Southern Sixers

Mountains in the Southern United States with elevations greater than 6,000 feet

Mount Le Conte, in the Great Smoky Mountains, viewed from Kuwohi. Mount Le Conte is the highest mountain entirely within Tennessee and the tallest mountain east of the Rocky Mountains, measured from base to summit.

In peak bagging terminology in the United States, the Southern Sixers refers to the group of mountains in the southern states of North Carolina and Tennessee with elevations above sea level of at least six thousand feet (1829 m). The southern sixers are the tallest group of mountains in the eastern United States and the only peaks in the Appalachian Mountains besides New Hampshire's Mount Washington to exceed 6,000 feet.

Most of these mountains are located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (abbreviated GSMNP in the list), Mount Mitchell State Park (MMSP), along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), or in the Cherokee or Pisgah National Forest. There are a few, though, that are located on private property. All of these mountains are located within 32 miles (51 km) of the North Carolina - Tennessee border,[1] with 12 on the state border itself and many more on various county borders.

Those who complete a list of 40 of these peaks[2] are awarded membership in the South Beyond 6000 club.

## List of Southern Sixers

[edit]

Mount Craig, the second highest peak in the Appalachians, as viewed from nearby Mount Mitchell.

The Southern Sixers  Rank | Peak Name | Elevation (ft) | Range | Land  | TN0621 | NC0573 | Prominence | Isolation

