Nathaniel Mountain is a mountain

Mountain

Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

 ridge

Ridge

A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...

 that runs southwest northeast through Hampshire County

Hampshire County, West Virginia

Hampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...

 in West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

's Eastern Panhandle, rising to its greatest elevation of 2739 feet (835 m) above sea-level. The mountain is bound at its western flank by the South Branch Potomac River and to its eastern flank by South Branch Mountain

South Branch Mountain

South Branch Mountain is a mountain ridge that runs southwest to northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia, rising to its greatest elevation of 3,028 feet above sea-level in the Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area...

 3028 feet (923 m). The bulk of Nathaniel Mountain is located within the Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area

Nathaniel Mountain Wildlife Management Area is located on south of Romney in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The wildlife management area's principle access road is off of Grassy Lick Road . Nathaniel Mountain is one of West Virginia's largest and most important wildlife management areas...

 (WMA) owned by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources is an agency of the government of the U.S. state of West Virginia. While formerly known as the cabinet-level Department of Natural Resources, it is now part of the West Virginia Department of Commerce...

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The rugged topography

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 of Nathaniel Mountain and its WMA is dominated by mature oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 and hickory

Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as hickory, derived from the Powhatan language of Virginia. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and big nuts...

 forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s with Virginia pine

Virginia Pine

Pinus virginiana is a medium-sized tree, often found on poorer soils from Long Island in southern New York south through the Appalachian Mountains to western Tennessee and Alabama. The usual size range for this pine is 9–18 m, but can grow taller under optimum conditions. The trunk can be...

. The mountain also supports a habitat

Habitat (ecology)

A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...

 for a variety of neo-tropical migratory birds and two wetlands identified by The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

. Nathaniel Mountain's forested wetlands are a unique find at such a high elevation. The wetlands include a number of plant species not common in the region, including sphagnum moss (Sphagnum andersonianum) and the cinnamon fern

Cinnamon fern

Osmundastrum cinnamomeum, the Cinnamon Fern, is a species of eusporangiate fern in the family Osmundaceae. It is native to the Americas and eastern Asia, growing in swamps, bogs and moist woodlands....

 (Osmunda cinnamomea). White-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

, wild turkey

Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...

s, squirrel

Squirrel

Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...

s, black bear

American black bear

The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

s, and grouse

Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

 abound on the mountain, which make its WMA a popular regional hunting area. Nathaniel Mountain's Mill Run

Mill Run (South Branch Potomac River)

Mill Run is a tributary stream of the South Branch Potomac River, belonging to the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. The stream is located in Hampshire County in the Eastern Panhandle of the U.S. state of West Virginia...

 serves as a habitat for native brook trout

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

 and rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

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