Andrews Bald
Andrews Bald rises to 1,801 m in North Carolina. Kuwohi stands 2,025 m to the north, 1.7 miles off. The nearest named place is Rock Slab Falls, a waterfall 0.8 miles away. Newfound Gap Road Byway passes 5.7 miles off.
The story
Andrews Bald is a mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains, located in the southeastern United States. It has an elevation of 5,920 feet (1,800 m) above sea level, making it the highest grassy bald in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountain is one of two grassy balds maintained in the range by the National Park Service. The other is Gregory Bald, in the western Smokies. Andrews Bald is a double peak situated along Forney Ridge, just south of Kuwohi. Andrews Bald is the 62nd-highest mountain in North Carolina and is located entirely within Swain County. Unlike Gregory Bald, the bald area of Andrews does not cover the summit but spreads out around the south slope. How and why grassy balds form is a mystery. While cattle grazing maintained the balds throughout the 19th-century, the forest slowly started reclaiming them after the formation of the national park in the 1930s. In the early 1980s, the park service polled park visitors regarding the state of the grassy balds, and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of maintaining the balds atop Gregory and Andrews.
Andrews Bald is probably named after Andres Thompson, an early settler who used the mountain for hunting. A cabin once stood on the southwest slope, near the tip of the present bald area. Herders' shacks were not uncommon in the high-elevation grazing areas of southern Appalachia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so the cabin may have been a seasonal residence. The Forney Ridge Trail crosses Andrews Bald, passing to within a few feet of the summit, and traverses the entire bald area en route to Springhouse Branch. The trail intersects the Appalachian Trail on the slopes of Kuwohi and can be accessed from the Forney Ridge parking lot. The bald area is just under two miles (3 km) from the parking lot.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q4759059, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1801.11 m
How to reach it
- 5.7 mi off the Newfound Gap Road Byway, National
- 8.0 mi off the Nantahala Byway
- 11.1 mi off the Blue Ridge Parkway, National
- 11.3 mi off the Indian Lakes Scenic Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Deep Creek Valley Overlook #1 · 6 mi
- Deep Creek Valley Overlook · 6 mi
- Deep Creek Valley Overlook #2 · 6 mi
- Charles A Webb Overlook · 6 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Rock Slab Falls: 0.8 mi
- Jonas Creek Falls: 3.7 mi
- Yanu Branch Cascade: 3.9 mi
- Little River Upper Falls: 4.4 mi
- Hazel Creek Cascades: 5.0 mi
- Jerry Bald: 0.9 mi
- Buckhorn Bald: 1.4 mi
- Kuwohi: 1.7 mi
- Mt. Buckley: 1.7 mi
- Mount Love: 1.9 mi
- Arch Rock: 7.6 mi
- Flat Branch boat launch: 7.6 mi
- Harrah's Cherokee Convention Center: 11.7 mi
- Ober Mountain Coaster: 11.8 mi
- Rail Runner: 11.8 mi
- David Monteith Park: 7.6 mi
- Swain County Recreation Park: 7.7 mi
- MacNeill Park: 8.0 mi
- Bryson City Island Park: 8.0 mi
- Riverfront Park: 8.1 mi
- Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Museum: 8.0 mi
- Swain County Visitor Center and Heritage Museum: 8.2 mi
- Fly Fishing Museum of the Southern Appalachians: 8.2 mi
- Oconaluftee Indian Village: 10.3 mi
- Museum of the Cherokee Indian: 10.7 mi
- Fort Harry: 7.0 mi
- Swain County War Dead Memorial: 8.2 mi
- Sugarlands Stone Cabin: 8.2 mi
- Nimrod Jarett Smith: 10.7 mi
- 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops Memorial: 11.9 mi
- Alum Cave: 7.4 mi
- The Jumpoff: 8.8 mi
- Eagle Rocks: 13.9 mi
- Cliff: 14.2 mi
- Cat Stairs: 14.9 mi
- Selu Statue: 11.7 mi
- Bear: 12.3 mi
- Fish: 17.6 mi
- Confederate Soldiers Monument: 18.9 mi
- Sylva Mural: 19.1 mi
- Deep Creek Picnic Area: 6.2 mi
- Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion: 6.3 mi
- Chimneys Picnic Area: 6.7 mi
- Greenbrier Picnic Pavilion: 12.9 mi
- Tremont Picnic Area: 13.0 mi
- Bamboo Forest: 10.7 mi
- Vista Gardens: 11.8 mi
- Sylva Community Garden: 18.8 mi
- Annie Dee Leatherman Smith Memorial Garden: 20.0 mi
- Cullowhee Community Garden: 23.3 mi
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 6.6 mi
- Greenbrier: 14.0 mi
- Nantahala National Forest: 22.6 mi
- Mouse Creek Spring: 23.8 mi
- Brakeshoe Spring: 23.8 mi
- Emerts Cove Covered Bridge: 15.1 mi
- Haywood County US 74 Eastbound Rest Area: 24.9 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 8.6 miles of Andrews Bald. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kuwohi | N 352° | 2,024.79 m | 1.7 mi |
| Mount le Conte - High Top | NNE 22° | 2,009.55 m | 8.6 mi |
| Mt. Buckley | NNW 337° | 2,004.12 m | 1.7 mi |
| Mount Le Conte | NNE 22° | 2,004 m | 8.6 mi |
| Cliff Top | NNE 19° | 1,996.55 m | 8.5 mi |
| Myrtle Point | NNE 24° | 1,991.56 m | 8.6 mi |
| Mount Love | N 2° | 1,955.79 m | 1.9 mi |
| West Point | NNE 16° | 1,937.31 m | 8.3 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:39 | 19:12 | 19:46 |
| June solstice | 06:20 | 20:16 | 20:53 |
| September equinox | 07:23 | 18:59 | 19:32 |
| December solstice | 07:40 | 16:46 | 17:25 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 31 | 33 | 39 | 48 | 56 | 62 | 66 | 64 | 60 | 50 | 41 | 35 |
| Precip in | 6.8 | 6.0 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 6.1 | 7.3 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 7.0 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Newfound GAP, 6 mi away.
Inside the official boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Quietest months by visitation: Jan and Feb; busiest: Oct.
NPS visitation statistics, monthly averages 2021–2025 (2020 excluded).
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 1018823 — Andrews Bald, Swain County, North Carolina.
OpenStreetMap element node/357806306
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