The Brushy Mountains are a mountain range located in northwestern

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

. They are an isolated "spur" of the much larger

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virg ...

, separated from them by the

Yadkin River The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing . It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, p ...

valley.''North Carolina: The History of a Southern State'', by Hugh Talmadge Lefler & Albert Ray Newsome, Copyright 1973, University of North Carolina Press. A deeply eroded range, they move from the southwest to the northeast, and cross five counties in North Carolina:

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized Indian band in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Eas ...

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, Wilkes, Iredell, and Yadkin. The Brushy Mountains divide, for much of their courses, the waters of the Yadkin River and the

Catawba River The Catawba River originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into ...

, two of central North Carolina's largest rivers. The range is approximately long, but only 4 to 8 miles wide. The highest point in the chain is

Pores Knob Pores Knob is a mountain peak located in Wilkes County, North Carolina, USA. Physical features Pores Knob is the highest point of the Brushy Mountains chain. The Brushy Mountains are a deeply eroded spur of the much larger Blue Ridge Mountains. ...

(2,680 feet, 817 meters), in Wilkes County. Among the other notable peaks in the range are

Hibriten Mountain Hibriten Mountain, located just east of Lenoir, North Carolina, marks the western end of the Brushy Mountains range. At 2,211 feet, the mountain's summit is nearly 1,000 feet above the surrounding terrain. The summit is well known to the locals ...

in Caldwell County, which marks the western end of the Brushy Mountains and is a prominent landmark in the city of

Lenoir, North Carolina Lenoir is a city in and the county seat of Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 18,263 at the 2020 census. Lenoir is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. To the northeast are the Brushy Mountains, ...

; Hickory Knob, the highest point in

Alexander County, North Carolina Alexander County is a County (United States), county established in the U.S. state of North Carolina in 1847. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 36,444. Its county seat is Taylorsville, North Carolina, Taylorsvi ...

; and Fox Mountain, the highest point in

Iredell County, North Carolina Iredell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,693. Its county seat is Statesville, and its largest town is Mooresville. The county was formed in 1788, subtracted from R ...

. The "Brushies", as they are often called by locals, usually rise from 300 to above the surrounding countryside, with few peaks rising more than a thousand feet above their base. The forests on the mountains are part of the Southeastern mixed forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. The Mountains are primarily known for their abundance of fruit orchards. The last Saturday in July is the Brushy Mountain Peach and Heritage Festival hosted by the Community Center and held in Downtown Wilkesboro. On the first Saturday in October, the

Brushy Mountain Apple Festival The Brushy Mountain Apple Festival is a one-day arts and crafts fair held annually in downtown North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Founded in 1978, the fair is held on the first Saturday in October. Over 160,000 people visit the fair each year, an ...

is hosted by the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club and held in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina each year to celebrate the harvest. The region was also once known as a hotbed of "

moonshining Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

", or the production of illegal homemade liquor. Several of the earliest stars of

stock-car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specif ...

in the 1940s and 1950s got their start in the moonshining business in the Brushy Mountains. James Larkin Pearson, a newspaper publisher and editor who served as North Carolina's official

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

from 1953 to 1981, was born and raised in the Brushy Mountains, and lived in the Brushies his entire life. Much of his poetry was based on his life in the Brushy Mountains.

References

* ''North Carolina: The History of a Southern State'', Hugh Talmadge Lefler & Albert Ray Newsome, authors. University of North Carolina Press, 1973. {{Coord, 36.0337424, -81.2125854, display=title Blue Ridge Mountains Mountain ranges of North Carolina Subranges of the Appalachian Mountains Landforms of Caldwell County, North Carolina Landforms of Alexander County, North Carolina Landforms of Wilkes County, North Carolina Landforms of Iredell County, North Carolina Landforms of Yadkin County, North Carolina Inselbergs of Piedmont (United States)