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Mount Mitchell | 6,684  | Black Mountains | MMSP  |  | Yancey County | 6,089  | 1,189
2  | Mount Craig | 6,647  | Black Mtns  | MMSP  |  | Yancey  | 287  | .91
3  | Kuwohi | 6,643  | Great Smoky Mountains | GSMNP  | Sevier County | Swain County | 4,513  | 70.64
4  | Mount Guyot | 6,621  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Haywood  | 1,581  | 16.73
5  | Balsam Cone | 6,611  | Black Mtns  | MMSP  |  | Yancey  | 171  | .88
6  | Cattail Peak | 6,600  | Black Mtns  | MMSP  |  | Yancey  | 120  | .62
7  | Mount LeConte | 6,593  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  |  | 1,360  | 7.21
8  | Mount Buckley | 6,580[3] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 60  | .42
9  | Mount Gibbes | 6,571  | Black Mtns  | WMIT |  | Yancey  | 111  | 2.35
10  | Big Tom  | 6,560  | Black Mtns  | MMSP  |  | Yancey  |  | .19
11  | Clingmans Peak | 6,557  | Black Mtns  | WMIT |  | Yancey  | 497  | .02
12  | Potato Hill  | 6,475  | Black Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Yancey  | 80  | .29
13  | Mount Love | 6,446[4] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 106  | .41
14  | Mount Chapman | 6,417  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 577  | 1.48
15  | Richland Balsam | 6,410[5] | Great Balsam Mountains | BRP  |  | Haywood  | 1,000  | 27.13
16  | Potato Knob | 6,400  | Black Mtns  | BRP  |  | Buncombe, Yancey  | 40  | .45
17  | Old Black | 6,370  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier, Cocke County | Haywood  | 170  | .70
18  | Blackstock Knob | 6,359  | Black Mtns  | BRP  |  | Buncombe, Yancey  | 480  | 1.64
19  | Celo Knob | 6,327[6] | Black Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Yancey  | 647  | 3.52
20  | Mount Hallback | 6,320  | Black Mtns  | MMSP  |  | Yancey  | 200  | 1.11
21  | Waterrock Knob | 6,292  | Plott Balsams | BRP  |  | Haywood, Jackson County | 1,947  | 10.66
22  | Roan High Knob | 6,285  | Unaka Mountains | Cherokee / Pisgah  | Carter County | Mitchell County | 3,485  | 18.81
23  | Roan High Bluff | 6,267  | Unaka Mountains  | Pisgah  |  | Mitchell  | 147  | 1.54
24  | Browning Knob | 6,240  | Plott Balsams  | BRP  |  | Haywood, Jackson  | 160  | .33
25  | Luftee Knob | 6,234[7] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Haywood, Swain  | 434  | 2.53
26  | Gibbs Mountain | 6,224  | Black Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Yancey  | 120  | .81
27  | Mount Lyn Lowry[1] | 6,220  | Plott Balsams  | Private  |  | Haywood, Jackson  | 380  | 1.22
28  | Mount Kephart | 6,217  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 660  | 3.09
29  | Black Balsam Knob | 6,214  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 989  | 7.08
30  | Winter Star Mountain | 6,212  | Black Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Yancey  | 532  | 1.13
31  | Percys Peak | 6,200  | Black Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Yancey  | 80  | .32
32  | Grassy Ridge Bald | 6,189  | Unaka Mountains  | Pisgah  |  | Mitchell, Avery County | 648  | 2.35
33  | Mount Collins | 6,188  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 465  | 1.80
34  | Marks Knob | 6,169[8] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Swain  | 369  | 1.34
35  | Big Cataloochee Mountain | 6,155[9] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Haywood  | 675  | 2.61
36  | Mount Hardison | 6,134[10] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Swain  | 254  | .60
37  | Tricorner Knob | 6,120  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Haywood, Swain  | 160  | .55
38  | Mount Yonaguska | 6,120[11] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Haywood, Swain  | 40  | .33
39  | Mount Ambler | 6,120[12] | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 86  | .45
40  | Mount Hardy  | 6,110[13] | Great Balsam Mtns  | BRP  |  | Haywood, Jackson  | 760  | 3.46
41  | Craggy Dome[2] | 6,105  | Great Craggy Mountains | BRP  |  | Buncombe County | 785  | 3.49
42  | Plott Balsam[3] | 6,088  | Plott Balsams  | BRP  |  | Haywood  | 408  | 1.69
43  | Thermo Knob | 6,080  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  |  | Haywood, Swain  | 60  | .62
44  | Reinhart Knob | 6,080  | Great Balsam Mtns  | BRP  |  | Haywood, Jackson  | 200  | 1.41
45  | Sam Knob | 6,050  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 360  | 1.15
46  | Shining Rock | 6,040  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 320  | 2.87
47  | Grassy Cove Top | 6,040  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 320  | 1.37
48  | Tennent Mountain | 6,040  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 120  | .71
49  | Patton Knob | 6,040  | Black Mtns  | BRP  |  | Buncombe, Yancey  |  | .80
50  | Chestnut Bald | 6,040  | Great Balsam Mtns  | BRP  |  | Transylvania County, Haywood  | 160  | 1.67
51  | Yellow Face | 6,032  | Plott Balsams  | Nature Conservancy |  | Jackson  | 312  | 1.16
52  | Cold Mountain[4] | 6,030  | Great Balsam Mtns  | Pisgah  |  | Haywood  | 990  | 2.86
53  | Mount Sequoyah | 6,003  | Great Smoky Mtns  | GSMNP  | Sevier  | Swain  | 163  | 1.28

## Map

[edit]

The locator map below shows the locations of those Southern Sixers with more than one thousand feet of topographic prominence or considerable isolation.

## See also

[edit]

* List of mountains in North Carolina
* List of mountains of the United States

## References

[edit]

* Peakbagger
* Tarheel High Points
* Tennessee 1,000' Prominence

1. ^ Black Balsam Knob is precisely 31.48 miles from Brown Gap at 35°46′23″N 82°59′38″W﻿ / ﻿35.77306°N 82.99389°W﻿ / 35.77306; -82.99389
2. ^ South Beyond 6000
3. ^ Mount Buckley Often considered part of Kuwohi.
4. ^ Mount Love Often considered part of Kuwohi.
5. ^ Richland Balsam Archived 2009-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ Celo Knob
7. ^ Luftee Knob
8. ^ Marks Knob
9. ^ Big Cataloochee
10. ^ Mount Hardison
11. ^ Mount Yonaguska
12. ^ Mount Ambler
13. ^ Mount Hardy

## External links

[edit]

* Mount Mitchell State Park
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park
* Blue Ridge Parkway
* Cherokee National Forest