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'Cheat Mountain', is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia. It is about 50 miles long (north to south) and more than five miles wide at its widest. Its summit, at its southernmost extremity, is Thorny Flat (4,848 feet), while several other knobs rise above 4,000 feet along its length.
The mountain was once home to the largest red spruce forest south of Maine and a large portion of it now lies within the Monongahela National Forest.

Contents

Geography

History

Cass Railroad and Snowshoe

See also

References

External link

Geography

Cheat Mountain traverses the entire length of central Randolph County, West Virginia, from (in the north) a point just west of Parsons to (in the south) a point, about 5.5 miles south of the Randolph/Pocahontas County line, near the community of Stony Bottom, where it impinges upon Back Allegheny Mountain. All but the northernmost 4 miles and the southernmost 5.5 miles are within Randolph County. The western flank of Cheat Mountain is skirted by U.S. Route 219 which connects a string of communities in the Tygart River Valley (notably, from north to south, Montrose, Kerens, Elkins, Beverly, Huttonsville and Valley Head). The eastern flank, overlooking the valley of Shavers Fork, is more remote. However, all but the northernmost 15 miles or so of it is skirted by the Western Maryland Railroad, connecting (from north to south) the communities of Bowden, Bemis and Cheat Bridge. Cheat Mountain is crossed (east/west) by two federal highways: U.S. Route 33 in its northern third and U.S. Route 250 in its southern third.
The Cheat River, a tributary of the Monongahela, is formed at Parsons, just east of the northern tip of Cheat Mountain, by the confluence of Shavers Fork and Black Fork.

History

Cheat Mountain has a rich and often tumultuous history. An engagement of the American Civil War -- the Battle of Cheat Mountain -- took place here on September 12-15, 1861.
The West Virginia timber industry grew rapidly towards the turn of the 19th Century. In the early 1900s, Cheat was extrensively timbered by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company and their Cass operation, West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company. By 1905, the summit had been reached by loggers and by 1960 the mountain was virtually barren. The timbering of Cheat has been chronicled in many books, including ''Of Men and A Mighty Mountain'', which details how difficult life was on the mountain for the mostly immigrant workers of the lumber operation.

Cass Railroad and Snowshoe

A tourist service, "Cass Railroad", opened in 1960 and takes visitors up the side of Cheat Mountain to Bald Knob via the same route the logging railroad used in the 1900s. (Contrary to popular belief, Cass Railroad does not take visitors to the summit of Cheat Mountain, but rather the summit of Back Allegheny Mountain. Back Allegheny runs north to south through Randolph County and Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and intersects Cheat Mountain at its southern end. This bulwark of mountains is known as the Shaver's Fork Mountain Complex, which derives its name from the Shaver's Fork of the Cheat River. Shaver's Fork originates from this area at more than 4,500 feet above sea level and runs north between the two mountains to join the Black Fork River in forming the Cheat River.)
In 1974, Snowshoe Mountain ski resort opened on the southern tip of the mountain near Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.

See also

★ Cheat Mountain salamander

References

★ Blackhurst, W. E. (1965), ''Of Men and a Mighty Mountain'', Parsons, West Virginia; McClain Printing Company.

★ Clarkson, Roy B. (1964), ''Tumult on the Mountains: Lumbering in West Virginia 1770-1920''; Line drawings by William A. Lunk; Parsons, West Virginia; McClain Printing Company.

★ Zinn, Jack (1974), ''R. E. Lee's Cheat Mountain Campaign''; Parsons, West Virginia; McClain Printing Company.

External link

★ ''The Nature Conservancy'' Webpage on Cheat Mounntain