Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.
West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.
Almost Heaven Swings
The same plateau, cut by a gate
Roaring Plains West sits immediately south of Dolly Sods, and the two wildernesses carry the same country: high-elevation sphagnum bog, heath barren and wind-flagged red spruce. Dolly Sods covers 17,371 acres on a plateau largely above 4,000 feet. Roaring Plains West covers 6,792 acres and climbs from 3,000 feet on its southern edge to over 4,700 feet at the top of Mount Porte Crayon.
What separates them is the way in. Forest Road 70 is gated and open only during the autumn hunting season, so for most of the year Roaring Plains is reached on foot from Forest Road 19 or Bonner Mountain Road. Dolly Sods trailheads sit along Forest Roads 19 and 75, which is most of the reason one plateau is busy and the other is not.
From Petersburg the driving line toward Roaring Plains is WV 28/55 to Jordan Run Road, a mile to FR 19, six miles to FR 75, then a mile to FR 70. Whether that last mile is drivable depends on the season. Budget more time than the map suggests for any of it: sixty road miles in this state can take two hours.
Trail mileage is published in one and not the other
Dolly Sods has 47 miles of trail in all. Red Creek runs 6.4 miles, Blackbird Knob 4.7 and Rohrbaugh 3.6, which is enough to build a multi-night loop on paper before you leave the house.
The Forest Service publishes no total trail mileage for Roaring Plains West, and Flatrock Run Trail 519 is the main named route. If you want a loop there, ask the Monongahela National Forest what is currently signed and passable rather than trusting a line drawn on a map.
Permits, camping and group limits
No permit is required to hike either wilderness, and dispersed backcountry camping is permitted across most of the Monongahela National Forest without a permit, subject to setback rules from roads, trails and water and to stay limits.
The setbacks are where the two differ in detail. In Dolly Sods, camping is prohibited within 300 feet of Forest Roads 19 and 75, except at Red Creek Campground, so a dispersed night means walking in from the road. Roaring Plains is dispersed camping only, and removing plants, stone or moss is prohibited there. Groups over ten are prohibited in both, as in every Monongahela wilderness.
Monongahela National Forest campgrounds reserve on Recreation.gov rather than through the state parks system. Wherever you sleep, camp on bare rock, an established site or forest duff well away from wet ground: high-elevation bog and heath take decades to heal from a single season of trampling.
Navigation, cell service and the road to Bear Rocks
Wilderness trails in the Monongahela are unblazed by design and junctions are frequently unsigned. In Dolly Sods that means faint tread across all 47 miles, unbridged stream crossings, and a tannin-brown Red Creek whose crossings can be impassable after rain. Roaring Plains asks for the same map, compass and the ability to use them.
Assume no cell service on either plateau. Download offline maps in Gaia, onX or Avenza before you leave pavement; a satellite messenger is not overkill for a wilderness trip here. Rescue means volunteer squads and a long carry-out, so leave your plan and return time with somebody.
The drive is part of the difficulty. Forest Road 75 to Bear Rocks is the most notorious forest road in the state, several Highlands roads close seasonally, and low-clearance cars struggle on some of them. Check Monongahela National Forest road status before committing, and plan fuel stops in Pendleton and Randolph counties.
Weather, water and the hazards that ignore your choice
Hypothermia is a real risk in any month on both plateaus. Dolly Sods regularly runs twenty degrees colder than the valleys, with wind and driving rain in June. Carry insulation and a shell regardless of the forecast at the trailhead.
There is no potable water anywhere in Dolly Sods. Carry what you need or treat what Red Creek gives you. No water sources are published for Roaring Plains either, and silence there is not a promise, so plan to carry or treat on that side as well.
Two more things apply to both. Ticks are active any month above freezing in a state with high rates of Lyme disease, so treat clothing with permethrin and check after every outing. Dolly Sods was also a live-fire artillery range in World War II, and unexploded ordnance warnings are still posted at its trailheads.
When to go, and the orange-vest overlap
Mid-May through June is the strongest window on either plateau. Cerulean, Golden-winged and Blackburnian warblers are on territory in the spruce and hardwood by mid-May, and Dolly Sods is at its peak then. Late September starts fall color on the highest ridges, and October is the busiest period of the year, with lodging in Davis booked months ahead.
The Roaring Plains access window carries a catch. Forest Road 70 opens for the autumn hunting season, which is exactly the stretch when public land outside state parks is heavily hunted. Wear blaze orange from October through January and put orange on the dog.
Winter and early spring narrow both options. Snow covers unblazed tread entirely, high-elevation trailheads may still be snowed in through March and April, and lower trails run muddy. November and December empty the trails out completely.
Which of the two to pick
Take Dolly Sods for a first visit, for photography, and for any trip where measured mileage matters. Bear Rocks at sunrise is the picture, which means arriving in the dark and navigating faint trail to be standing there when it happens.
Choose Roaring Plains for solitude, for climbing, and for navigation practice where a mistake is yours alone to solve. The gradient from 3,000 feet to over 4,700 feet means day hikes there climb rather than traverse. Autumn hunters get the one window when FR 70 is open and the walk-in is short.
On one thing the records genuinely cannot separate them: neither wilderness has a published species list, and the bog, heath and spruce are the same communities on both sides of the boundary. They are the same habitat with a different number of boots on it.
Reach people planning this trip
Placement alongside guides for outfitters, guides, shops and lodging.
List your business hereQuestions
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