The Appalachian Mountains: Eastern Backbone of North America

The Appalachian Mountains form the principal mountain system of eastern North America, stretching approximately 1,500 miles from the island of Newfoundland in Canada to central Alabama in the United States.

This ancient range—among the oldest on Earth, formed over 480 million years ago—creates a broad, weathered barrier that shaped colonial settlement patterns, Civil War strategy, and distinct cultural regions like Appalachia. The mountains run through or along 14 U.S. states: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Alabama.

Notable subranges include the White Mountains (New Hampshire), Green Mountains (Vermont), Catskills (New York), Poconos (Pennsylvania), Blue Ridge Mountains (Virginia to Georgia), and the Great Smoky Mountains (Tennessee/North Carolina). The highest peak is Mount Mitchell (6,684 ft) in North Carolina.

West of the Appalachians lie the Interior Lowlands and Great Plains; to the east, the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This geographic divide influenced everything from Native American trade routes to the westward expansion frontier.