New River Basin

              The Amphibolite Mountains, which top 4,600
feet, stretch from northeastern Watauga
County to central Ashe County. The moun -
tains contain rich soils that nurture an aston -
ish ing diversity of plants. Over 70 percent of
the 120 rare plants in the basin live here.
The New River Basin is home to many moun -
tain bogs— lush, mossy- green, fern- filled
and grassy habitats that require abundant soil
moisture. Because they are flat by nature,
they seem a bit unlikely in the steep environ -
ment, which makes them an exceedingly rare
habitat. With curious names like Skunk Cab -
bage and Idlewild, mountain bogs in the state are concentrated almost entirely in the New
River Basin. Nearly 90 percent of the state’s original mountain bogs have been drained or con -
verted to man- made features. The bog turtle, North America’s smallest turtle at 4 inches long,
has been a casualty of that destruction and is now a federally listed threatened species.
Three small fish— the Kanawha minnow, sharp nose darter and Kanawha darter, are found
nowhere else in the world but the New River Basin. Old Field and Call creeks, two Outstand-ing
Resource Waters in the basin, have naturally reproducing populations of brook trout,
Although extreme white -
water adventure is charac -
ter istic of the northern
reaches of the New in West
Virginia, several easy
rapids make the New in
North Carolina ideal for
recreational paddling.
NCWRC
JON C. LAKEY
BLUE RIDGE
MOUNTAINS,
ASHE COUNTY
The Blue Ridge Moun -
tains have the high -
est elevations and most
rugged topography in
the Appalachian Moun -
tains of eastern North
America. The North Caro -
lina portion of the Blue
Ridge includes about
6,000 square miles. Forty-three
peaks exceed
6,000 feet in elevation.
Christmas Trees
Fraser fir trees cover
15,000 acres of moun -
tain slopes in the New
River Basin, making it
the largest producer
of Christmas trees in
North Carolina.