Standing at 4,784 feet, Brasstown Bald is the highest mountain in Georgia (Edwards et al. 2013). It is located within the Blue Ridge physiographic province, in an area where the bedrock is heavily folded and faulted, with mafic and ultramafic rocks present in a ring around the mountain. Some of the forests on Brasstown Bald are considered “boulderfield forests,” meaning that they grow over large boulders on slopes at high elevations. The Cherokee people resided in the area around Brasstown Bald prior to European colonization. Known to them as “Enotah,” the mountain is central to a legend in which the earth was overtaken by a massive flood, and Brasstown Bald is where people were able to find refuge in a canoe; it is said that the trees at the top of the mountain were killed off by the Great Spirit in order to facilitate agriculture. In more recent times, the height of the mountain has transformed it into a tourist attraction, with a shuttle bringing people to the top for a small price. It is located within the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, and is managed by the US Forest Service.
By Thomson200 – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73615350
Edwards, L., J. Ambrose, and L. K. Kirkman. 2013. The Natural Communities of Georgia. University of Georgia Press.
Georgia Historical Society. 2016, January 20. Brasstown Bald.
Sundstrom, K. 2016. Explore Georgia’s highest peak at Brasstown Bald. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.