Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Appalachian Trail in the Unaka and the Pisgah National Forests

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  • THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL IN THE UNAKA AND PISGAH NATIONAL FORESTS. Except for the first seventeen and a half miles of its route, the Northern Unaka section follows the crest of Iron Mountain. There is much in the Iron Mountain to suggest the Northern Virginia Blue Ridge. It is indeed a narrow crest line. It has, however, one curious feature; it is paralleled by a lower subsidiary ridge, for the most part, to the south. The Iron Mountain extends from New River to the Doe River. The name once had a wider application until the beginning of the nineteenth century even the Smokies were known as the Great Iron Mountain. As the western rim on the Southern Appalachians is divided into segments, so the Iron Mountain is further subdivided; two of these divisions are Crosses and Straight Mountains (also the name of a sub- sidiary ridge). AS it nears New River the Iron Mountain becomes a series of disconnected knobs. The Trail route utilizes a more direct approach, coming on to the Iron Mountain at Jones Knob, where it has become a well- defined ridge-crest. The Northern Unaka Section is accessible by branch lines of the Norfolk and Western Railroad at New River and Damascus, its northern and southern terminus, respectively. The Pulaski Branch of the Norfolk and Western Railroad passes Dixon Ferry on the New River but the nearest regular station stops are Fries Junction, Fries and Galax. For greater convenience the trail dots are subdivided into short sections, the ends of each section being readily reached by automobile. The Northern Unaka sections total 66 miles.
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