East Fork Of Greenbrier

The East Fork Greenbrier roadless area encompasses 7,167 acres of the Monongahela National Forest in the montane highlands of West Virginia. Three peaks define the terrain: Burner Mountain at 4,295 feet, Colaw Knob at 4,214 feet, and Poca Ridge at 4,183 feet. The landscape drains northward through the headwaters of the East Fork Greenbrier River, a system fed by ten named tributaries including Abes Run, Mullenax Run, Poca Run, and Grassy Run. These streams originate in high-elevation seeps and spring runs, carving through Fivemile Hollow and other drainage systems that shape the area's hydrology. Water moves rapidly downslope through narrow valleys, creating the cool, moist conditions that define the forest communities below.

The forest composition shifts with elevation and moisture availability. At higher elevations and on north-facing slopes, Upland Red Spruce Forest dominates, with red spruce (Picea rubens) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) forming the canopy. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), near threatened (IUCN), occurs in moist coves and along stream corridors, creating dense shade that suppresses understory growth. At mid-elevations, Northern Hardwood Forest and Mixed Mesophytic Forest prevail, with sugar maple (Acer saccharum), American beech (Fagus grandifolia), and striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum) in the understory. Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and hobblebush (Viburnum lantanoides) form a dense shrub layer. The forest floor supports hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobata), intermediate wood fern (Dryopteris intermedia), mountain wood sorrel (Oxalis montana), and painted trillium (Trillium undulatum). In rare, open Acidic Sandstone Riverscour Shrub-Prairie communities, Virginia spiraea (Spiraea virginiana), threatened under the Endangered Species Act, persists in specialized microhabitats along stream edges.

The area supports a diverse fauna adapted to its cool, forested landscape and flowing waters. The federally endangered Virginia big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus) and Northern Long-Eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis) hunt insects above the forest canopy and along stream corridors. The federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) pollinates flowering plants in forest gaps and clearings. Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) inhabit the cold, clear tributary streams, where they feed on aquatic invertebrates. The federally endangered candy darter (Etheostoma osburni), for which critical habitat has been designated, occupies shallow pools and riffles in these same streams. Salamanders—including the Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus), Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus), and Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)—shelter under logs and stones in riparian zones, where they prey on small invertebrates. American black bears (Ursus americanus) move through the forest, feeding on mast and vegetation. Magnolia warblers (Setophaga magnolia) nest in the coniferous canopy, hunting for insects among the branches.

Walking through this landscape, a visitor experiences distinct ecological transitions. Following Abes Run or Mullenax Run upstream, the forest darkens as eastern hemlock becomes dominant, the stream's sound growing louder in the narrowing valley. The air cools noticeably; the understory opens where hemlock shade is deepest. Climbing toward Burner Mountain or Colaw Knob, the forest shifts to red spruce and yellow birch, with mountain laurel thickening the understory. On ridgelines, the canopy opens slightly, allowing light to reach the shrub layer. Descending into Fivemile Hollow or other drainage systems, the forest transitions again—sugar maple and American beech replace spruce, and the diversity of ferns and wildflowers increases. Throughout, the sound of running water is rarely absent, a constant reminder of the streams that define this terrain and sustain its biological communities.

Indigenous peoples used this region for thousands of years, primarily for hunting and resource extraction. The Shawnee maintained a commanding presence in the Greenbrier Valley through the 18th century, regarding these lands as vital hunting grounds. The Iroquois Confederacy, particularly the Seneca, claimed the region by right of conquest during the Beaver Wars and controlled the Seneca Trail, a major north-south trade and warfare route that passed through the area. The Cherokee and Mingo also hunted in these valleys, and the Delaware and Saponi traversed the broader Allegheny region. Archaeological surveys have documented lithic scatters—debris from stone tool sharpening—indicating that hunters repaired and manufactured tools from local chert outcrops. High-elevation rockshelters confirm Indigenous use from the Paleoindian period through the Late Woodland period. By the 18th century, the Greenbrier Valley was recognized by multiple tribes as a shared hunting territory rather than a site for large permanent settlements.

Between 1890 and 1920, industrial logging transformed the landscape. Specialized Shay geared locomotives operated on narrow-gauge railroad grades to extract nearly all virgin red spruce and hardwood forests from the Allegheny Mountains. Logging railroads penetrated virtually every hollow and ridge in the region. Hemlock bark harvested during these operations supplied local tanneries for leather production. The town of Cass, established in 1900 by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, served as a company town supporting this extraction. By the mid-1920s, the area was "timbered out," leaving vast amounts of debris that fueled devastating wildfires and erosion on denuded slopes.

