Peters Mountain is a mountain in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It is located on the border between
Alleghany County, VA,
Monroe County, WV,
Giles Co.,VA, and
Craig Co.,VA. Its elevation ranges from on the mountaintop to a low of .
It produces some of the water supply for Monroe County.
There are numerous sandstone outcroppings along the crest of the Peters Mountain and a number of high mountain bogs on Pine Swamp Ridge. The Mountain is primarily forested with upland
oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
,
yellow poplar
''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ''Liriodendron'' (the other ...
,
red oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...
, and
hickory.
The mountain was named for Peter Wright, who settled by the mountain in
Covington, Virginia
Covington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,737, making it the second-least populous city in Virginia. It is surrounded by Alleghany County, of which it is also the county seat ...
in 1746.
[Morton, Oren F. (1980) ''History of Monroe County West Virginia'', Regional Publishing Company pg. 280]
The
Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...
traverses part of the crest of Peters Mountain. The
Allegheny Trail
The Allegheny Trail is a hiking trail that passes through the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia, United States. It is the longest named trail in the state excepting the Appalachian Trail, of which traverses the state at Harper's Ferry.
The ...
also reaches its southern terminus here at the state boundary.
The
Peters Mountain Wilderness, lying on the east slope of Peters Mountain in Virginia and designated in 1984, now has a total of . It is managed by
Jefferson National Forest
The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover of land in the Appalachian Mountai ...
.
References
Geology studies By M. S. Meadows.
{{Mountains of West Virginia
Landforms of Alleghany County, Virginia
Landforms of Craig County, Virginia
Landforms of Giles County, Virginia
Landforms of Monroe County, West Virginia
Mountains of Virginia
Mountains of West Virginia