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West Virginia's Highest Point
by Ben Crookshanks
There are two campgrounds, numerous hiking trails, a 23-acre lake stocked with fish, picnic tables and some of the most beautiful scenery in the state. It’s a shame more people don’t take the time to go up to the top of West Virginia and avail themselves of all that Spruce Knob has to offer.
Spruce Knob is the highest point in West Virginia. By western standards it is not that high, only 4,860 feet. Still, West Virginia has the highest average altitude east of the Mississippi River. Although the view is beautiful, due to its remote location, few people bother to visit this spot. There are four separate ways to get to the summit. All involve driving on unpaved roads. That’s not a problem since crews get in there and grade them as early as possible each spring to smooth out the rough spots and fill up the ruts and potholes that have formed over the winter. For the rest of the year, they are well-maintained up until winter sets in.
One popular road to Spruce Knob begins by leaving U.S. Route 33 a few miles west of Harmon and driving through the former lumber boom towns of Job, Whitner and Horton. This unpaved road follows the path of what was once a logging railroad constructed along Gandy Creek. On your way to the summit you pass Swallow Run Campground and Spruce Knob Lake.
Another route begins by turning off U.S. Route 33 just north of Judy Gap. This road follows Briery Camp Run through mountain farms on into large stands of hardwood and up the mountain through stunted spruce trees to the summit.
The southern approach to Spruce Knob begins near the Pocahontas-Pendelton County line. Turn off state Route 28 onto an unpaved road and proceed north through the stands of hardwood past Spruce Knob Lake and then on to the top.
The last route is through the town of Glady, once the home of the now defunct Glady Creek Lumber Company. This road travels east past the Sinks of Gandy the former Osceola post office on to Spruce Knob Lake.
At the very top is a stone and concrete observation tower. For years the only marker on the summit was a stone cairn.
Since 1965 Spruce Knob has been part of the 100,000 acre Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. It’s all a part of the Monongahela National Forest.
For more information:
Call: (304) 358-3884.
or Click: www.visitpendleton.com