Rough Mountain Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area in the Warm Springs Ranger District of the
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
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 ...
. The wilderness area is located on Rough Mountain and consists of . Rough Mountain Wilderness ranges in elevation from to at Griffin Knob. The area has only one established hiking trail within its boundaries, and is characterized by steep slopes heading up to the ridgeline of Rough Mountain.
Recreation
Rough Mountain Wilderness is so difficult to access that it never receives much use other than during hunting season. In addition, the only reliable water sources exist just outside the Wilderness's boundaries and there are few flat spots suitable for camping.
The only established trail in the Rough Mountain Wilderness, the Crane Trail, starts from possibly "the most remote trailhead" in the George Washington National Forest. The trail itself only 3 miles long, but requires an out and back hike because private homes and hunting camps block access to
Virginia State Route 42
State Route 42 (SR 42) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Running parallel to and west of Interstate 81, SR 42 consists of three sections, with gaps filled by secondary routes in between. Some of SR 42 lies along the old ...
at the western end of the trail. The eastern trailhead is located next to railroad tracks leased by the
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III railroad, Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headqu ...
from
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
, so access to the trail from either terminus may not be possible without trespassing.
It may also be possible to bushwack across the ridge of Rough Mountain to Griffith Knob starting from a parking lot north of the Wilderness boundaries. This hike requires a 2.6 mile trek through an adjoining nonwilderness roadless area before reaching the Wilderness boundary. It has been described as possibly "the loneliest hike in Virginia" in one guidebook.
See also
*
List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
The National Wilderness Preservation System includes 803 wilderness areas protecting of federal land . They are managed by four agencies:
*United States National Park Service (NPS)
*United States Forest Service (USFS)
*United States Fish and Wild ...
*
Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...
References
External links
National Forest Web site
Wilderness.net
TopoQuest topographic map
Wikiloc record of hike on Crane Trail from Pad’s Creek to Rough Mountain ridgeline.Panoramio.com photo of Crane Trail’s eastern trailhead.
{{Protected Areas of Virginia
Wilderness areas of Virginia
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
Protected areas of Alleghany County, Virginia
Protected areas of Bath County, Virginia