Inventoried roadless area extends from floor of Tygarts Valley, over top of Cheat Mountain and down to Shavers Fork River. A progression of near horizontal geologic formations are exposed on the western flank of Cheat Mountain. Forest on this flank are thus influenced by geology, slope position, and elevation. Matrix forests on on this mountain flank are mostly dominated by Quercus rubra.;Small patch of rich forest within an extensive matrix forest of maturing second growth forest with variable dominance thought to be related to bedrock geology. Community follows a line under a bedrock ledge and soils are only surficially enriched. There is some rocky colluvium in plot including a smooth white sandstone and a coarser grained light colored sandstone. This patch is dominated by tulip poplar, sugar maple and white ash with rich site herbs dominating in the understory. Forb cover is only moderate but is higher than average compared to surrounding matrix forest with acidic substrate. The shrub layer is probably suppressed by heavy deer herbivory. Past logging evidence includes large rotten sawn stumps and old skid trails. There is moderate accumulation of down wood and some recent canopy gaps in the stand. Geology is mapped as Hinton formation (predominantly shales) but soils are mapped as Belmont, derived from limestone; this may be an artifact of map scale or may represent a limestone inclusion of the Hinton formation. Geologic influences are further complicated by colluvuial processes.
Representativeness
Small patch of rich forest downslope from bedrock outcrop.
