Name ____________________________
Crabtree Falls and the History of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Go to http://www.hikingupward.com/GWNF/CrabtreeFalls/ .
1. In which county is Crabtree Falls located?
2. Crabtree Falls is a 3.8 mile round trip hike from the parking lot to the top of the falls. What is
your elevation gain on this hike?
3. While Crabtree Falls is billed as the tallest waterfalls east of the Mississippi, why is this actually a
mistaken claim?
4. Crabtree Creek flows from Crabtree Meadows at the top of the mountain across something that
is very rare for our area. This type of geologic feature is typically carved out by ice and glaciers.
What geologic feature is found at the top of Crabtree Falls?
5. What river does Crabtree Falls feed into at the bottom of the mountain?
6. How many sections of the waterfall are there?
7. After 0.9 miles up the trail, what can you go through that was created by some fallen boulders?
8. After 1.9 miles you have reached the very top of the falls. At this spot you have great views of
what?
9. Why should you not stray beyond the wall at the very top of the falls?
10. Click on the side profile of the hike located below the topographic map at the top of this
webpage. After you have hiked 1.9 miles and are standing at the top of Crabtree Falls, what is
your approximate elevation?
Go to http://dmme.virginia.gov/webmaps/DGMR/.
11. Look up “Crabtree Falls, VA”. What type of rock will you be standing on at the top of the falls
(primary rock type)?
12. What is the age estimation of this rock? Write this down and look up what range of time this
covered.
Super Brief History of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Go to http://web.wm.edu/geology/virginia/provinces/Blueridge/blue_ridge_kids.html.
13. The oldest rocks in Virginia are different types of ___________________________ which date
back over one _______________________ years.
14. Younger rocks from the _____________________ Era cover the _________________side of the
Blue Ridge.
15. Older igneous and _______________________________ rocks show that the
_____________________ crunched together and split apart several times during the Paleozoic
Era.
16. ________________________ rocks from 750-700 million years ago formed as Africa pulled away
from Virginia. The gap between the spreading continents formed the
_______________________ Ocean.
17. In areas of __________________ and northern Virginia, ________________________
(metamorphosed ___________________ flows) 570 million years old can be found above
sedimentary rock layers.
18. Early in the ____________________ period, sea level rose, and the sandstone from these
______________________ are preserved in the Chilhowee group.
19. As sea level continued to rise throughout the _____________________ period,
_________________________ rocks in the shallow seas, such as _______________________
and dolomite, were deposited.
20. Finally, about 300 million years ago, as Pangaea, began to come together, in central and
______________________ Virginia, the ______________________________ Mountains rise to
elevations of over ____________________ feet.
21. Mount ________________________ in southwest Virginia is the ________________________
peak in our state.