Black Mountain - The Highest Point in Kentucky
Black Mountain is located in Harlan County, very close to the Kentucky/Virginia state line.
The summit is 4139 feet above sea level and is the 27th highest peak in all of the 50 states.
Access is from a blacktopped road that turns south off of VA-160 right at the state line.
There is a short hike and small elevation gain from parking to the summit. You should note this.
The fire lookout tower at the summit is no longer accessible, so there is no scenic view. There is a USGS benchmark located near one of the bases of the tower.
Where is Black Mountain? It's part of one of the five physiographic regions of Kentucky called THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU which includes the Pine and Cumberland Mountains.
The sinuous pattern of ridges and ravines of these ranges is interrupted along the southeast border of Kentucky by the northeast-trending linear ridges of Pine Mountain and Cumberland Mountain, which are generally included in the western part of the Valley and Ridge physiographic province.
The steep northwest face of Pine Mountain exposes the Pine Mountain overthrust fault. The rocks on Pine Mountain dip to the southeast and form jagged hogback ridges. Between these structurally controlled ridges are the Black Mountains which includes the highest summit in Kentucky.
To log this Earthcache
Post a picture in your log of you or your GPSr at the old FIRE TOWER at the given coordinate and share your visit!
And to demonstrate the educational value of geocaching, please email answers to the following questions to ARF!.
1. What is the elevation at the top of this high point?
2. Which mountain range are the Black Mountains a part of?
3. Using your GPSr , what is the elevation gain from the nearest parking to the high point?
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Please email your answers first, then LOG THE FIND. Do not wait on a reply from me. FINDs which do not meet logging requirements will be deleted.
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See you out there!