Warm Springs Mountain Preserve helps stitch together thousands of acres of forest and conservation lands in western Virginia’s Allegheny Highlands. The heart of the preserve protects a key wildlife corridor and habitat for an amazing diversity of natural communities, plants and animals.

How to Begin Your Visit

Park at the Dan Ingalls Overlook, located on Route 39 just outside the village of Warm Springs. Here at the northern end of the preserve you will find the trailhead for the Ingalls Overlook Trail. Interpretive signs along the trail (2.4-mile round trip) provide an excellent introduction to the mountain. Please review Preserve Visitation Guidelines.

Field Trips

Local Conservancy staff members offer a slate of guided hikes, providing visitors with opportunities to explore many facets of the mountain. From spring wildflowers to birding to forest ecology — the field trip themes appeal to a wide variety of interests. View the schedule of guided hikes for more information.

Ecological Significance

The preserve features Virginia’s only substantial montane pine barren, a globally rare, arid, fire-dependent landscape. The mountain harbors at least two other rare natural communities, three rare plants and eight rare invertebrates.

What to See: Animals

Migratory songbirds, raptors, black bear, bobcat, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, timber rattlesnake, wood frog, red-spotted newt

What to See: Plants

Stunted pitch pine, Catawba rhododendron, mountain laurel, scrub oak, variable sedge, bunchberry, Fraser’s marsh St. John’s-wort

Ongoing Conservation

Through diverse conservation partnerships, the Conservancy continues to research, protect and, in certain areas, restore the rich ecology of Warm Springs Mountain and the Allegheny Highlands.

Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Mary Porter (Autumn view from Warm Springs Mountain); Photo © Dana Blackmer Photography (Crested dwarf iris at Warm Springs Mountain).