Cove Mountain is a protected wildland in Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, a Blue Ridge spur stretching from the James River to Bearwallow Gap. Part of the Glenwood Cluster, it is valued for both scenery and ecology, with a long section of the Appalachian Trail, trout-stream headwaters, rare plants, and surviving old-growth forest. The landscape also preserves evidence of earlier use, including old logging roads, railroad grades, and a historic crossing at Bearwallow Gap. Though some tracts and the Appalachian Trail corridor are protected from timber cutting, other sections remain vulnerable to road building or timber sales, making conservation an ongoing concern.