What Is The Blue Ridge Province?

​

The Blue Ridge province extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.

​

Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks – the Shenandoah National Park in the northern section, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southern section – and eight national forests including George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Cherokee National Forest, Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest.

​

The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, a 469-mile (755 km) long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crest-lines with the Appalachian Trail.

​

The Blue Ridge Mountains (including the Smoky Mountains) are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze (smoke) on the mountains and their distinctive color.