Laurel Fork South Wilderness

Laurel Fork South Wilderness is a protected high-elevation tract in West Virginia’s Greenbrier Ranger District of Monongahela National Forest, along Laurel Fork with Middle Mountain on its western edge. It is paired with nearby Laurel Fork North Wilderness, separated by Randolph County Route 40. Once privately owned by the Laurel River Lumber Company, the area was heavily logged, first by floating timber down Laurel Fork and later by railroad, and its original virgin forest was gone by 1921. The U.S. Forest Service soon acquired the land, and in 1983 Laurel Fork South and North were formally designated wilderness. A 2009 boundary change reduced Laurel Fork South by about 89 acres for vehicle travel on Forest Road 424.

East Dailey, West Virginia · United States