The Ragged Mountains are a small chain of rugged hills—an offshoot of the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a Physiographic regions of the world, 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 Pennsy ...

—southwest of

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. have been preserved as the Ragged Mountain Natural Area. The region provided the atmospheric setting for Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "

A Tale of the Ragged Mountains "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe partially based on his experiences while a student at the University of Virginia. Set near Charlottesville, it is the only one of Poe's stories to take place in Virginia. ...

", which described it as a "chain of wild and dreary hills." Poe was familiar with the area from his days as a student at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

. The Ragged Mountain Natural Area was established in 1997 and opened to the public in 1999. It encompasses a reservoir for the city of Charlottesville and the surrounding watershed, forested primarily with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and yellow poplar.

External links

Ragged Mountain Natural Area
* "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains by Edgar Allan Poe"
"A Tale of the Ragged Mountains"
Mountain ranges of Virginia Landforms of Charlottesville, Virginia {{Virginia-protected-area-stub