The Shawvers Run Wilderness, a 5784-acre area located less than one mile south of Potts Creek, Virginia, is protected by the

Eastern Wilderness Act The Eastern Wilderness Areas Act () was signed into law by President Gerald Ford on January 3, 1975. The Act designated 16 new wilderness areas in the Eastern United States, including of wilderness on national lands in 13 states ...

of Congress to maintain its present, natural condition. As part of the

National Wilderness Preservation System The National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) of the United States protects federal government of the United States, federally managed Wilderness, wilderness areas designated for preservation in their natural condition. Activity on formally ...

, it helps to preserve a variety of natural life forms and contributes to a diversity of plant and animal gene pools. Over half of the ecosystems in the United States exist within designated wilderness.Wilderness.org
Why Wilderness? , Wilderness.org
accessdate: March 13, 2017General Information
Wilderness.net - Shawvers Run Wilderness - General Information
accessdate: March 13, 2017 A viewpoint on Hanging Rock overlooks the Shawvers Run Wilderness, Hanging Rock Valley, Peters Mountain Wilderness, and Potts Creek Valley. The area is part of the ''

Barbours Creek-Shawvers Run Cluster The Barbours Creek-Shawvers Run Cluster is a region in the Jefferson National Forest recognized by The Wilderness Society (United States), The Wilderness Society for its unique high elevation mountains, vistas, trout streams and wildlife habitat. ...

''.

Location and access

Located in the Eastern Divide Ranger District of the Jefferson National Forest, the wilderness falls between the crest of Potts Mountain on the southeast and Va 18 on the northwest.Covington, Alleghany Highlands

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover of land in the Appalachian Moun ...

Covington, Alleghany Highlands
George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, accessdate: March 13, 2017 The only official trail in the area, the Hanging Rock Trail, is a 0.7 mile hike to a viewpoint over the area from Hanging Rock. The trailhead is on Forest Service Road 177–1. The Valley Branch Trail is an unofficial trail, 2.7 miles long, with a trailhead on Forest Service Road 177-1

Natural History

Populations of native brook trout are found in Valley Branch Creek and Shawvers Run. Besides the oak-hickory forest common to the Jefferson Forest, the wilderness contains poplar, birch, hemlock and white pine along Valley Branch, and, in the dry section to the west of Potts Mountain, Virginia pine and chestnut oak. The slopes of the wilderness provide watershed protection for the federally endangered James River spinymussel found in Potts Creek.

Topography

The wilderness lies on the western slope of Potts Mountain, in the

Ridge and Valley Province The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three sec ...

of Virginia and West Virginia. The terrain is a complex

anticlinal Anticlinal may refer to: *Anticline, in structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core *Anticlinal, in stereochemistry, a torsion angle between 90° to 150°, and –90° to –150°; see Alkane_st ...

structure capped by erosion-resistant

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

sandstone. The mountain ridge is about 3700 feet in elevation without prominent knobs; the lowest elevation is along Shawvers Run at about 2000 feet.Potts Mountain
Potts Mountain
accessdate: March 13, 2017 Shawvers Run and Valley Branch are the two largest waterways draining the area. The southwestern end of the wilderness surrounds Hanging Rock Valley, part of a

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

system with large caves including the two-mile long Patton Cave and Panther Cave.

Nearby wild areas

* Hoop hole * Barbours Creek Wilderness Addition * Potts Arm

References

External links