The Forests of Southern Appalachia In The Great Smoky Mountains
National Park A Naturalist’s Guide to Understanding and
Identifying Southern Appalachian Forest Types. Maps featured in
the book “The Forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park” are black and white in the book. This website offers the
same maps in full color version. GSMNP Official Map The Great
Smoky Mountains National Park official map is used as the base
map for the two overlay maps in this book with permission from
the Great Smoky Mountains Foundation. Most of the land in GSMNP
and the rest of the southern Appalachians ranges between about
1500 feet and 6500 feet. Ecologists divide this range into the
following three mountain - Low elevation zone (1500 feet to 2500
feet) - Middle elevation zone (2500 feet to 4500 feet) - High
elevation zone (4500 feet to 6500 + feet) This map shows the
three elevation zones in the Park. The elevation zone boundaries
do not mark abrupt climate changes, but rather transition areas
where progressively co