There is a fair amount of confusion about this topic, rightfully, as the cultural Appalachian Region defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the length of the Appalachian Trail are not the same.

Within Appalachia, there are 420 counties spread across thirteen states of the Eastern U.S. For a list of the counties within this region: follow the caption link below the map to visit the ARC’s website.

Why Choose Appalachia?

For a large majority of my life I lived within the Appalachian region and was wholly unaware of the cultural differences between the region I grew up in and the rest of the country. It was not until I saw the United States from outside of these mountains that I began to understand and see the disparages and difficulties that I grew up with were not as common once you left the region that industry abandoned. While the region is often not considered, I have taken on several jobs in my pathway towards my degree that have had secondary focuses aimed at aiding Appalachia in one manner or another (forestry preservation, food and blood drives, education assistance in underserved Appalachian communities, etc.)

Counties of Appalachia

Alabama

Bibb	Blount	Calhoun	Chambers	Cherokee	Chilton
Clay	Cleburne	Colbert	Coosa	Cullman	DeKalb
Elmore	Etowah	Fayette	Franklin	Hale	Jackson
Jefferson	Lamar	Lauderdale	Lawrence	Limestone	Macon
Madison	Marion	Marshall	Morgan	Pickens	Randolph
Shelby	St. Clair	Talladega	Tallapoosa	Tuscaloosa	Walker
Winston

Georgia

Banks	Barrow	Bartow	Carroll	Catoosa	Chattooga
Cherokee	Dade	Dawson	Douglas	Elbert	Fannin
Floyd	Forsyth	Franklin	Gilmer	Gordon	Gwinnett
Habersham	Hall	Haralson	Hart	Heard	Jackson
Lumpkin	Madison	Murray	Paulding	Pickens	Polk
Rabun	Stephens	Towns	Union	Walker	White
Whitfield

Kentucky

Adair	Bath	Bell	Boyd	Breathitt	Carter
Casey	Clark	Clay	Clinton	Cumberland	Edmonson
Elliott	Estill	Fleming	Floyd	Garrard	Green
Greenup	Harlan	Hart	Jackson	Johnson	Knott
Knox	Laurel	Lawrence	Lee	Leslie	Letcher
Lewis	Lincoln	Madison	Magoffin	Martin	McCreary
Menifee	Metcalfe	Monroe	Montgomery	Morgan	Nicholas
Owsley	Perry	Pike	Powell	Pulaski	Robertson
Rockcastle	Rowan	Russell	Wayne	Whitley	Wolfe

Maryland

Allegany

Garrett

Washington

Mississippi

Alcorn	Benton	Calhoun	Chickasaw	Choctaw	Clay
Itawamba	Kemper	Lee	Lowndes	Marshall	Monroe
Montgomery	Noxubee	Oktibbeha	Panola	Ponotoc	Prentiss
Tippah	Tishomingo	Union	Webster	Winston	Yalobusha

New York

Alleghany	Broome	Cattaraugus	Chautauqua	Chemung	Chenango
Cortland	Delaware	Otsego	Schoharie	Schuyler	Steuben
Tioga	Tompkins

North Carolina

Alexander	Alleghany	Ashe	Avery	Buncombe	Burke
Caldwell	Cherokee	Clay	Davie	Forsyth	Graham
Haywood	Henderson	Jackson	Macon	Madison	McDowell
MItchell	Polk	Rutherford	Stokes	Surry	Swain
Transylvania	Watauga	Wilkes	Yadkin	Yancey

Ohio

Adams	Ashtabula	Athens	Belmont	Brown	Carroll
Clermont	Columbiana	Coshocton	Gallia	Guersney	Harrison
Highland	Hocking	Holmes	Jackson	Jefferson	Lawrence
Mahoning	Meigs	Monroe	Morgan	Muskingham	Noble
Perry	Pike	Ross	Scioto	Trumbull	Tuscarawas
Vinton	Washington

Pennsylvania

Allegheny	Armstrong	Beaver	Bedford	Blair	Bradford
Butler	Cambria	Cameron	Carbon	Centre	Clarion
Clearfield	Clinton	Columbia	Crawford	Elk	Erie
Fayette	Forest	Fulton	Greene	Huntingdon	Indiana
Jefferson	Juniata	Lackwanna	Lawrence	Luzerne	Lycoming
McKean	Mercer	Mifflin	Monroe	Montour	Northumberland
Perry	Pike	Potter	Schuylkill	Snyder	Somerset
Sullivan	Susquehanna	Tioga	Union	Venango	Warren
Washington	Wayne	Westmoreland	Wyoming

South Carolina

Anderson

Cherokee

Greenville

Oconee

Pickens

Spartanburg

Tennessee

Anderson	Bledsoe	Blount	Bradley	Campbell	Cannon
Carter	Claiburne	Clay	Cocke	Coffee	Cumberland
DeKalb	Fentress	Franklin	Grainger	Greene	Grundy
Hamblen	Hamilton	Hancock	Hawkins	Jackson	Jefferson
Johnson	Knox	Lawrence	Lewis	Loudon	Macon
Marion	McMunn	Meigs	Monroe	Morgan	Overton
Pickett	Polk	Putnam	Rhea	Roane	Scott
Sequatchie	Sevier	Smith	Sullivan	Unicoi	Union
Van Buren	Warron	Washington	White

Virginia

Alleghany	Bath	Bland	Botetourt	Buchanan	Carroll
Craig	DIckenson	Floyd	Giles	Grayson	Henry
Highland	Lee	Montgomery	Patrick	Pulaski	Rockbridge
Russell	Scott	Smyth	Tazewell	Washington	Wise
Wythe	*includes:	Covington, Galax,	Martinsville, Radford,	Buena Vista, Lexington,	Bristol, & Norton

West Virginia

Barbour	Berkeley	Boone	Braxton	Brooke	Cabell
Calhoun	Clay	Doddridge	Fayette	Gilmer	Grant
Greenbrier	Hampshire	Hancock	Hardy	Harrison	Jackson
Jefferson	Kanawha	Lewis	Lincoln	Logan	Marion
Marshall	Mason	McDowell	Mercer	Mineral	Mingo
Monongalia	Monroe	Morgan	Nicholas	Ohio	Pendleton
Pleasants	Pocahontas	Preston	Putnam	Raleigh	Randolph
Ritchie	Roane	Summers	Taylor	Tucker	Tyler
Upshur	Wayne	Webster	Wetzel	Wirt	Wood
Wyoming