Woody's Knob

Woody's Knob, at an elevation of 4,170 feet, is a summit or "knob" in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the town of Little Switzerland of Mitchell County, North Carolina.

Geography

The geographical summit of Woody's Knob is located at coord|35|52|47.44|N|082|06|15.93|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title.

Described by North Carolina Geodetic Survey of 1982, the summit of Woody's Knob is located 2.10 statute miles (3.4 km) north northwest of Downtown Little Switzerland and 3.25 statute miles (5.2 km) southwest of Spruce Pine on Woody's Knob. The station is a standard NCGS bronze disk stamped "SPRUCE PINE NCDOT 4170 ft" set into the top of a round concrete monument 30 cm in diameter projecting 5 cm above ground located directly underneath a four legged unmanned firetower 68.9 feet in height.

The mountain top is 5.1 statute miles from uptown Little Switzerland and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Approaching the mountain off Chestnut Grove Church Road or Emerald Mine Road; gravel paved Firetower Road terminates at the grass covered summit. Along with the firetower mentioned above, stand 3 concrete block electric and generator buildings, a wooden outhouse, power poles, a micro-wave tower and a U.S. Forestry Service air monitoring station.

Waypoints

From atop the firetower, a 360° panorama, covering no less than 4 counties, can be seen beginning with the white feldspar cliffs of Spruce Pine to the north northeast, Grandfather Mountain, Hawksbill and TableRock Mountains towards the east with Marion, the Blue Ridge Parkway and Lynn Gap to the south south east. From south to west rise the spruce and fir western slopes of the Black Mountains with Mt. Mitchell at 6,684 feet following the ridge northwards terminating at the peak of Celo Knob at 6,327 feet. Almost due west in the valley is Micaville and the South Toe River, watered by streams flowing down the western slope, with Burnsville and Yancy County towards the horizon.

Climate

The weather atop Woody's Knob ranges from one extreme to another. During the summer months, early morning fog is frequent and daytime temperatures average in the low 70's to mid 50's at night. Wintertime, temperatures easily dip into double digits below zero. Add to that a brutal wind chill factor caused by the prevailing wintertime north westerlies which have been measured from atop the firetower at over 110 mph. Ice storms can occur as early as late November which can make traveling to the top of the mountain dangerous. Average rainfall on the mountaintop is 58 inches and normal snowfall is 20 to 25 inches annually. Springtime arrives late as flower buds and leaves aren't in full bloom until after mid-April. Rhododendron, mountain laurel and wildflowers are blooming by mid May and blackberrys and strawberrys are ready to pick by mid summer while fall colors on the mountain are at their most brilliant by the last week of October.

Flora & Fauna

Wildlife in the area include white-tailed deer, wild turkey, gray wolf, bobcat, cardinals, various species of hummingbirds, hawks, owls, bats, gray squirrels, eastern box turtle, eastern diamondback rattlesnake and scarlett king snake, salamanders and a rare appearance of a black bear and golden eagle.

ee also

*Grandfather Mountain
*Blueridge Parkway
*Little Switzerland, North Carolina

Further reading

"The Story of Little Switzerland" Louisa de Saussure Duls; 1982

External links

* [http://littleswitzerlandweather.info/BFCweather.html Little Switzerland Weather Station]
* [http://www.highcountrywebcams.com/webcameras_littleswitzerland.htm Little Switzerland Webcam 1]