Why couldn't steamboats travel the Appalachian mountains?

Steamboats couldn't travel the Appalachian mountains because steamboats rely on waterways for propulsion, and the Appalachian mountains are a land barrier without navigable rivers or bodies of water suitable for steamboat travel. Steamboats require a continuous water route with minimal elevation changes to operate efficiently, and the rugged terrain of the Appalachian mountains presented insurmountable obstacles for steamboat navigation. As a result, alternative modes of transportation such as trains and wagons were used to transport goods across the Appalachian mountains.