The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia

The Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a mountain chain in the eastern United States,  part of the Appalachian Mountains,  forming their eastern front from Georgia to Pennsylvania  The mountains are well known for their bluish color when seen from a distance. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Valley , bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province.

The Cohutta Mountains are part of The Blue Ridge Mountains. These mountains also held wealth for the early settlers. Although agriculture was the major industry in the area, lumber and mining in both the Cohuttas and Blue Ridge Mountains contributed significant income to the north Georgia settlers. Once the lumber had been harvested the federal government bought the mountain land and created the Chattahoochee National Forest.

During the 1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps worked to improve the environmental conditions of the mountains, reforesting areas all across North Georgia. There were two camps listed in Fannin County, Georgia, Camp Sea Creek and Camp Wilscot. Other camps outside Fannin County, specifically Camp Woody in Suches, did significant amounts of work within our county.

North Georgia is known as the Gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. People from Atlanta,Georgia, Chattanooga and the entire Southeastern United States think of North Georgia as the place to start their Blue Ridge Mountain vacation because of the multitude of outdoor recreational opportunites, the wide array of available lodging, excellent restaurants and easy access to the mountains thanks to

The English who settled Virginia  in the early 1600s recorded that the native Powhatan name for the Blue Ridge was Quirank.

At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including the Siouan Manahoacs, the Iroquois and the Shawnee hunted and fished. As more settlers moved into Virginia, their economic and at times martial competition pushed the native inhabitants west.

Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains, the Great Balsams, the Roans, the Brushy Mountains (a "spur" of the Blue Ridge) and other mountain ranges.

The Blue Ridge extends north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain. While South Mountain dwindles to mere hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, the band of ancient rocks that forms the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont.

The highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian chain is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m). There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than 6,000 feet (1,829 m); by comparison, only New Hampshire’  Mt. Washington rises above 6,000 feet in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles (750 km) along the crests of the Southern Appalachians and links two national parks: Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains  In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks (gneiss) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake.

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