| Spruce Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Spruce Mountain (in the distance) beyond theRiver Knobs (Judy Rocks, foreground) and the Fore Knobs (middle distance) | |
| Highest point | |
| Peak | Spruce Knob, Pendleton County, West Virginia |
| Elevation | 4,863 ft (1,482 m) |
| Coordinates | 38°41′59″N79°31′58″W / 38.69972°N 79.53278°W /38.69972; -79.53278 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 16 mi (26 km)approximately |
| Geography | |
  Spruce Mountain Location ofSpruce Mountain in West Virginia | |
| Country | United States |
| State | West Virginia |
| County | Pendleton |
| Range coordinates | 38°45′N79°29′W / 38.750°N 79.483°W /38.750; -79.483 |
| Parent range | Allegheny Mountains, part of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians |
| Topo map | USGS |
Spruce Mountain, located in easternWest Virginia, is the highestridge of theAllegheny Mountains. The whale-backed ridge extends for only 16 miles (26 km) from northeast to southwest, but several of its peaks exceed 4,500 feet (1,400 m) in elevation. The summit,Spruce Knob (4,863 ft; 1,482 m),[1] is the highest point both in West Virginia and in the entire Allegheny range, which spans four states.
Spruce Mountain lies mostly within theSpruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, aU.S. National Recreation Area (NRA) located within theMonongahela National Forest (MNF) inPendleton County. It extends from the vicinity ofOnego in the north to nearCherry Grove in the south. Brushy Run separates Timber Ridge — a spur of the main mountain — to the east. The ridgelines of Spruce Mountain and Timber Ridge continue to the north ofUS Route 33 as Hoffman Ridge and Smith Mountain, respectively. To the south (south ofWest Virginia 28) the line continues as Big Mountain.
Prominent peaks of Spruce Mountain, north to south, are Horse Rock (4,536 ft; 1,383 m), Spruce Mountain Peak (4,586 ft; 1,398 m), Picea Benchmark (4,613 ft; 1,406 m), and Spruce Knob itself. Spruce Knob is the highest point in the eastern United States between theAdirondacks ofNew York andMount Rogers (part of theBlue Ridge Mountains) in southernVirginia.
The summit of Spruce Knob has a definitealpine feel, much more so than most other mountains of the southernAppalachians. The upper few hundred feet are covered in a densespruce forest, a relicboreal forest environment similar to those found in northernNew England andCanada. The summit is accessible both via trails and a pavedForest Service road, and is crowned with a stone lookout tower amid a mixture of boulder fields, meadows and trees. A handicap-accessible nature trail one-half mile (0.80 km) long circles the topmost part of the mountain. High west winds near the summit have gnarled the spruce there likeKrummholz,flagged with limbs only on their leeward (eastward) side.
As is typical in the southern Appalachians, the highest point on a ridge is frequently referred to as a knob or dome. Spruce Knob is the highest point along a ridge known as theAllegheny Front. Dropping steeply to the east, it offers views of theGermany Valley andNorth Fork Mountain; to the west is theAllegheny Plateau. It also is the highest point in theChesapeake Bay Watershed.
