Stone Cliff Old Growth -

New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

Although almost all forests in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve were logged in the past, there is one small eleven-acre patch spared the lumberman's axe at the end of the Stone Cliff Trail. There, you will find a forest consisting of chinquapin oaks, northern red oaks, bitternut hickories, and buckeyes that exhibit old-growth characteristics (large live and dead standing trees, abundant large trunks on the ground, and tip-up root mounds). These large overstory trees are two to three feet in diameter, and are estimated to be 100-200 years old, or greater. One more interesting characteristic of this old-growth forest is the soil, which is high in pH and more characteristic of the limestone country found in Greenbrier Valley to the east.

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