They are situated in Buncombe County, North Carolina, 14 miles northeast of Asheville.

The Black Mountains lie to the northeast, across the upper Cane River valley.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along the crest for most of the way between Asheville and Mount Mitchell.

Craggy Gardens, an area of 16 km, is covered with purple Catawba rhododendrons in mid-June.

[2] The high slopes of the Great Craggies are dominated by heath bald with rhododendron and blueberry, and northern hardwood forest with beech, buckeye, mountain ash, and red oak.