Virtual Regions

Virtual Southern Appalachian Ecosystem
The Southern Appalachians are 50-million-year-old vestige of the forest that once covered much of the Northern Hemisphere. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park alone shelters more than 1400 varieties of flowering plants and 100 species of trees and Shenandoah Park trails lead to groves of 300-year-old hemlocks and 400-year-old white oaks. The forest provides habitat for an equally impressive display of wildlife, including black bears, northern flying squirrels, and an uncommon variety of salamanders. Experience the virtual appalachia through these tools:

Tour	Interactive Map

Virtual Tennessee River Gorge (Chattanooga, Tennessee)
The Tennessee River Gorge is 27,000 acres of land carved through the Cumberland Mountains by 26 miles of the Tennessee River, is the only large river canyon bordering a mid-size city and is the fourth largest river canyon east of the Mississippi. The scenic terrain of the Tennessee River Gorge provides habitats for more than a thousand varieties of plants, ferns, trees, grasses and flowers as well as a rich wildlife population. Many of these are rare or endangered species such as the Mountain Skullcap and birds like the Osprey and Bald Eagle. Dozens of archaeological sites bear evidence of man's presence in the Gorge for at least 10,000 years. Experience the virtual Tennessee River Gorge through these tools:

Tour	Interactive Map	3D Model Coming Soon

Virtual Albright Grove (Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Tennessee)
The trail is seven miles round-trip to go to, and around, Albright Grove Loop, which passes through one of the largest and most impressive stands of virgin poplar in Eastern Tennessee, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Albright Grove Trail (named for Horace Albright, a conservationist, park advocate and advisor to John D. Rockefeller) winds up a small creek and through an ancient forest that gives one a hushed, and even sacred, feeling. This trail features giant tuliptrees, maples, fraser magnolias, and beeches, with giant root systems partially exposed. Some of these trees have circumference of several feet and a number of people (up to five to seven people) would have to hold hands to reach around their girths. Experience the virtual Albright Grove though these tools:

Tour	US Forest Service Map	3D Model

Virtual Little Tennessee River (Franklin, North Carolina)
The Little Tennessee watershed is defined by the Cowee and Nantahala mountains. A drop of water that fell on the other side of either mountain range would drain either to the Tuckaseegee River, to the east, or to the Nantahala River, to the west. There are 40 some species of fish known from the river. Several species of fish that are considered of particular interest to the region inhabit this important river, among them is the federally threaten Spotfin chub (Cyprinella monacha). Experience the virtual Little Tennessee River through these tools:

Tour	Interactive Map	Static Maps

Geographic Perspectives
U.S. Programs & Activities | International | California | Central Southwest/Gulf Coast | Great Basin
Northern Rockies | Pacific Basin | Pacific Northwest | Southern Appalachian | Southwest

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