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Mountain Lake Wilderness - Jefferson National Forest, VA

3,894 views · Published 30 July 2016 · 14:00 · Indexed 11 October 2026

Channel: Zachary Robbins · 2016 · Travel & Events

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A relatively short hike for my standards somewhat on the way to  a friend's house in Covington, VA for 4th of July weekend. My previous visit to the area was for The Cascades, an awesome but popular waterfall. This time I wanted something off the beaten path, so I chose the Mountain Lake Wilderness tucked deep into the heart of the Allegheny Mountains on the Virginia-West Virginia border.

The Mountain Lake Wilderness is the largest wilderness area of national forests in Virginia at 13,804 acres (additional 2,721 acres in WV).  The area gets its name from Mountain Lake, the only naturally occurring lake in the southern Appalachian Mountains. This lake is actually the source for Little Stony Creek, which miles below flows over The Cascades.

I started this hike at the War Spur Loop Trail heading first to the War Spur Overlook. After that I took the War Branch Trail to meet the Appalachian Trail heading north towards Lone Pine Peak. After that the elevation stayed the same ~4,000 feet through upland bogs with abundant ferns and grasses. The highlight of the hike is from Wind Rock, an expansive view of the Alleghenies in West Virginia. 

Hike distance was 9.3 miles with 1,560 feet elevation gain in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Hike location
https://goo.gl/maps/rVHqsYnqy9WgZ2xf6

Hike report
http://www.hikingupward.com/JNF/MountainLakeWilderness/

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