The Blue Mountains rise to these elevations from the coastal plain in the space of about sixteen kilometers, thus producing one of the steepest general gradients in the world. The Blue Mountains form a cooling relief from the sweltering heat of Kingston below. These summits rise and fall along for 24 miles long and 14 miles at its widest point, where the temperature decreases from around 27°C (80°F) at sea level to 5°C (40°F) at Blue Mountain Peak, just 16 km (9.9 mi) inland.
As one of the longest continuous mountain ranges in the Caribbean, the Blue Mountains dominate the eastern third of Jamaica, while bordering the eastern parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, St. Mary and St. Andrew to the south. Part of the Blue Mountains is contained in the Blue Mountain John Crow Mountain National Park established in 1992, which is maintained by the Jamaican government