The federal government responded to environmental catastrophe caused by logging and the devastating floods of 1907. Congress passed the Weeks Act of 1911, which authorized the federal purchase of "cut-over" and "burnt-over" lands to protect the headwaters of navigable streams. The first 7,200-acre tract was purchased in Tucker County on November 26, 1915. President Woodrow Wilson formally established the Monongahela National Forest on April 28, 1920, by presidential proclamation, initially comprising approximately 54,000 acres. Subsequent proclamations in 1927, 1928, and 1936 refined and expanded the forest boundaries.

Between 1933 and 1942, the Civilian Conservation Corps conducted extensive restoration work throughout the forest, planting millions of trees on denuded slopes, constructing fire breaks, trails, and fire towers such as the one on Thorny Mountain. During the 1930s and early 1940s, the forest expanded dramatically from approximately 262,000 acres to over 806,000 acres. On September 28, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 89-207, establishing the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area within the forest's boundaries.

This 7,167-acre area is now designated as an Inventoried Roadless Area under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The Monongahela National Forest currently encompasses over 921,000 acres across 10 West Virginia counties, managed to protect the watershed and forest ecosystems while allowing regulated timber and mineral activities in non-protected zones.

Vital Resources Protected

Candy Darter Spawning Habitat in Headwater Streams

The East Fork of Greenbrier contains critical habitat for the federally endangered candy darter, a small fish found nowhere else in the world outside a handful of West Virginia streams. Candy darters depend on clean gravel beds in cool, clear headwater tributaries—the very streams that originate in this roadless area. The candy darter's survival depends on the absence of fine sediment that smothers spawning substrate; even modest increases in sedimentation from erosion eliminate successful reproduction. This roadless area's intact forest canopy and undisturbed slopes are the primary mechanism maintaining the low-sediment, high-quality water conditions that candy darters require.

Eastern Hemlock-Dominated Forest Refugia for Bat Species

Four federally endangered bat species—gray bat, Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, and Virginia big-eared bat—depend on the mature forest structure and cave systems associated with the East Fork watershed. Eastern hemlock, classified as near threatened (IUCN), forms dense, structurally complex stands in this area that provide critical roosting and foraging habitat for these bats. The hemlock woolly adelgid and other forest pests are already degrading hemlock stands across the region; the roadless condition preserves the remaining intact hemlock forest from fragmentation and edge effects that would accelerate pest impacts and reduce the connectivity these mobile species need to move between roosting and feeding areas.

High-Elevation Red Spruce Ecosystem Connectivity

The upland red spruce forests on Burner Mountain, Colaw Knob, and Poca Ridge represent a rare, climate-sensitive ecosystem in West Virginia. These high-elevation forests serve as refugia for species adapted to cooler conditions and provide elevational connectivity that allows species to shift their ranges as climate changes. Road construction and associated canopy removal would fragment this already-limited habitat type, isolating populations of sensitive species and reducing the landscape's capacity to buffer against climate-driven range shifts. The roadless condition preserves the continuous forest structure necessary for species like the rusty patched bumble bee and small whorled pogonia to persist across elevation gradients.

Hydrological Integrity of the Upper Greenbrier North Watershed

The East Fork of Greenbrier and its tributaries (Abes Run, Mullenax Run, Poca Run, Grassy Run, Walderman Run, Bearwallow Run, Lick Run, Campbell Run, and Long Run) form the headwater network of the Upper Greenbrier North watershed. Historical logging from 1880–1920 created incised channels—streams cut deep into the ground, disconnected from their floodplains—that continue to erode and destabilize. The USFS Aquatics Restoration Project identified the need to decommission 12 miles of roads in this watershed specifically to reduce ongoing sedimentation. The roadless condition prevents new road-related erosion from compounding this legacy damage and allows the restoration work already underway to succeed without interference from new disturbance.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation of Candy Darter Critical Habitat

Road construction in mountainous terrain generates sedimentation through two mechanisms: cut slopes expose bare soil that erodes into streams during precipitation events, and road surfaces themselves shed sediment during runoff. In the East Fork's steep terrain, sediment from road cuts and fills would travel directly into the headwater tributaries where candy darters spawn. Fine sediment smothers the gravel beds where candy darters lay eggs, preventing oxygen from reaching developing embryos and causing reproductive failure. Because candy darters exist only in a few isolated streams, sedimentation from road construction in their critical habitat could eliminate an entire population with no possibility of recolonization from other areas.

