The Potomac River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States that flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2), and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States. More than 6 million people live within its watershed.
Pendleton County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,143, making it the second-least populous county in West Virginia. Its county seat is Franklin. The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1788 from parts of Augusta, Hardy, and Rockingham counties and was named for Edmund Pendleton (1721–1803), a distinguished Virginia statesman and jurist. Pendleton County was strongly pro-Confederate during the American Civil War; however, there were pockets of Unionists who supported the state government in Wheeling.
The Monongahela National Forest is a national forest located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, US. It protects over 921,000 acres of federally managed land within a 1,700,000 acres proclamation boundary that includes much of the Potomac Highlands Region and portions of 10 counties.
The Dolly Sods Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia and is part of the Monongahela National Forest of the U.S. Forest Service.
The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia centers on five West Virginian counties in the upper Potomac River watershed in the western portion of the state's Eastern Panhandle, bordering Maryland and Virginia. Because of geographical proximity, similar topography and landscapes, and shared culture and history, the Potomac Highlands region is also considered to include Pocahontas, Randolph, and Tucker counties, even though they are in the Monongahela River or New River watersheds and not the Potomac River watershed.
Lunice Creek is a 7.3-mile-long (11.7 km) tributary of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The creek is located in Grant County, West Virginia. Lunice Creek is created by its North and South Forks and empties into the South Branch at Petersburg.
Cherry Grove is an unincorporated community located in Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. Cherry Grove lies within the Monongahela National Forest at the confluence of Big Run with the North Fork South Branch Potomac River.
Big Run is a 4.4-mile-long (7.1 km) tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. Big Run flows through the city of Romney and the campus of the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The stream is known by local residents as Town Run and Town Creek.
Seneca Creek is a 19.6-mile-long (31.5 km) tributary of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River located entirely within Pendleton County, West Virginia, USA.
Kettle Creek is a 7.3-mile-long (11.7 km) tributary stream of the South Fork South Branch Potomac River in Hardy and Pendleton counties in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Kettle Creek rises on Mitchell Knob and flows north along the eastern flanks of Sweedlin Hill through Sweedlin Valley in the George Washington National Forest.
Mill Creek is a 5.3-mile-long (8.5 km) tributary stream of the North Fork South Branch Potomac River in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Mill Creek rises on the western flanks of North Fork Mountain and from there, flows north through Germany Valley. Its confluence with the North Fork lies at Hinkle Gap between Germany and Harman Knobs.
The Great Indian Warpath (GIW)—also known as the Great Indian War and Trading Path, or the Seneca Trail—was that part of the network of trails in eastern North America developed and used by Native Americans which ran through the Great Appalachian Valley. The system of footpaths extended from what is now upper New York to deep within Alabama. Various Native peoples traded and made war along the trails, including the Catawba, numerous Algonquian tribes, the Cherokee, and the Iroquois Confederacy. The British traders' name for the route was derived from combining its name among the northeastern Algonquian tribes, Mishimayagat or "Great Trail", with that of the Shawnee and Delaware, Athawominee or "Path where they go armed".
The Sinks of Gandy — also called the Sinks of Gandy Creek, or simply "The Sinks" — are a modestly celebrated cave and underground stream at Osceola in eastern Randolph County, West Virginia, United States. The Sinks are on private property within the Monongahela National Forest.
Blackwater Canyon is a rugged, heavily wooded, eight-mile (13 km) long gorge carved by the Blackwater River in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. For many years, it has been the object of controversy as environmental activists have contended with industrial interests over its ultimate status.
Hoye-Crest is a summit along Backbone Mountain just inside of Garrett County, Maryland. It is the highest natural point in Maryland at an elevation of 3,360 feet (1,020 m).
The Cranberry Wilderness is a 47,815-acre (19,350 ha) U.S. wilderness area in the Monongahela National Forest of southeast West Virginia, United States. Its name derives from the nearby Cranberry Glades as well as from the Cranberry River and Cranberry Mountain. In addition to being wilderness, it is a designated black bear sanctuary.
Judy Gap is an unincorporated community in Pendleton County, West Virginia, United States. Judy Gap is located at the junction of U.S. Route 33 and West Virginia Route 28, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) west-northwest of Franklin, just west of the mountain gap also called Judy Gap. The Judy Rocks geological formation is just to the south. North Fork Mountain is to the east, and the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River is to the west, with Spruce Mountain and Spruce Knob beyond the river. Most of the surrounding land is within the Monongahela National Forest.
The Laurel Fork is a 15.7-mile-long (25.3 km) stream in Virginia and West Virginia, United States. The stream flows north from Highland County, Virginia, where its source and the majority of its length is located, to its mouth in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Laurel Fork is a tributary to the North Fork South Branch Potomac River, making it a part of the Potomac River watershed. The area surrounding Laurel Fork is home to several plant and animal species found nowhere else in Virginia, and is a prime example of a northern boreal forest in the state.
![A sign along Big Run Trail (Forest Trail 527). "Gatewood Switch - Steam engines pulling loads of logs once rolled past Lennie Gatewood's logging camp [and] through Gatewood Switch on the other side of the mountain. Gatewood Switch was a junction of rail lines and a turn around for trains heading to the mill at Horton along Gandy Creek. You have just walked a part of the main line. Notice the old railroad ties in the trail ahead." Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, 8 October 2017 Big-Run-Monongahela-National-Forest-trail-sign-8-Oct-2017.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Big-Run-Monongahela-National-Forest-trail-sign-8-Oct-2017.jpg/260px-Big-Run-Monongahela-National-Forest-trail-sign-8-Oct-2017.jpg)