Mount Joy Pond Natural Area Preserve is a 359-acre protected area in Augusta County, Virginia, on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centered on a large sinkhole pond, it protects a rare habitat that supports a large population of Virginia sneezeweed and other specially adapted plants. With fewer than two dozen such ponds left in Augusta and neighboring Rockingham County, the site preserves an uncommon remnant of a once more widespread natural landscape. The preserve also includes surrounding hardwood and pine woodland. Managed mainly for conservation, it has limited access, while efforts have focused on understanding the pond’s drying and restoring the property’s original hydrology.