Cheaha Mountain

Cheaha Mountain

Lake at base of Cheaha Mountain
Elevation 2,413 ft (735 m) [1]
Listing U.S. state high point
Location
Cheaha Mountain
Cleburne County, Alabama, USA
Range Talladega Mountains
Topo map USGS Cheaha Mountain
Geology
Type quartzite rock
Age of rock Devonian
Climbing
Easiest route Road

Cheaha Mountain ( /ˈtʃiːhɔː/), often called Mount Cheaha, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located a few miles north-west of the town of Delta in scenic Cheaha State Park, which contains a lodge, restaurant, and other amenities.

The highest point is marked with a USGS marker (photo below) in front of Bunker Tower, a stone Civilian Conservation Corps building with an observation deck on top. The CCC also constructed a road to Cheaha, but the road has been closed for years. The old road is locally referred to as the "CC Road" and contains interesting, inaccessible ruins. Near the peak is Bald Rock, which was recently improved with a wheelchair-accessible wooden walkway that provides an impressive overlook of the surrounding region. The entire area gives an impression of being at a much higher elevation than it actually is, in part because of the relatively low elevation of the adjacent area to the west.

Cheaha Mountain is part of the Talladega Mountains, a final southern segment of the Blue Ridge, unlike other elevations of the Appalachians in north Alabama, which are part of the Cumberland Plateau. The mountain also has the unique distinction of being the highest geographical point in the eastern portion of the Sun Belt (south of Interstate 20, and north of the Gulf of Mexico).

The mountain is a host to several commercial and public service transmitters. These transmitters, along with sundry structures dating back to commercial schemes by the State of Alabama in the Seventies, stand in stark contrast to the surrounding natural environment. The Calhoun County Amateur Radio Association has a repeater near the peak and Alabama Public Television has its transmitter for WCIQ TV (and digital DTV 52), a tower 176 meters tall.[2] This mountain is also known to hold the location of the Summer Camp known as Camp Mac

The mountain was opened to the public as a state park on June 7, 1939.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ "NGS Data Sheet for Cheaha Mountain". U.S. National Geodetic Survey. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=DG3595. Retrieved 2008-10-12. 
  2. ^ "Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service". Federal Communications Commission. 14 August 1996. http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Notices/fcc96317.txt. Retrieved January 16, 2007. 
  3. ^ "Local Legacies - Cheaha Mountain State Park". The Library of Congress; The American Folklife Center. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/legacies/AL/200002660.html. Retrieved January 16, 2007. 

External links

Media related to Cheaha Mountain at Wikimedia Commons