Wilson Mountain is a protected wildland in Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, centered on a ridge above the James River and linked ecologically to both the Blue Ridge and Ridge and Valley provinces. Valued for solitude, broad forest cover, and relatively undeveloped terrain, it includes trails, primitive campsites, and remnants of old logging roads and railroad grades from early twentieth-century timbering. Its biological importance is exceptional, with special natural areas, shale barren plant communities, hemlock-beech forest, rare species, and an older forest tract with trees more than 140 years old. Despite conservation recognition, parts of the wildland have remained open to timber projects and fire has also affected the area.