Cathedral State Park is the largest virgin timber tract remaining in West Virginia. The park features trees of up to 90 feet in height and 16 feet in circumference. Located on about one mile (1.6 km) east of the town of Aurora and five miles west of Redhouse, Maryland, Cathedral is a mixed forest of predominantly eastern hemlock.Forests of the Appalachians Project web site, accessed July 22, 2006. Rhine Creek runs through the park.
The National Park Service has designated the park as a National Natural Landmark in 1965.Cathedral State Park web site, access July 22, 2006
The park is under significant threat from the hemlock woolly adelgid, which has been detected within of the park."Trees last stand: Park may be last place to see uncut hemlock forest in state", Charleston Gazette, December 19, 2004, accessed July 22, 2006.
History Mr Branson Haas, a workman for the Brookside hotel, purchased the land in 1922 and sold it to the state of West Virginia in 1942. It was included in the Brookside Historic District. The park was entered in the National Registry for Natural History Landmarks on October 6, 1966. The Society of American Foresters recognized the park in 1983 in its National Natural Areas program.
In 2004, the state's largest hemlock tree was felled by lightning.
In October 2012, the park suffered extensive damage resulting from snowfall produced by Hurricane Sandy.
Trails Trail Name Trail Length ft m Cathedral Trail Giant Hemlock Trail Partridge Berry Trail Trillium Trail Cardinal Trail Wood Thrush Trail Old Oakland Road
See also List of West Virginia state parks State park List of old growth forests List of National Natural Landmarks List of National Natural Landmarks in West Virginia
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