Roaring Branch

Roaring Branch is one of the finest natural settings in Southwest Virginia. It is characterized by old-growth hardwood-pine forests and a magnificent stand of 300-year-old hemlocks, and a stream that qualifies for Wild and Scenic River status. The area begins at a unique 1-mile section of hand-laid, moss-covered steps constructed by the Youth Conservation Corps in the 1970s.

The Roaring Branch Trail follows the stream of the same name. The 14.3-mile Stone Mountain Trail passes through a continuous strip of old-growth oak that is habitat for Swainson's warbler and many other songbirds, and continues to the Keokee and Cave Springs areas. The Forest Service determined that 3 miles of Roaring Branch is eligible for designation as "wild" under the National Wild and Scenic River Act.

The highest point in the area is 3,050-foot High Butte, with superb views of the Powell Valley and Powell Mountain, and Black Mountain in Kentucky. The Roaring Branch area also features the largely unfragmented, biologically important Laurel Fork watershed.

The Forest Service identified a Roaring Branch roadless area in RARE II, but failed to do so in the current inventory. This area meets the Forest Service standards for low road density and naturalness; conservationists maintain the area qualifies as roadless.

Approximate Size: 2,779 acres
Location: Wise County west of US 58, Clinch Ranger District
Topos: Appaiachia, Big Stone Gap