English: (looking southeast)

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The Appalachian Mountains of eastern America consist of three physiographic provinces: the Valley & Ridge, the Blue Ridge, and the Piedmont. A couple of American national parks have been established in the most scenic stretches of the Blue Ridge: Great Smoky Mountains (see above) and Shenandoah. The Blue Ridge is mostly composed of Precambrian basement rocks (igneous & metamorphics). The mountains of the Blue Ridge are generally rounded and not very tall. This is unlike the tall, mostly sharp-peaked mountains of western America's Cordillera, the Andes of South America, the Alps of Europe, and the Himalayas of Asia. Compared with those geologically young mountain chains, the Blue Ridge is relatively old - the Appalachians have been subjected to long term erosion for about one-third of a billion years.

The forested valley shown here is floored by the Beech Flats Prong of the Oconaluftee River.

Locality: view from Newfound Gap, southern side of Rt. 441 (Newfound Gap Road), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, northern Swain County, far-western North Carolina, USA