Mount Rogers National Recreation Area

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
Part of Jefferson National Forest
National Recreation Area
Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, with Mount Rogers in the background
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Counties	Grayson, Smyth, Washington, Wythe, Carroll

Location	Elk Garden
- elevation	4,475 ft (1,364.0 m)
- coordinates	36°38′46″N 81°34′58″W / 36.64611°N 81.58278°W / 36.64611; -81.58278Coordinates: 36°38′46″N 81°34′58″W / 36.64611°N 81.58278°W / 36.64611; -81.58278
Highest point	Mount Rogers
- location	southwest of Troutdale
- elevation	5,729 ft (1,746.2 m)
- coordinates	36°39′35″N 81°32′41″W / 36.65972°N 81.54472°W / 36.65972; -81.54472

Area	154,816 acres (62,651.8 ha)

Established	1966-05-31
Management	George Washington and Jefferson National Forests
Owner	US Forest Service

IUCN category	V - Protected Landscape/Seascape

Nearest city	Abingdon, Virginia

Location of Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in Virginia
Wikimedia Commons: Mount Rogers National Recreation Area
Website: Mount Rogers National Recreation Area

Mount Rogers National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area (NRA) located in southwestern Virginia near the border with Tennessee and North Carolina. The centerpiece of the recreation area is Mount Rogers, the highest point in the state of Virginia with a summit elevation of 5,729 feet (1746 m). The recreation area is under the jurisdiction of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. The recreation area was established by an act of the United States Congress on May 31, 1966.

Grayson Highlands State Park adjoins the recreation area on the south, near Mount Rogers, and the park provides the most well known access to the peak and the NRA generally.

Hiking

There are nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) of hiking trails within Mount Rogers NRA making it one of the premier hiking hotspots in the Appalachian Mountains. Some of the trails in Mount Rogers NRA include:

A 78-mile (124.8 kilometer) segment of the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail itself does not reach the summit of Mount Rogers but rather passes about a half mile below it. A short spur trail leads hikers to the summit. As along the entire Appalachian Trail, there are several shelters for thru-hikers along this section of the trail.
The Virginia Creeper Trail
The shortest route to the summit of Mount Rogers is a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) hike from either Grayson Highlands State Park or from State Route 600 at Elk Garden.

Wilderness

There are three federally designated wilderness areas in Mount Rogers NRA:

Lewis Fork Wilderness
Little Wilson Creek Wilderness
Raccoon Branch Wilderness

Together, these three wilderness areas comprise about 14,000 acres of forest.

Other activities

Camping: There are seven campgrounds, four horse camps, and two rental cabins in the recreation area.
Horseback riding
Hunting
Fishing
Mountain biking

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.

National Recreation Areas of the United States

Administered by the National Park Service	Amistad Big South Fork Bighorn Canyon Boston Harbor Islands Chattahoochee River Chickasaw Curecanti Delaware Water Gap Gateway Gauley River Glen Canyon Golden Gate Lake Chelan Lake Mead Lake Meredith Lake Roosevelt Mississippi Ross Lake Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity

Administered by the US Forest Service	Allegheny Arapaho Ed Jenkins Flaming Gorge Grand Island Hells Canyon Jemez Land Between The Lakes Moosalamoo Mount Baker Mount Hood Mount Rogers Oregon Dunes Pine Ridge Rattlesnake Sawtooth Smith River Spring Mountains Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity White Rocks Winding Stair Mountain

Administered by the Bureau of Land Management	White Mountains

Protected areas of Virginia

Federal

National Parks	Shenandoah

National Historical Parks, Historic Sites & Monuments	Appomattox Court House NHP Arlington House Booker T. Washington NM Cedar Creek and Belle Grove NHP Claude Moore Colonial Farm Colonial NHP Cumberland Gap NHP Fort Monroe NM George Washington Birthplace NM Harpers Ferry NHP Maggie L. Walker NHS

National Military Parks, Battlefields & Battlefield Parks	Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP Manassas NBP Petersburg NB Richmond NBP