Canopy Loss and Stream Temperature Increase in Hemlock-Bat Habitat

Road construction requires removal of forest canopy along the road corridor and in associated cut-and-fill areas. Loss of shade-providing trees causes stream water temperature to increase—a direct consequence of reduced canopy cover over riparian areas. The four federally endangered bat species that roost in hemlock forests depend on cool, humid microclimates within those forests for thermoregulation; elevated stream temperatures also reduce aquatic insect productivity, the primary food source for these bats. In an area where hemlock is already threatened by woolly adelgid, road-induced canopy loss would create additional thermal stress on both the forest ecosystem and the bat species that depend on it.

Habitat Fragmentation and Edge Effects in Red Spruce Refugia

Road construction fragments continuous forest into isolated patches separated by open corridors. In the high-elevation red spruce forests on Burner Mountain and Colaw Knob, fragmentation creates edge effects—increased light penetration, wind exposure, and temperature fluctuation at forest margins—that degrade the cool, stable microhabitat required by species like the rusty patched bumble bee and small whorled pogonia. Fragmentation also breaks the elevational connectivity that allows species to track climate-driven shifts in suitable habitat. Once fragmented, these high-elevation ecosystems are extremely difficult to restore because the landscape structure that supports them develops over centuries; road removal does not restore the ecological continuity that road construction destroys.

Culvert Barriers and Loss of Aquatic Connectivity

Road crossings of streams require culverts or bridges. Culverts frequently become barriers to fish movement, particularly for small species like the candy darter and for aquatic macroinvertebrates that serve as food for bats and other wildlife. Even when culverts do not completely block passage, they alter stream hydraulics and temperature, creating inhospitable conditions. The green floater (proposed threatened), a freshwater mussel, depends on connectivity between stream reaches to complete its life cycle; culvert barriers fragment mussel populations and prevent genetic exchange. In a watershed already degraded by legacy incised channels, new culvert barriers would further isolate the remaining populations of sensitive aquatic species and prevent the restoration benefits of the ongoing Aquatics Restoration Project from reaching downstream habitat.

The East Fork of Greenbrier encompasses 7,167 acres of mountainous terrain in the Monongahela National Forest, with elevations ranging from 3,924 to 4,295 feet across Burner Mountain, Colaw Knob, and Poca Ridge. The area's network of maintained trails, cold-water fisheries, and remote forest habitat support a range of backcountry recreation that depends entirely on the roadless condition.

Hiking and Trail Access

Three maintained trails provide access to the area's river corridor and high ridges. The East Fork Trail (365) is the primary route—an 8-mile single-track following an old logging railroad grade along the East Fork of the Greenbrier River. The trail is rated moderate to difficult due to elevation changes and stream crossings at mile 2.5 and near mile 6; the first crossing can be avoided by staying on the east bank for 300 yards. The final section climbs steeply to Pig's Ear Road (FR 254). Hikers encounter hemlock stands, pine plantations, and floodplain fields, with numerous small waterfalls visible along the river. The trail becomes very wet and muddy during spring runoff and winter thaw. Access the southern trailhead at Island Campground (off SR 28); the northern trailhead is at Pig's Ear Road (FR 254), reached via FR 112. A mid-point access exists at Abe's Run Road (FR 51) near mile 5, where dispersed camping sites are available.

The Burner Mountain Trail (322) is a 3.2-mile route rated intermediate for mountain biking, though hiking is the primary use. It descends from a high point of 4,286 feet to 3,924 feet and connects to the Span Oak Trail (321). The Poca Run Trail (335) is a shorter 1.1-mile option. Both trails access the high-elevation forest ecosystem. Trailheads for Burner Mountain are located at the Burner Mountain Trailhead. Island Campground, a primitive 12-site facility with vault toilets and fire rings (open mid-April through November), serves as the primary base for hiking access; 10 sites are drive-in, and 2 are walk-in.

The roadless condition preserves the quiet, undisturbed character of these trails. The East Fork Trail in particular offers an 8-mile walk-in experience away from motorized traffic, with stream crossings and elevation changes that reward backcountry effort. Road construction would fragment the river corridor and eliminate the remote hiking experience that makes this area distinct.

