Smoky Mountains: Geographic Overview
As a first time visitor to the entire Southern Appalachian region, I can't write with much authority about the Smoky Mountains, but there is so much to write about that I have to try. The Smokies consist mainly of a huge east-west (more like ESE-WNW) running ridge, 70 miles in length, with many branching offshoots. This mountain range, though one of the tallest in the East, is not along a major divide. It is bounded at both ends by deep river valleys that bisect the ridge and drain the entire region northwest into the Tennessee River, via the French Broad and Little Tennessee Rivers. The Eastern Continental Divide is roughly 30 miles to the southeast, along the Blue Ridge. The general profile of the Smokies is dome-shaped. The ridge rises steeply on both ends from river valleys below 2000 feet to peaks at 4-5000 feet in a couple of miles. The ridgeline then rises more gradually its center. The highest point, Clingman's Dome at 6,643 ft, is roughly halfway down. Another high