Spice Run Wilderness

Spice Run Wilderness (SRW) is a U.S. Wilderness area within the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia in the United States. The remote area has no passenger car access.

Spice Run Wilderness
IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)[1]
The Greenbrier River (shown here downstream at Anthony) forms the western boundary of the wilderness.
Location of Spice Run Wilderness in West Virginia
LocationWest Virginia, United States
Coordinates38°02′35″N 80°13′59″W
Area6,030 acres (24.4 km2)[2]
Elevation1,965 ft (599 m)[3]
Established2009[4]
OperatorMonongahela National Forest
WebsiteMonongahela National Forest Wilderness Areas

Access

Users of SRW must enter it via the Greenbrier River (easily fordable at low-normal flows upstream of Spice Run), or by hiking in from the adjacent Calvin Price State Forest, or by driving a high-clearance vehicle to the southeastern corner of the Wilderness along Greenbrier County Route 16.[5]

History

Spice Run was named after a native shrub, Lindera benzoin — known as "spicebush" or "spicewood". The Spice Run Lumber Company created a logging boom town that harvested stands of timber to float down the Greenbrier River for the sawmills. So great were these log runs, that the waterways were choked.

In 2009, Spice Run was designated a Wilderness along with several other areas of Monongahela National Forest.[4]

Ecology

Aside from Spice Run, the Davy Run and Kincaid Run watersheds are within the Spice Run Wilderness. All three are native brook trout tributaries to the Greenbrier River. Besides fishing, camping, hiking, botany and bird watching are popular activities. There are at least 230 species of birds to watch. Nine animals are on the Federal list for endangered species or threatened species such as the northern flying squirrel.

Across the Greenbrier River rests the Greenbrier River Trail, maintained by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources along the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Greenbrier Subdivision. This portion still shows traces of the old lumber-mill on the banks where the flow of logs was controlled. Of the original community of Spice Run, only one house remains standing.

References
  1. "Spice Run Wilderness". Protected Planet. IUCN. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  2. "Spice Run Wilderness Map" (PDF). U.S. Forest Service. 2008-03-11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  3. "Spice Run". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 1980-06-27. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
  4. "Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  5. Steelhammer, Rick (2009-10-31). "Spice Run Wilderness: Truly wild, wonderful West Virginia". Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved 2009-11-01.

See also
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