Fishing

The East Fork of the Greenbrier River supports brook trout, rainbow trout, and brown trout, with the stocked section extending from the County Route 28/19 bridge upstream to Island Campground. The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources stocks the main stem with rainbow and brown trout once in February, bi-weekly from March through May, and weekly for two weeks in October. Headwater tributaries including Abes Run, Mullenax Run, and Poca Run support native brook trout populations in cold, high-elevation reaches. Long Run, adjacent to Island Campground, is a documented fishing spot. Buffalo Fork Lake (22 acres) is a nearby impoundment supporting trout.

The East Fork Trail provides walk-in access to remote sections of the river, allowing anglers to reach pockets and holes away from roadside crowds. Fly fishing—both wet and dry techniques—is the primary method. Anglers 15 years and older must possess a valid West Virginia fishing license and trout stamp. The area is also documented habitat for the candy darter, a species of conservation concern in the Greenbrier watershed.

The roadless status is essential to this fishery's appeal. The walk-in sections along the East Fork Trail are specifically valued by backcountry anglers seeking to avoid crowds. Road access to the river corridor would eliminate the remote fishing experience and increase pressure on wild brook trout populations in the headwater tributaries.

Hunting

The area supports populations of American black bear, white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, and squirrel (gray, black, and fox). Hunting is permitted according to West Virginia state regulations. The 2025–2026 season dates for Pocahontas County include deer archery/crossbow (September 27–December 31), buck firearms (November 24–December 7), black bear archery/crossbow (September 27–December 31), fall wild turkey (split seasons starting October 11), and ruffed grouse (October 18–February 28). New for 2025–2026, one leashed dog and unmanned aerial vehicles are permitted for tracking mortally wounded deer, bear, or turkey.

Access for hunters follows the same trail and road network as hikers: Island Campground, the East Fork Trail, Pig's Ear Road (FR 254), and Forest Service Road 51. The area is noted as a sought-after destination for hunters seeking remote opportunities away from motorized vehicle traffic.

The roadless condition is central to the hunting experience here. The absence of roads preserves the quiet, undisturbed forest habitat that supports healthy game populations and allows hunters to pursue animals in a backcountry setting. Road construction would fragment habitat, increase access pressure, and eliminate the remote character that makes this area valuable for hunting.

Birding

The area supports breeding species including magnolia warbler, red-eyed vireo, and black-throated green warbler in the river bottom and high-elevation forests. High-elevation specialties with northern affinities include winter wren, veery, hermit thrush, Swainson's thrush, dark-eyed junco, and yellow-rumped warbler. Common raven and chimney swift are documented flying over the area. Nearby high-elevation sites suggest the potential presence of northern goshawk, saw-whet owl, olive-sided flycatcher, and red crossbill. During migration, the Monongahela National Forest serves as crucial stopover habitat for blackburnian, Canada, and mourning warblers.

The East Fork Trail provides access through river-bottom and forest habitats for birding. The area is located in the Elkins and Pendleton County Christmas Bird Count circles. Pocahontas County, where the roadless area is situated, is documented as having some of the darkest skies on the East Coast due to low population density and location within the National Radio Quiet Zone.

The roadless condition preserves the interior forest habitat that supports breeding warblers and other species sensitive to fragmentation. Road construction would degrade the quiet forest environment essential to these birds' breeding success and would increase human disturbance during critical nesting periods.

Photography and Scenic Features

The East Fork Trail is described as scenic, following the river corridor through hemlock stands and pine plantations for 8 miles. The trail passes numerous small waterfalls and stream crossings at mile 2.5 and near mile 6. Wild service berries (mountain blueberries) ripen along the entire East Fork Trail corridor and are visible during their season. The steep climb to Pig's Ear Road (FR 254) provides a high-elevation access point. Burner Mountain, Colaw Knob, and Poca Ridge are documented high-elevation features (4,183–4,295 feet) within the roadless area, though no specific named scenic overlooks are formally established.

The area is located in Pocahontas County, which contains three official International Dark Sky Parks (Watoga State Park, Calvin Price State Forest, and Droop Mountain Battlefield) and is documented as having some of the darkest skies on the East Coast. The U.S. Forest Service has used historic aerial imagery dating to 1945 to document red spruce regrowth and forest disturbance in the East Fork and Mullenax Run watersheds.

The roadless condition preserves the scenic river corridor and forest character that photographers value. Road construction would introduce visual intrusion into the hemlock and spruce forest, degrade the quiet atmosphere, and fragment the continuous forest habitat that defines the area's photographic appeal.