Unicoi Mountains

The Unicoi Mountains are a mountain range rising along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina in the southeastern United States. They are part of the Blue Ridge Mountain Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Unicois are located immediately south of the Great Smoky Mountains and immediately west of the Cheoah Mountains. Most of the range is protected as a national forest, namely the Cherokee National Forest on the Tennessee side and the Nantahala National Forest on the North Carolina side— although some parts have been designated as wilderness areas and are thus more strictly regulated.

The Unicoi Mountains remain one of the most primitive, undeveloped areas in the eastern United States. Human habitation in the range's river valleys and deep hollows was never more than sparse, and while logging occurred, logging operations in the Unicoi area were not as extensive as in other forested areas in the region. The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, located in the northeastern Unicois, is home to one of the last remaining old growth cove hardwood forests in the eastern United States. Grassy balds and heath balds are not an uncommon occurrence atop summits in the Unicoi Mountains, the highest of which rise to elevations of over 5,000 feet. The Cherohala Skyway— a national scenic byway completed in 1996— traverses the crest of the Unicoi Mountains connecting Tellico Plains, Tennessee with Robbinsville, North Carolina.

The name "Unicoi" comes from the Cherokee word unega, which means "white." It refers to the low-lying clouds and fog that often drape the Southern Appalachian mountains in the early morning or on humid or moist days. The name "Unaka"— which historically refers to the mountains along the Tennessee-North Carolina border— has the same root as "Unicoi."