Shavers Fork Mountain Complex is the name given to the mountains on either side of Shavers Fork in the highlands portions of Randolph County, Pocahontas County, and Tucker County in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, USA. Much of the land surrounding the river and its adjacent mountains is protected by

Monongahela National Forest The Monongahela National Forest is a U.S. National Forest, national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, US. It protects over of federally managed land within a proclamation boundary that includes much of the Po ...

including about of designated

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

Mountains

Cheat Mountain

Cheat Mountain Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is about long (north to south) and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its so ...

follows the western side of Shavers Fork from Thorny Flat in Pocahontas County north to near Parsons in Tucker County. This ridge separates the Shavers Fork valley from the

Tygart Valley River The Tygart Valley River — also known as the Tygart River — is a principal tributary of the Monongahela River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed A ...

valley. Its high point is at Thorny Flat. Another notable point is where the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike (present-day U.S. Route 250) crosses Cheat Mountain at White Top. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, it was home to the highest Union Army fortification of the war.

Shavers and Back Allegheny Mountains

Shavers Mountain and

Back Allegheny Mountain Back Allegheny Mountain is a long mountain ridge in eastern West Virginia. It is part of the Shavers Fork Mountain Complex in the Allegheny Mountains, Allegheny Range of the Appalachians. Geography Back Allegheny Mountain runs north to south a ...

are part of the same structural

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

that follows the eastern edge of Shavers Fork from Pocahontas County into Tucker County. North of U.S. Route 250, the ridge is known as Shavers Mountain; south, it is

. This ridge separates the Shavers Fork watershed, which eventually flows to the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

, from the Greenbrier River watershed, which eventually enters the

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of th ...

. One notable high point on Back Allegheny Mountain is Bald Knob, one of the highest points in the state. Just north of US 250 on Shavers Mountain is Gaudineer Knob, which provides scenic overviews of much of the Shavers Fork Mountain Complex. It is also home to the Gaudineer Scenic Area, a protected stand of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

trees.

Other mountains

Several other neighboring mountains are frequently considered to be part of the Shavers Fork Mountain Complex. * Bickle Knob * McGowan Mountain * Elk Mountain * Middle Mountain

History

Much of the Shavers Fork area was heavily timbered in the early 20th century after the

Western Maryland Railway The Western Maryland Railway was a small American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in 3 Southern United States, Southern US States, Maryland (Western Maryland, Western Region), West Virginia (Potomac Highlands of West Virginia, Easte ...

and Durbin subdivision of the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

opened, providing economic transport. By the 1930s, much of the land was completely denuded. This led to devastating floods and fires of the remaining trees. In the 1930s,

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

of the land began in ernest through

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

projects of the

Climate

The mountains in this area, particularly the Cheat and Back Allegheny, are notorious for their bad weather, especially in winter. Both record lows and record snowfall for the state of West Virginia have occurred here. Terrible storms and bitter cold are the norm from November to April, although it has been known to snow on the highest summits as early as mid-September and as late as June 7. Freezing temperatures and frost have occurred during every month and rime ice accumulations are common above . As a rule of thumb, "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes and it will change."

References

{{Mountains of West Virginia Mountains of West Virginia Allegheny Mountains Monongahela National Forest Protected areas of Randolph County, West Virginia Protected areas of Pocahontas County, West Virginia Protected areas of Tucker County, West Virginia Civilian Conservation Corps in West Virginia Mountains of Randolph County, West Virginia Mountains of Pocahontas County, West Virginia Landforms of Tucker County, West Virginia