Tag: Roaring Plains

The Roaring Plains West Wilderness (RPW) is a picturesque backpacking destination in eastern West Virginia—3 mile southwest of the Dolly Sods Wilderness and 5 miles south of Canaan Valley State Park. The areas 6,792 acres of mixed hardwoods of red spruce and brush and bogs, grasses and rhododendron, ranges in elevation from 3,000′ along the southern perimeter to over 4,700′ feet’ at the top of Mt. Porte Crayon. The area is part of Roaring Plains, which spans 12,376 acres and is considered backcountry as opposed to RPW’s wilderness designation.

Backpacking the Roaring Plains West Wilderness: A Second Chance

November 11, 2024By y2kemo
trees lining a path with rolling mountains in background
trail cutting through pine trees with rolling mountains in background
Pipeline Access Road at Hidden Passage Trail

The Roaring Plains West Wilderness (RPW) is a picturesque backpacking destination in eastern West Virginia—3 mile southwest of the Dolly Sods Wilderness and 5 miles south of Canaan Valley State Park. The areas 6,792 acres of mixed hardwoods of red spruce and brush and bogs, grasses and rhododendron, ranges in elevation from 3,000′ along the southern perimeter to over 4,700′ feet’ at the top of Mt. Porte Crayon. The area is part of Roaring Plains, which spans 12,376 acres and is considered backcountry as opposed to RPW’s wilderness designation.

In 2017, my buddy, Coop, his brother-in-law, and I set out to pack the RPW circuit following South Prong to Canyon Rim Trail and down Boar’s Nest to the parking lot. Given the Monongahela National Forest’s fickle and unpredictable weather, we were met with a raging and impassable South Fork Red Creek. Unable to complete the route as planned, Coop and I decided to take another shot.

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Backpacking Roaring Plains: April Snow and Swollen Creeks

April 10, 2017By y2kemo
Post-trip photo

I first read about the Roaring West Wilderness (RPW) when my buddy, Coop, and I were considering routes for our most recent winter trip to Dolly Sods. About a month after that trip, Coop invited me to join him and his brother-in-law, Craig, in the RPW for Craig’s first backpacking trip.

Located in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, the Roaring Plains Wilderness spans more than 12,00 acres of the Monongahela National Forest and is said to have the most vertical relief in West Virginia. To get a better sense of the area Coop and I put together our Plan A using hillmap.com and the GPX from HikingUpward.com. The plan was simple: hike the 12.46 mile Roaring Plains West Wilderness Circuit, climb 2,560′, descend 2,566′, and drive to Amelia’s for breakfast when we finished.

Then came the wrenches.

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