In observance of Memorial Day all Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh locations will be closed on Monday, May 28, 2012.
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Appalachian Mountains

On this page you'll find information on hiking and backpacking into the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia sections of the Appalachian Mountains, often referred to as the Alleghenies.

Selected Books

Weidensaul, Scott
Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians
QH104.5.A6 W45 1994
Scott Weidensaul has spent all his life in the Appalachian ranges of eastern Pennsylvania. In this book, he shows how geology, ecology, climate, evolution and more than 10,000 years of human history have shaped one of the continent's greatest landscape features into an ecosystem of unmatched diversity and beauty.
 

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Pittsburgh Region

  • Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau
    Information about the mountains directly to the east of Pittsburgh, from the official tourism promotion agency for the region in Southwestern Pennsylvania comprising Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland Counties.
  • The Alleghenies
    Travel information from visitor bureaus throughout the Pennsylvania section of the Appalachian Mountain range (The Alleghenies), covering 8 regions from Johnstown and the Laurel Highlands to State College.
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General Sites

  • Appalachian Trail Conservancy
    The Appalachian Trail is a continuous marked footpath that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles.
  • Blue Ridge Country Magazine
    Links from the Blue Ridge Country magazine to sites in the Blue Ridge states: Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
  • Blue Ridge Online
    online visitor guide to the unique people, crafts, music, folklore, history and travel opportunities within the Blue Ridge/Appalachian regions of the states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and north Georgia.
  • Blue Ridge Parkway
    The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile recreational motor road that protects the cultural and natural features of the Blue Ridge while connecting Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. A National Park Service website.
  • Blue Ridge Parkway
    A scenic drive that runs along the mountains through Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee
  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    From the National Park Service. 521,000 acres in Tennessee and North Carolina.
  • Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage
    The Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage is a five-day program of conducted nature walks, motorcades and photographic tours in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the end of April.
  • National Geographic: Discover Appalachia
    This is a special advertising section with a cool interactive map that provides information about attractions and links to the attraction's website.
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Kentucky

  • Kentucky Bourbon Trail
    The Appalachians are known for their moonshine and Kentucky produces more than 95 percent of the world's bourbon whiskey and this web site provides visitor information about some of the most famous distilleries, including Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey. You can also read a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about it.
  • KET: Kentucky Life
    A weekly public television series celebrating the people and places of Kentucky.
  • Lexington, Kentucky: The Athens of the West
    A National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Travel itinerary. This itinerary highlights 29 of its historic places that convey the story of Lexington's charm, development and renewed interest in this city's sense of the past.
  • Louisville
    From the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau
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Maryland

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North Carolina

  • Ashville, North Carolina
    nestled between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. From their Chamber of Commerce.
  • Grandfather Mountain
    Grandfather Mountain, highest peak in the Blue Ridge, is the only private park in the world designated by the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve and considered the most biologically diverse mountain in eastern North America. Located near Linville, North Carolina.
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Ohio

  • Appalachian Ohio
    Although this is an economic development site for the region, it also provides information on things to do and tourism.
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Tennessee

  • Museum of Appalachia
    Located in Norris, Tennessee, the Museum of Appalachia is a living history museum of pioneer, frontier, and early artifacts of mountain life in the Southern Appalachians. Affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.
  • Tennessee Vacations
    A website from the state Department of Tourist Development. East Tennessee is the region of the Great Smokey Mountains.
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Virginia

Last updated Friday March 02 2012.