Saint Mary's Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area in 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 next to the
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is America's longest linear park, runs for through 29 Virginia and North Carolina counties, linking Shenand ...
near the Parkway's northern terminus and consists of . Saint Mary's Wilderness is the largest Virginia Wilderness on national forest land.
Saint Mary's Wilderness ranges in elevation from about to . The area has about of hiking trails within or near its boundaries.
Saint Mary's Wilderness includes the drainages of Cellar Hollow, Spy Run, and the upper part of the Saint Mary's River. Each waterway is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
South River; via the
Maury and
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
rivers, which are part of the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
watershed.
History
The Saint Mary's River gorge was mined for manganese ore and iron ore from the early 1900s until the mines were abandoned in the 1950s. Scattered remains of the mining operations are still evident. Saint Mary's was designated a Wilderness as a part of the Virginia Wilderness Act of 1984.
Recreation
Saint Mary's Wilderness is particularly popular during summer due to a large number of waterfalls within its boundaries. Fishermen can take native trout from the Saint Mary's River.
There is an extensive network of hiking trails, including:
*Saint Mary's River Trail
*Saint Mary's Gorge Trail
*Mine Bank Creek Trail
*Cellar Mountain Trail
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
Hiking Upward website account of Saint Mary's hike
Wilderness.net
TopoQuest topographic map
Details of a joint Forest Service/James Madison University project to lime streams in Saint Mary's Wilderness
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Protected areas of Augusta County, Virginia
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
IUCN Category Ib
Wilderness areas of Virginia
Protected areas established in 1984
1984 establishments in Virginia