Unicoi Mountains - Natural Information

Natural Information

The Unicoi Mountains consist chiefly of Precambrian metasedimentary rocks of a type known as the Ocoee Supergroup, formed over a billion years ago from ancient ocean deposits. Quaternary Period rocks are sometimes found in alluvial areas along streambeds. The Unicoi Mountains were formed roughly 250 million years ago during the Alleghenian orogeny, when a continental collision thrust the rocks upward.

The Unicoi Mountains are coated by a primarily second-growth mixed hardwood and pine forest. Cove hardwood forests are typically found at the lower elevations along rivers and streams, and chiefly consist of yellow poplar, white oak, red oak, hemlock, and multiple other species. A mixed hardwood-pine forest covers the mountain slopes, and chiefly consists of white oak, red oak, hickory, table mountain pine, pitch pine, and shortleaf pine.

While the vast majority of trees in the Unicoi Mountains are second-growth, the range is home to one of the few remaining stands of old growth forest in the eastern United States. The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest along Little Santeetlah Creek is home to a substantial stand of virgin cove hardwood forest, and contains some of the oldest and tallest trees in the Unicoi Range. The largest trees in Joyce Kilmer are over 150 feet (46 m) tall and have circumferences of just over 20 feet (6.1 m). The oldest trees in the forest are over 400 years old. Other stands of old growth forest include a 187-acre (0.76 km2) patch around Falls Branch Falls and a remote section of the Citico Creek Wilderness near Glenn Gap.

The understories of the mountain slopes and ridgecrests are often covered by dense thickets of rhododendron and mountain laurel. These thickets are often called "hells" due to their general impassability. The most outstanding example of rhododendron-laurel thicket is Jeffrey Hell, located in the Citico Creek Wilderness. Grassy balds—a type of highland meadow consisting of fields of thick grass and sparse tree coverage—are not uncommon in the higher elevations. The summit of the highest mountain in the range—Huckleberry Knob—is a grassy bald. Other grassy balds include Oak Knob (a subpeak of Huckleberry), Hooper Bald, and Bob Bald (a subpeak of Stratton).