Like the rest of this part of theAppalachian Mountains, Spruce Knob began to form with the breakup ofPangea I. The African Plate separated from the North American Plate opening the Proto-Atlantic Ocean. The North American Plate stretched and thinned, allowing it to backfill with a shallow inland sea. About 50 million years later, with theTaconic Orogeny, the two plates reversed course and began to move towards each other. Mid-ocean subduction created a volcanic arc (now known as theBlue Ridge Mountains) which eventually collided with the North American Plate. The arc fused onto the continent and the land to the west was uplifted.[2]
The accumulation of shells and other hard parts of marine organisms (made of CaCO3,calcium carbonate) at the bottom of the shallow inland sea cemented into a layer ofGreenbrier Limestone. The shallow inland sea began to retreat with the uplift. This caused fine grains of mud and silt to settle out and lithify into a layer of Mauch Chunk Shale on top of the Greenbrier Limestone. As the Blue Ridge eroded, rivers carried sediment down to the low-lying areas that formed a layer ofPottsville Conglomerate on top of the shale. The large boulders on the summit are remnants of this layer, and outcrops of both Mauch Chunk Shale and Greenbrier Limestone can be found lower on the mountain.[3]
When the North American and African Plates finally collided around 250 mya, it caused a massive uplift that folded and faulted these layers of sedimentary rock. Spruce Knob was originally in the bottom (syncline) of one of these folds, but over time cracks in the Pottsville Conglomerate in the higher elevations allowed it to erode quickly, and the softer layers of shale and limestone were quick to follow. This left Spruce Knob as the highest point in the landscape. Spruce Knob (Spruce Mountain) is the westernmost extent of this intense folding and faulting. To the west, theAllegheny Plateau is composed of more gently sloping hills and dendritic drainages.[2]
Spruce Knob's climate can be classified ascold continental orhighland. Summers are cool and often damp, with thunderstorms common both in spring and summer. Winters are cold and snowy, with an average of around 180 inches (4.6 m) of annual snowfall leaving the summit access road often impassible between October and April. Blizzard conditions can develop in minutes behind cold frontal passages and last days with upslope snowfall continuing with northwest winds, making travel on the mountain dangerous during the colder months.[4] This mountain can receive high winds year-round; red spruce deformed by constant exposure to strong westerly winds are scattered across its rocky ridges.[5]
As with almost the entirety of the MNF, most of the original Spruce Mountain upland forest was completely denuded by logging around the turn of the 20th century and now consists of second- or third-growth forest. (The only documented exception to this on the Mountain is the 17-acre (69,000 m2) North Spruce Mountain Old Growth Site.[6]) The presentsecond-growth forest of Spruce Mountain is characterized by a dominance ofsugar maple (Acer saccharum),American beech (Fagus grandifolia), andyellow birch (Betula lutea). Other characteristic species of themixed mesophytic forest region are also present:tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera),basswood (Tilia heterophylla,T.floridana,T. neglecta),chestnut (Castanea dentata),yellow buckeye (Aesculus flava),red oak (Quercus borealis),white oak (Q. alba), andeastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). The upper reaches of Spruce Mountain also include areas termednorthern hardwood andnorthern evergreen forest types. The former is typified by red oak,white ash (Fraxinus americana),basswood (Tilia spp.),red maple (Acer rubrum), andcherry (Prunus spp.). The latter is dominated by the Mountain'seponymousred spruce (Picea rubens).[7] While not extending above thetimberline, the stunted tree growth high on this windy mountaintop is relatively open.
The summit was named for the spruce trees which grow there.[8] Red spruce (Picea rubens) is the most common tree species on the summit. The lower altitudes are populated byoak,hickory,birch,beech andmaple.
Bald eagles,hawks andperegrine falcons have been seen on the mountain. Mammals such asblack bear,white-tailed deer,weasel,porcupine,skunk andrabbit are also found. The important presence ofruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) on the Mountain has been acknowledged by the establishment of the 1,750-acre (7.1 km2) Spruce Mountain Grouse Management Area by the MNF[9]
Spruce Knob is within theSpruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, which in turn is part ofMonongahela National Forest. Established in 1965, it was the firstNational Recreation Area designated by theU.S. Forest Service and includes more than 100,000 acres (40,000 ha).
There are over 75 miles (121 km) of hiking trails around the mountain and a small 25-acre (10 ha) lake well stocked with trout on the west side of the mountain. Two campgrounds are also on the mountain.[10][11]
Hiking trails — Huckleberry Trail, Lumberjack Trail, Spruce Mountain Trail — extend the length of the ridge. There are over 75 miles (121 km) of trails around the Mountain and a small 25 acres (10 hectares) lake well stocked with trout on the west side. There are also two campgrounds on the Mountain; the larger (43 sites) is nearest the lake.
Paved access is fromU.S. Route 33/West Virginia Route 28 about 2 miles (3.2 km) south ofRiverton. Briery Gap Road (County Route 33/4), Forest Road 112 and Forest Road 104 have been reconstructed and paved to provide a hard-surfaced road to the summit.[12][13]
Forest Roads 104 and 112 are not maintained in the winter.[14] Impassable conditions can be expected any time from mid-October to mid-April.
