Welcome to the ancient, rumpled realm of the Blue Ridge Mountains.   With over 100 full-color photographs, plus detailed maps and firsthand information, this Park Profile is the preeminent book on the region. Writer Ron Fisher and photographer Richard Cooke guide you through the gentle mountains that rise in a sky-wash haze from Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. The New River, America’s oldest stream, flows across the entire range while a 470-mile continuous span of skyline road leads from Shenandoah National Park to Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Seven national forests harbor 130 species of trees and an astonishing diversity of mosses, fungi, flowering plants, and wildlife. Meet Cherokee Indians who continue the artistic traditions of their ancestors as well as descendants of European settlers who developed their own lasting heritage of folk crafts.   Each National Geographic Park Profile captures the beauty of one of the United States' beloved national parks. Other installments in the series include books on the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. National Geographic Society  is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, it reaches more than 285 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic , and its four other magazines, as well as the National Geographic Channel, television documentaries, radio programs, films, books, maps, and interactive media. National Geographic has funded more than 8,000 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy.