Roan Mountain State Park is located in
Northeast TennesseeEast Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
along the
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
-
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
border. Situated in the
Blue RidgeThe Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at...
of the
Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
, this Tennessee state park preserves woodlands near 6,285 foot (1,915 m)
Roan MountainRoan Mountain is the highpoint of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. The mountain is clad in a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, and includes the world's largest natural rhododendron garden, and the longest...
. The park contains a total of 2,006 acres (812 ha) in the surrounding area and a variety of landscapes including hardwood forests and
grassy baldsIn the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, balds are mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected....
.
Roan Mountain State Park hosts a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, backpacking, camping, cross-country skiing (during snowy, winter months), fishing, and a heated swimming pool that is open from Memorial Day to mid-August.
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Roan Mountain State Park is located in
Northeast TennesseeEast Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
along the
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
-
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
border. Situated in the
Blue RidgeThe Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at...
of the
Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
, this Tennessee state park preserves woodlands near 6,285 foot (1,915 m)
Roan MountainRoan Mountain is the highpoint of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. The mountain is clad in a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, and includes the world's largest natural rhododendron garden, and the longest...
. The park contains a total of 2,006 acres (812 ha) in the surrounding area and a variety of landscapes including hardwood forests and
grassy baldsIn the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States, balds are mountain summits or crests covered primarily by thick vegetation of native grasses or shrubs occurring in areas where heavy forest growth would be expected....
.
Roan Mountain State Park hosts a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, backpacking, camping, cross-country skiing (during snowy, winter months), fishing, and a heated swimming pool that is open from Memorial Day to mid-August. At an elevation of 2,972 feet (906 m), the outdoor swimming pool is at the highest elevation of any swimming pool within the Tennessee state system. The park also hosts a portion of the
Appalachian TrailThe Appalachian National Scenic Trail, generally known as the Appalachian Trail or simply The A.T., is a marked hiking trail in the eastern United States, extending between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine. It is approximately long. The path is maintained by thirty trail...
. Other attractions include the Millers homestead, Carver's Gap, and the Roan Mountain Rhododendron Festival held in the park annually during the peak of the alpine catawba
rhododendronRhododendron is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays. It includes the plants known to gardeners as azaleas...
bloom in late June.
Roan Mountain State Park features camping areas for the tent, trailer, and RV visitors in addition to the rental park cabins that are available with reservations. The park also features a modern meeting facility with generous amenities that is also available for rent by reservation to individuals or groups.
Carver's Gap
Carver's Gap is an area along the Roan Mountain ridgeline that offers excellent views of the surrounding peaks because of the expansive grassy balds dominating the landscape. Fog is often a limiting factor in the aptly-named
Great Smoky MountainsThe Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains or the...
. The fog, combined with increasing air pollution, can reduce visibility, especially in the mornings. On a clear day however, the area is known as one of the most beautiful sections of the Appalachian Trail.
See also
- Battle of Kings Mountain
The Battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780, was a decisive Patriot victory in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War. Frontier militia loyal to the United States overwhelmed the Loyalist American militia led by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot...
- Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at...
- Carter County, Tennessee
Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 56,742. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 58,865...
- Doe River
The Doe River is a naturally flowing river in northeast Tennessee that forms in Carter County near the North Carolina line, just south of Roan Mountain State Park.-Hydrography:...
- Elizabethton, Tennessee
Elizabethton is a city in and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is also the historical site of the first independent settlement on American soil and located west of both the Eastern Continental Divide and the original thirteen British colonies in America.The...
- Fort Watauga
Fort Watauga, more properly Fort Caswell, was an American Revolutionary War fort that once stood at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee...
- Kings Mountain National Military Park
Kings Mountain National Military Park is a National Military Park near Blacksburg, South Carolina, close to the North Carolina border. The park commemorates the Battle of Kings Mountain, a pivotal and significant victory by American Patriots over American Loyalists during the Southern Campaign of...
- Overmountain Men
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's Southern Campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings...
- Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)
Roan Mountain is the highpoint of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States. The mountain is clad in a dense stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest, and includes the world's largest natural rhododendron garden, and the longest...
- Roan Mountain, Tennessee
Roan Mountain is a census-designated place in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,160 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area...
- James Robertson (early American)
James Robertson was a North Carolina farmer and explorer of the 18th century. He was born in Brunswick County, Virginia, of Scottish-Irish descent. Around 1750, his father relocated to Wake County, North Carolina...
- John Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee, and as a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
- Issac Shelby
- Sycamore Shoals
The Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, usually shortened to Sycamore Shoals, is a rocky stretch of river rapids along the Watauga River in Elizabethton, in the U.S. state of Tennessee...
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