There's a lot of lore encapsulated in the Appalachian Mountains — more than a billion years' worth. The rocks at the core of the mountains formed more about 1.2 billion years ago, and the plate collisions that began to create our beloved mountains occurred ~480 million years ago. Let that sink in.

As you get ready to spend the summer outdoors or on the trails, think on these facts about the origins of the Appalachian Mountains.

The Appalachian Mountains are older than:

Dinosaurs
About 200 to 250 million years ago, dinosaurs first appeared during the Triassic Period. And the creatures weren't strangers to Appalachia — check out the Appalachiosaurus, with fossils found in NC, SC, and AL.

Trees
Fossil records show that the first trees (or tree-like plants at that) didn't hit the scene until about 400 million years ago.

Saturn's rings
While some recent discoveries may call it into question, it's long been thought that the planet's rings formed between 100 and 400 million years ago.

Once upon a time, the Atlas and Appalachian Mountains were close. | Map by Pedro Correia & J. Brendan Murphy

Another striking fact about the Appalachian Mountains? You can find them in the Scottish Highlands, the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, and the heights of Scandinavia. The ridges of all these countries were once connected as the Central Pangean Mountains, and the tallest peaks of the range are believed to be comparable to the present-day Himalayas. So, if you visit Asheville's sister city of Dunkeld and Birnam in Scotland (aka the "Gateway to the Highlands"), you may not feel so far from home after all.

Of course, if you have a mind-blowing fact about Appalachia to share, drop us a line.