Black Mountain, on Kentucky’s southeastern edge near Virginia, is the state’s highest peak at 4,145 feet, rising dramatically above Lynch and Appalachia. Roads reach its upper slopes, where a radar dome, radio towers, an old fire lookout site, and survey benchmarks stand near the summit. On clear days, broad mountain views extend as far as the Great Smoky Mountains. The mountain is closely linked to the surrounding coalfields; protests over a 1998 mountaintop-removal proposal helped lead Kentucky to buy the summit’s mineral and timber rights in 1999, preventing large-scale mining there. It also preserves a rare high-elevation Northern Hardwood Forest and uncommon plants.