National Cemeteries	Alexandria Arlington Balls Bluff City Point Cold Harbor Culpeper Danville Fort Harrison Fredericksburg Glendale Hampton Hampton VA Poplar Grove Quantico Richmond Seven Pines Staunton Winchester Yorktown

National Parkways	Blue Ridge Parkway George Washington Memorial Parkway

National Trails	Appalachian Trail Captain John Smith Chesapeake NHT Overmountain Victory NHT Potomac Heritage Trail Star-Spangled Banner NHT

National Wildlife Refuges	Back Bay Chincoteague Eastern Shore of Virginia Mason Neck Featherstone Fisherman Island Great Dismal Swamp James River Nansemond Occoquan Bay Plum Tree Island Presquile Rappahannock River Valley Wallops Island

National Forests	George Washington and Jefferson

USFS National Recreation Areas	Mount Rogers National Recreation Area

Other NPS Areas	Assateague Island National Seashore Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network Prince William Forest Park Wolf Trap NP for the Performing Arts

Wilderness Areas	Barbours Creek Mountain Lake Priest Ramsey's Draft Rich Hole Rough Mountain Saint Mary's Three Ridges

National Estuarine Research Reserves	Chesapeake Bay

State

State parks	Bear Creek Lake Belle Isle Biscuit Run Breaks Interstate Caledon Chippokes Plantation Claytor Lake Douthat Fairy Stone False Cape First Landing Grayson Highlands High Bridge Trail Holliday Lake Hungry Mother James River Kiptopeke Lake Anna Leesylvania Mason Neck Natural Tunnel New River Trail Occoneechee Pocahontas Powhatan Sailor's Creek Battlefield Shot Tower Shenandoah River Sky Meadows Smith Mountain Lake Southwest Virginia Museum Staunton River Staunton River Battlefield Tabb Monument Twin Lakes Westmoreland Wilderness Road York River

State forests	Appomattox-Buckingham Big Woods Bourassa Browne Channels Chilton Woods Conway-Robinson Crawfords Cumberland Devil's Backbone Dragon Run Hawks Lesesne Matthews Moore's Creek Niday Place Paul Prince Edward-Gallion Sandy Point Whitney Zoar

Natural Area Preserves	Antioch Pines Bethel Beach Big Spring Bog Blackwater Buffalo Mountain Bull Run Mountains Bush Mill Stream Camp Branch Wetlands Cape Charles Coastal Habitat The Cedars The Channels Cherry Orchard Bog Chestnut Creek Wetlands Chestnut Ridge Chotank Creek Chub Sandhill Cleveland Barrens Clover Hollow Cowbane Prairie Crow's Nest Cumberland Marsh Dameron Marsh Deep Run Ponds Dendron Swamp Difficult Creek Elklick Woodlands False Cape Folly Mills Creek Fen Goshen Pass Grafton Ponds Grassy Hill Grayson Glades Hickory Hollow Hughlett Point Johnsons Creek Magothy Bay Mark's and Jack's Island Mount Joy Pond Mutton Hunk Fen Naked Mountain New Point Comfort North Landing River Northwest River Ogdens Cave Parkers Marsh Parramore Island Pedlars Hill Pinnacle Poor Mountain Red Rock Mountain Savage Neck Dunes Unthanks Cave William B. Trower Bayshore Wreck Island

Wildlife Management Areas	Amelia Big Survey Briery Creek Chester F. Phelps Cavalier Chickahominy Clinch Mountain Crooked Creek Dick Cross Fairystone Farms Featherfin G. Richard Thompson Game Farm Marsh Goshen and Little North Mountain Hardware River Havens Hidden Valley Highland Hog Island Horsepen Lake James River Land's End Mockhorn Island Pettigrew Powhatan Princess Anne Ragged Island Rapidan Saxis Stewarts Creek T. M. Gathright Turkeycock Weston White Oak Mountain

Other

Registered Historic Places in Virginia	Virginia Landmarks Register National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginia Bridges National Historic Landmarks

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.