Otter Creek Wilderness is a protected backcountry in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest, set in a valley carved by Otter Creek between McGowan Mountain and Shavers Mountain and crossed by about 45 miles of trails. Long used by Native American peoples including the Shawnee, the area was heavily logged by 1914, especially in the Otter Creek watershed. Federal land purchases began in 1917, but its modern protected status came in 1975 under the Eastern Wilderness Act, with expansion in 2009. Today it is valued for recreation, forest recovery, varied habitats, rich plant life, and Appalachian wildlife in its cold, clear streams and rugged slopes.