Cove (Appalachian Mountains)

In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends.

Among the places where the word "cove" appears in the name of an Appalachian valley are Morrison Cove in Pennsylvania; Lost Cove, North Carolina;Bumpass Cove, Tennessee; Doran Cove, Grassy Cove, Ladd Cove, in or adjacent to the Sequatchie Valley of Tennessee and Alabama; and numerous locations in the Great Smoky Mountains, including Cades Cove, Greenbrier Cove, Miller Cove, Tuckaleechee Cove, and Wears Cove. Burke's Garden in western Virginia is another example of a cove.

Geologically, some coves are windows formed by erosion that penetrated through the overlying thrust sheet, exposing the younger limestone beneath.Cades Cove and Wears Cove in Tennessee are examples of limestone coves, in which fertile soils have formed on the limestone parent material in the valley bottoms.

Cove forest is the name for a type of deciduous forest community associated with Appalachian mountain coves. Cove forests, which are unique to the Appalachian Mountains and are a subtype of Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests, are found in protected positions in the landscape at middle to low elevations and are typified by high species richness of both plants and animals.Canopy species in this forest type include American basswood, tulip poplar, sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, beech, white ash, bigleaf magnolia, bitternut hickory, and Eastern hemlock. Carolina silverbell and eastern redbud are important understory trees. Notable flowering shrubs include rhododendron, flame azalea, and mountain laurel. Animals noted for their abundance and diversity in cove forest habitats include salamanders, birds, and small mammals.

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