The Piedmont Mountains are a series of outlying mountain ranges, sometimes called “low mountains”, in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

, mostly in the western

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

near the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the United States, physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States and extends 550 miles southwest from southern ...

. The Piedmont is part of the greater Appalachian Mountain Range. The French definition of ''piedmont'' is "

foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

"; however, a Piedmont Mountain is often of greater significance or prominent

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

. Most of the features within the

Piedmont physiographic province The Piedmont ( ) is a plateau region located in the Eastern United States. It is situated between the Atlantic Plain and the Blue Ridge Mountains, stretching from New York in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont Province is ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

lie either on the eastern border where the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

plunges onto the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

at the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

, in the broad valleys of the river systems, or on the western border where Piedmont Mountains occur. Occasionally, due to diverse rock formations, folds, and outcroppings, these mountains can rise at various locations across the Piedmont like the

Uwharrie Mountains The Uwharrie Mountains ()
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

or the

Pine Mountain Range The Pine Mountain Range is a long ridge in Meriwether County, Georgia, Harris County, Georgia, and Talbot County, Georgia. The highest altitudes in all three of these west Georgia counties can be found along the range. The Pine Mountain Range ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Most of these mountains or hills are the eroded remnants of ancient mountain ranges. Some, like

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Ge ...

in Georgia, are solitary rock domes called

monadnock An inselberg or monadnock ( ) is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa, a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, an ...

s which become further exposed with erosion.

Flora and fauna

Quercus georgiana leaves in late spring 05

The

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

plants and animals on these mountains vary in diversity. Many of the plants that can be found in the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

to the west may be found isolated upon these hills. Consequently, much of the

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

common to the Piedmont may be sited here as well and lead to hybridization or species exclusively found at particular sites. This fact alone sometimes lead to an areas protection as well as the notoriety of the location itself being an oddity.

Location

The Piedmont extends north from mid-eastern

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

to extreme southern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Almost ninety percent of the Piedmont lies south below the

Mason–Dixon Line The Mason–Dixon line, sometimes referred to as Mason and Dixon's Line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. It was Surveying, surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason ...

before permeating into the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

region. Therefore, the Piedmont Mountains in the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...

occur less frequently (in a larger area) and are more prominent. Once the Piedmont enters

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

it comes into contact with a total of four physiographic provinces as the Piedmont itself begins to terminate. Here, the regional territories are less defined and the hills seem to scatter. It is also in this vicinity that the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...

leaves the Blue Ridge, climbs onto the

Ridge and Valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three sec ...

(very near Piedmont Mountains) and enters the New England region.

Alabama

Cheaha Mountain Cheaha Mountain , often called Mount Cheaha, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located a few miles northwest of the town of Delta, Alabama, Delta in Cheaha State Park, which offers a lodge, a restaurant, and other ...

Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain Kennesaw Mountain is a mountain between Marietta and Kennesaw, Georgia in the United States with a summit elevation of . It is the highest point in the core ( urban and suburban) metro Atlanta area, and fifth after further-north exurban count ...

Sweat Mountain Sweat Mountain is a mountain in far northeastern Cobb County, Georgia, in the suburbs north of Atlanta. The exact GNIS location of its summit is , and it has an official (USGS) elevation of above mean sea level. It is the second-highest point ...

* Sawnee Mountain Range *

* Alcovy Mountain *

Panola Mountain Panola Mountain is a granite monadnock in Rockdale County, Georgia. The peak is above sea level, rising above the South River. The South River marks the boundary between Henry, Rockdale, and DeKalb counties. Due to its delicate ecological f ...

* Pine Mountain Range

South Carolina

* Glassy Mountain * Paris Mountain

North Carolina

Crowders Mountain Crowders Mountain is one of two main peaks within Crowders Mountain State Park, the other peak being The Pinnacle. The park is located in the Western Piedmont of North Carolina between the cities of Kings Mountain and Gastonia or about wes ...

Uwharrie Mountains The Uwharrie Mountains ()
from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Sauratown Mountains The Sauratown Mountains, which are sometimes called "the mountains away from the mountains", are an isolated mountain range located within Stokes and Surry counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The vast majority of the range is located ...

References

{{reflist Erosion landforms