Drone Videos of Appalachia, USA

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the largest city within the Appalachian region of the USA.  Built on the site of Fort Pitt, the city sits at the point where the Allegheny River joins the Monangahela to form the Ohio.  Pittsburgh rose to prominence as the center of the US steel industry, once the country's biggest economic engine.  Perspectrum used a DJI Inspire 2 drone to create this impressive aerial video of the city's skyscrapers, which include the headquarters of US Steel - at one point the world's largest corporation.

Former Drone Video of the Week Winner Seven Roads Media brings us this fantastic drone videos from the USA's Smoky Mountains.  Part of the greater Appalachian range, the Great Smoky Mountains run along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina.   Largely forest-covered, they rise to heights of up to about 6.65k ft. (just over 2k m), with nearly two dozen peaks exceeding 4k ft. (around 1.2k m).  Their name derives from the smoky-looking fog which often covers their peaks, depending on weather conditions.  

AirVuz contributor Clark Lupton brings us this excellent wintertime drone video of Lynchburg, Virginia, a city in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.  Lynchburg is situated on the banks of the James River, near the middle of the state.  It's known as the City of the Seven Hills, and it's famous in part for being the only Virginia city not captured by Union forces during the US Civil War.  While the railroads which had driven the antebellum growth of the city were destroyed in the conflict, it was reborn as a manufacturing center. 

Going back to the days of the early days of the Appalachian Trail, the gentle slopes of the various Appalachian ranges of the eastern USA have been highly accessible by hiking.  In western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, where the mountains are known as the Smokies, the most important spot on the Trail was Max Patch Mountain, a "bald" mountain of about 1.4k meters (just under 5k ft.).  In this video, AshvilleAerial used a drone to memorialize a birthday hike to the great rolling top of the mountain.

Like most of its fellow Southeastern USA states, Georgia is really two states in terms of its physical landscape - a lowland portion and an upland/hilly portion where the Appalachian mountain chain overlies the state.  In Georgia's case, the Appalachian region is relatively small, occupying its northwestern corner.  In this video, AirVuz contributor and pilot Marco Hernandez gives us an epic view of this very different part of Georgia compared to the flat terrain  of the endless Atlanta suburbs. 

The USA's Appalachian region is beautiful any time of year, but when the season turns to Fall these mountains offer some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere in the country.  The region's gentle forested mountains become seas of red, orange, and yellow, which seemingly go on forever.  In this video, top content creator and drone pilot Anthony Tori gives us an epic bird's eye view of the area around Charlottesville, Virginia, at the very heart of Appalachia, at the peak of the Autumn season.

While the Appalachian Mountains only cover a small portion of the state of Georgia, they certainly make an impression.  Witness this drone video from Landmark Drones, taken at the height of the fall season.  The Appalachians cover the northwestern corner of the state, notably in the area of the Chattahoochee National Forest and its surroundings.  This area is home to numerous mountains over 1,000 meters (about 3.3k ft.) in altitude, led by Mt. Brasstown Bald (elevation: 1.45k meters, just under 4.8k ft.).

Lake Cumberland is one of the most well known lakes in the Appalachian area of the east-central United States.  It's actually a reservoir lake, located in southern Kentucky, west of the Daniel Boone Forest.  With a shoreline of over 2k km (about 1.2k mi.), it's one of the ten largest reservoir lakes in the USA by water volume - enough to cover the state of Kentucky with almost 10 cm (about 3.5 inches) of water!  Check out this beautiful Appalachian lake from above, compliments of contributor Flintknoop.  

Check out this drone video of the largest lake in the USA's state of Pennsylvania, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot lleeyyooww.  Lake Wallenpaupack is in the heart of the Pocono Mountains, a chain which covers much of the northeastern part of the Keystone State.  The lake offers over 80 km (around 50 mi.) of coastline in one of the major recreational areas of the northeastern USA.  The Pocono's are part of the Appalachian Mountains system which parallel's the country's East Coast. 

Check out this video from a park in the Appalachian Mountain foothills of Ohio, compliments of contributor lleeyyooww.  Hocking Hills State Park is located in south central portion of the Buckeye State.  It is in an area that is covered by the western portion of the great Appalachian Mountains range which parallels the USA's East Coast.  The park features numerous hiking trails and is consistent with the reputation of the Appalachian region as being home to some of the best hiking spots in the country.  

