| Cold Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Cold Mountain as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway |
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| Elevation | 6,030 feet (1,838 m) |
| Location | Haywood County, North Carolina, USA |
| Range | Great Balsam Mountains |
| Prominence | 990 feet (302 m) |
| Coordinates | |
| Topo map | USGS Cruso |
| Easiest route | Hike |
Cold Mountain is in the mountain region of western North Carolina, United States.[1] The mountain is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. Cold Mountain is located within the Shining Rock Wilderness of the Pisgah National Forest about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Waynesville and 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Asheville. The mountain lies completely within federal lands and is uninhabited. It rises to 6,030 feet (1,819 meters) above sea level. It is the 40th tallest mountain in the eastern United States.[2]
Contents |
History
Cold Mountain and the Shining Rock Wilderness are part of Pisgah National Forest. Much of the Forest was originally owned by George Washington Vanderbilt II, builder of the Biltmore Estate. After his death, his widow sold the land that included the mountain to the United States Forest Service at $5 an acre to help create the Pisgah National Forest as the first National Forest in the United States. Wurtsmith Air Force Base (now decomissioned) was named after Michigan native Major General Paul Bernard Wurtsmith who was killed when his B-25 Mitchell crashed near Cold Mountain in September of 1946.
In Popular Culture
The mountain was made famous by the 1997 novel Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier. A major motion picture based on the novel was distributed by Miramax Films in 2003. The movie was filmed in Romania.
References
- ^ USGS GNIS: Cold Mountain
- ^ The Tallest Mountains in the Eastern U.S.. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
External links
- Map of the area around Cold Mountain
- Cold Mountain (North Carolina) is at coordinates Coordinates:
