city as directly as …