Contributor and pilot LUX used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this aerial view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, USA.  The Blue Ridge is a sub-range of the Appalachian chain which runs roughly parallel to the USA's East Coast; this popular tourist draw runs through several states, with its largest portions lying in Virginia and North Carolina.  The name "Blue Ridge" derives from the bluish appearance of the peaks seen from a distance, a result of isoprene released from the mountains' trees. 

Is there anything better than a nighttime hyper-lapse of a sparkling city? Award-winning AirVuz contributor Majestic brings us views of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as it glows through the lights of a buzzing city. Watch it for great views of U.S. Steel Tower, BNY Mellon Center, One PPG Place, 5th Avenue Place, Tower and PNC Plaza.  You'll also get aerial glimpses of the city's numerous bridges spreading across the Ohio and Monongahela rivers light up the largest city of the USA's Appalachian region in this 4K aerial piece.

Top AirVuz contributor and drone pilot 8 Fifty Productions brings us this fantastic aerial video from the state of West Virginia.  West Virginia enjoys the distinction of being the only state which lies entirely within the great Appalachian mountain chain which in effect forms the border region between the USA's Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest.  Nicknamed the Mountain State, West Virginia was formed at the outset of the Civil War when the western part of Virginia elected to remain in the Union.  

Contributor 60 Second created this remarkable drone video of a captivating site in the Appalachian (middle) section of Pennsylvania, USA.  On the Susquehanna River near the town of Dauphin there is a roughly 8 meter (around 25 ft.) high replica of the Statue of Liberty.  The statue replaces another one which mysteriously appeared in 1986, around the centenary of the "real" statue's opening.  The 1986 version having been destroyed, the town raised the funds to build the current version.  

Check out these drone views of Chattanooga, Tennessee, compliments of contributor atlantadroneguy.  The focus of the video is the Tennessee River, a major Ohio River tributary which winds its way through this important  southern Appalachian city.  The video opens with a beautiful shot of the Market Street Bridge (aka the John Ross Bridge), which connects the Downtown and Northshore Districts.  You'll also see some nice overhead shots of the river traffic as well as the Walnut Street Bridge, a pedestrian bridge just upstream.

Check out this fantastic first person view (FPV) aerial tour of West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, West Virginia, compliments of AirVuz contributor Angelo Re.  Using an FPV-equipped racing quad, he will take you over and around this beautiful campus in the Appalachian Mountains foothills in the northern part of the state.  Established in 1867, the public land-grant university has enrollment of about 27k on its main campus, of which roughly 80% are undergraduate.  In 2012, its athletics program joined the Big 12 conference.  

AirVuz contributor Manx.Cat brings us this excellent drone video of a well-known waterfall in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York.  It's called Kaaterskill Falls, and it's a two-stage waterfall with a drop totalling about 260 ft. (around 80 m).  It's situated in Greene County, about a three hour drive north of New York City.   The Kaaterskill Falls is considered one of the USA's oldest tourist attractions, and has been the subject of numerous paintings by prominent American artists over the years.  

Top contributor perfectperspectives brings us this excellent drone video tour of Cincinnati, Ohio.  The video opens with some great shots of the city's downtown and Ohio River waterfront.  At the :59 mark, you'll see the iconic Union Terminal.  Starting at the 1:40 mark, you'll see some of Cincy's great cultural venues including Krohn Observatory, the Music Hall, Art Museum, and ICON Music Center. At the 2:26 mark, you'll see the University of Cincinnati campus, followed by TQL Stadium, Great American Ballpark, and Paul Brown Stadium.  

The Stewarts Creek Wildlife Management Area is located in Carroll County, Virginia, USA. The nearly 1,100-acre area lies along the state’s famous Blue Ridge Mountains, a subchain of the Appalachian Mountains system. The trees in the area are comprised primarily of oak, hickory, and maple varieties. With the help of the Virginia Forestry Service and the Stewarts Creek Management Area, cinematographer LUX created this beautiful drone video showcasing the biodiversity of the area. 

Top contributor Jeff Walrich created this magnificent drone video from Smith Mountain Lake, a well known reservoir lake in the Roanoke Region of western Virginia.  Situated in a valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains (part of the Appachians), the 20k+ acre lake was created with the completion of the Smith Mountain Dam in the early 1960's.  The picturesque lake has appeared in a number of movies and TV shows, notably as a "stand-in" for New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee in the 1991 comedy "What about Bob?".

