Sleepy Creek Mountain is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

in the

Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division and are also a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending ...

on the border between

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

and Berkeley counties in the

Eastern Panhandle The Eastern Panhandle is the eastern of the two panhandles in the U.S. state of West Virginia; the other is the Northern Panhandle. It is a small stretch of territory in the northeast of the state, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Some sources ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. The long-distance Tuscarora Trail traverses the southern ridge and northern bench of the mountain. Together with

Third Hill Mountain Third Hill Mountain is both the highest and most topographically prominent mountain in Berkeley County within the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Third Hill Mountain reaches its highest elevation of above sea-level southeast of the "Locks ...

to the east, the two mountains form a

blind valley A steephead valley, steephead or blind valley is a deep, narrow, flat bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. Such closed valleys may arise in limestone or karst landscapes, where a layer of permeable rock lies above an impermeable substract such ...

that contains

Sleepy Creek Lake Sleepy Creek Lake is a impoundment of the Meadow Branch of Sleepy Creek in Berkeley County in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The reservoir is located entirely within the Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area. History Sleepy Creek Lake wa ...

and the

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area is located in Morgan and Berkeley Counties in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. It encompasses , mostly covered with mixed oak and pine forest, although about are covered with mixed hardwoods. The Sl ...

. Sleepy Creek and Third Hill Mountains are distinctive for their height in the relatively level terrain of the far Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Geography

The southern end of Sleepy Creek Mountain, Shockeys Knob (), lies in northern Frederick County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

and is shared by Berkeley and Morgan counties in West Virginia. The mountain continues along southwest–northeast orientation between the two counties and peaks again at High Rock (). Sleepy Creek Mountain is conjoined with Third Hill Mountain at "Locks-of-the-Mountain". From "Locks-of-the-Mountain", the

Meadow Branch Meadow Branch is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of Sleepy Creek in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle region. It passes through the ...

Sleepy Creek Sleepy Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary of the Potomac River in the United States, belonging to the Chesapeake Bay's watershed. The st ...

is formed flowing northward between the two mountain ridges. North of this point, Sleepy Creek Mountain reaches its highest summit at . East of Johnsons Mill, Whites Gap () is formed in mountain. With Sleepy Creek on its western flank, and Meadow Branch to its eastern flank, Sleepy Creek Mountain is then located entirely in Morgan County. Sleepy Creek Mountain's northern end lies at the confluence of Sleepy Creek and its Meadow Branch. Just south of its northern terminus, on the eastern flank is the Devils Nose Rock formation (not to be confused with the nearby Devil's Nose Mountain), which juts out into the Meadow Branch gorge forcing a sharp bend in the creek.

Flora and fauna

Sleepy Creek Mountain is entirely forested with its woodlands consisting primarily of oaks, hickories, and

Virginia pine ''Pinus virginiana'', the Virginia pine, scrub pine, Jersey pine, Possum pine, is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The ...

Deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally d ...

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. ...

, and

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

are all prevalent species on the mountain ridge.

References

{{Mountains of West Virginia Ridges of West Virginia