Uwharrie Mountains

The Uwharrie Mountains are a mountain range in the state of North Carolina in the United States of America. The mountains lie in the counties Randolph, Montgomery, Stanly, and Davidson, the foothills of the Uwharries reach into the Counties Cabarrus, Anson and Union.

The Uwharries emerged 500 million years ago and are the oldest mountains in North America. Originally culminated the Uwharries 6000 meters above sea level, by erosion, they were removed to a height of 341 meters, the highest point of the mountain range is High Rock Mountain, in southwestern Davidson County. By shifting of the tectonic plates, the sea floor raised off the eastern coast, to the original location on the coast mountains in the Piedmont region was 250 km far moved inland North Carolina.

In the field of Uwharrie Mountains Nature Reserve Uwharrie National Forest and the Morrow Mountain State Park is located. At one time completely cleared for farmland and timber extraction, Uwharries were asked in 1961 by the President John F. Kennedy as U.S. National Forest under protection. The forests have now recovered and are in the field today a number of leisure facilities, Native American archaeological sites and a diverse animal and plant life.

The discovery of gold in 1799 in Cabarrus County at the nearby Reed Gold Mine led to America's first gold rush.

The North Carolina Zoo, the first state-supported zoo, located in the Uwharrie region.

The Caraway Mountains, a portion of the Uwharries in the west of Randolph County, west of Asheboro, because of their ruggedness and their steep terrain very uncharacteristic of the gentle rolling hills of the Piedmont.

Of the special forces of the U.S. Army of the Uwharrie National Park is regularly used as a training ground for survival training.