Mount Mitchell

Mount Mitchell, in North Carolina’s Black Mountains, rises 6,684 feet and is the highest peak in the Appalachians and the highest point in mainland North America east of the Mississippi River. Known to the Cherokee as Attakulla and once called Black Dome, it was formed from ancient marine deposits later transformed and uplifted. The mountain is named for Elisha Mitchell, who explored the region in 1835, argued these peaks exceeded Mount Washington, and died nearby in 1857 while confirming his measurements. Long notable for its height and isolation, Mount Mitchell also supports a fragile spruce-fir ecosystem and has an unusually cool, wet, severe climate for the Southeast.

North Carolina · United States