Located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, Monongahela National Forest encompasses 921,000 acres, with elevations ranging from just under 1,000 to 4,863 feet above sea level. The Forest includes much of the Potomac Highlands Region and major landform features such as the Allegheny Front and the western portion of the ridge-and-valley Appalachians. The highest mountain in West Virginia, Spruce Knob, rises from the Monongahela and is also the highest peak in the Allegheny Mountains.
Almost all of the trees in the Monongahela are second-growth forest that have re-established after the land was heavily logged around the start of the 20th century; nonetheless, the Forest is home to 75 tree species. Important species include red spruce, balsam fir, and mountain ash.
The Forest also includes eight wilderness areas:
- Big Draft Wilderness
- Cranberry Wilderness
- Dolly Sods Wilderness
- Laurel Fork North Wilderness
- Laurel Fork South Wilderness
- Otter Creek Wilderness
- Roaring Plains West Wilderness
- Spice Run Wilderness
The Monongahela National Forest was established following passage of the 1911 Weeks Act, which authorized the purchase of land for long-term watershed protection and natural resource management following the massive cutting of Eastern forests in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1915, the 7,200-acre Monongahela Purchase began the process that culminated in the establishment of the Monongahela National Forest in 1920.
From the 1890s to the 1920s, whitetail deer were hunted almost to extinction in the Alleghenies. In January 1930, eight deer from Michigan were released into the Forest, and from 1937 to 1939, 17 more deer were introduced. These releases established healthy breeding populations in eastern West Virginia. Popular recreation activities in the Forest include hiking, mountain biking, camping, horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing.
Photo: Amid early autumn foliage, water from Hills Creek cascades over Lower Falls in Monongahela National Forest.