Contributor LUXaerial created this beautiful drone video from the Blue Ridge Mountains in southern  Virginia, USA.  It was shot in the area of Fries, in Grayson County, one of the state's southwestern counties.  This area is home to Mount Rogers, the state's highest peak at just under 1.75k meters (a little over 5.7k ft.) above sea level.  Fries sits on the New River, which you'll see in the river; the waterway eventually feeds into the Ohio River, which then converges with the mighy Mississippi.  

Check out these beautiful aerial scenes from the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina, compliments of AirVuz contributor Matt Hallum.  The video opens with a shots of the gigantic Chimney Rock, a flag-topped granite monolith in Chimney Rock State Park, about a half-hour drive southeast of Ashville.  The video also features other footage from around the park as well as for the city of Ashville and the nearby Linville Falls on the Linville River, the largest waterfall in the region.   

Prepare to be blown away by this stunning video from the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, compliments of contributor and drone pilot LUX.  The piece, which was shot in the late summer, beautifully captures the majesty of these mountains, which represent one of the key geographic features of eastern North America.  Together with its various sub-chains, the Appalachians form a line running in a roughly northeastern direction from Alabama all the way to Canada's Maritime provinces.  

Check out these beautiful drone views of Lynchburg, Virginia, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Clark Lupton.  Nicknamed the City of the Seven Hills, Lynchburg is situated on the banks of the James River, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Located near the center of the state, Lynchburg is the core of the Virginia's fifth-largest metropolitan area.  The site of an 1864 battle during the US Civil War, Lynchburg went on to develop a substantial industrial base during the Reconstruction which followed.   

Check out this beautiful drone video of a famous river canyon in the mountains of northern Georgia, compliments of contributor JerzDrone.  Tallulah Gorge is formed by a river of the same name in the North Georgia Mountains, part of the Appalachian chain.  The canyon is 3 km (around 2 mi.) long and up to 300 meters (1k ft) deep, and features a series of waterfalls.  One of the official Seven Wonders of Georgia, the gorge and falls were used to film a portion of the classic 1972 thriller Deliverance. 

Minnewaska State Park is a popular attraction in the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York, which are part of the great Appalachian chain.  It's a roughly 90 square km (around 30 square mi.) preserve in Ulster County, not far from the state capital of Albany.  The park was formed after the state of New York bought the land from a private owner in the 1980's.  It was further expanded in the mid-1990's.  Check out this beautiful spot from above in this drone video by AirVuz contributor and pilot mbird1985.

The Smoky Mountain range in the United States is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which in turn is part of the Appalachian system.  Among other distinctions, the Smoky's are home to some of the most spectacular fall scenery in the country.  The range covers parts of several  southeastern states in rolling forested mountains that turn brilliant colors from mid-September through October.  Top contributor used a drone to film these beautiful mountains in the state of Tennessee at the height of the Fall color season.    

West Virginia enjoys the distinction of being the only state which lies entirely within the great Appalachian mountain chain which forms the border between the USA's Eastern Seaboard and the Midwest.  The state was formed at the outset of the Civil War when the western part of Virginia elected to remain in the Union.  Contributor Inmotionaerial created this beautiful aerial tour of this largely rural state during the peak of the Fall, a time when the tree-covered state turns into a sea of colors.

North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountain National Park lies in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the southern extension of the great Appalachian chain.  The chain covers a ridge of the Smoky Mountains sub-chain of the Blue Ridge in the western part of the state.  Covering over 2k square km (around 700 square mi.), it has the distinction of being the most visited of the USA's National Parks.  Get a bird's eye view of the great national treasure in this awesome video by contributor jdginnovative.

In this drone video by AirVuz contributor airforrestone, you'll get an aerial view of a pair of bridges over the James River in the USA's Blue Ridge Mountains.  The James River rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the core of the larger Appalachian chain which runs roughly parallel to the USA's eastern coastline.  Situated entirely in the state of Virginia, the river runs a roughly southeasterly course of about 350 mi. (around 560 km) and empties into Chesapeake Bay, a large inlet of the Atlantic Ocean.