Saint Mary's Wilderness

Saint Mary’s Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests near the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Encompassing 9,826 acres, it is the largest wilderness on national forest land in Virginia, spanning elevations from about 1,780 to 3,640 feet. Its landscape includes the upper Saint Mary’s River and the drainages of Cellar Hollow and Spy Run within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Once mined for manganese and iron ore from the early 1900s until the 1950s, it still preserves traces of that industry. Designated wilderness in 1984, it is now known for hiking, waterfalls, and native trout fishing.

Virginia · United States