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.
Roaring Plains West Wilderness
6,792 acres of high plateau immediately south of Dolly Sods, running from 3,000 feet on the southern edge to over 4,700 feet at the top of Mount Porte Crayon. The same bog, heath and wind-flagged spruce as its famous neighbour, with a fraction of the visitors, because the way in is harder: Forest Road 70 is gated and open only during the autumn hunting season, so most of the year the approach is on foot from Forest Road 19 or Bonner Mountain Road.
Know before you go
- The Forest Service publishes no total trail mileage here — Flatrock Run Trail 519 is the main named route
- From Petersburg: WV 28/55 to Jordan Run Road, a mile to FR 19, six miles to FR 75, then a mile to FR 70
- Groups over ten are prohibited, as in every Monongahela wilderness
- Removing plants, stone or moss is prohibited
What you can do here
Guides, gear and lodging near Roaring Plains West Wilderness
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Potomac Highlands
Dolly Sods Wilderness
A 17,371-acre federally designated wilderness on a plateau largely above 4,000 feet, containing wind-flagged red spruce, heath barrens, sphagnum bog and exposed rock.
Bear Rocks Preserve
The northern edge of the Dolly Sods plateau, owned by The Nature Conservancy: bare Pottsville sandstone slabs, one-sided spruce sculpted by prevailing wind, and blueberry heath dropping east into the Allegheny Front with a 3,000-foot view over the Potomac Highlands.
Spruce Knob
At 4,863 feet, the highest point in West Virginia and the high point of the entire Allegheny range.
Seneca Rocks
A 900-foot fin of near-vertical Tuscarora quartzite standing above the North Fork of the South Branch — the most recognizable rock formation in the eastern United States and the only true summit in the East that can only be reached by technical climbing.
Seneca Creek Backcountry
A network of trails below Spruce Knob following Seneca Creek through spruce and northern hardwood to a series of waterfalls, the largest around 20 feet.
Blackwater Falls State Park
A 57-foot falls where the Blackwater River drops into an eight-mile canyon, its water stained amber by hemlock and spruce tannins.