Whitetop Mountain rises in southwestern Virginia within the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area of Jefferson National Forest, at the junction of Grayson, Smyth, and Washington counties. It is the state’s second highest independent mountain after nearby Mount Rogers and its third highest named peak after Mount Rogers and Pine Mountain. Beyond its elevation, Whitetop is important for its ecology: like Mount Rogers, it forms an upland island where northern plants and animals persist in Virginia, including old-growth red spruce and other northern softwoods. It also figured in regional culture as the site of the White Top Folk Festival from 1932 to 1939, except 1937, and remains protected within the Whitetop Mountain conservation area.