Ice Mountain Preserve

Why You Should Visit
The primary feature of the preserve are the 60 small holes and openings at the base of a rock talus that accumulates and retains ice. Ice Mountain takes its name from an unusual geologic process that results in a natural refrigeration effect—cold air flowing out of the holes throughout the year. Producing the phenomenon is the accumulation of ice inside the mountain’s talus, a sloping mass of debris at the foot of the mountain from former rock outcroppings above.

The system appears to work like an open-top supermarket freezer. Dense, cold air sinks deep into the talus forming ice masses inside it in the colder months. As the weather turns warm, cooled air from the ice masses makes its way through the talus and out the ground vents. Because the system is so efficient, the ice only melts gradually and remains in the talus all year, even in the dog days of summer. A group of boreal plants grow around the cold air vents. The preserve also has high sandstone cliffs affording views of the surrounding area. There is an annual Ice Mountain Festival each June, hosted by the local families in North River Mills in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy.

Location: Hampshire County, WV

Size: 149 Acres

What to Expect
Three trails take visitors to the rare plant area, the sandstone cliffs, and into the rocky forests of the preserve.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
The preserve is open for guided visitation most of the year. All trips to Ice Mountain are led by trained volunteers. Please try to reserve a trip three weeks to a month in advance. Trips are usually held on Saturdays. To minimize impact, groups are limited to 15 participants. There is no charge for the trips. To schedule a tour, please call (304) 496-7359 or visit our trained volunteers web site at http://geocities.com/bailessteve/IceMtScheduleVisit.html

What to See: Plants
Plants including boreal species such as twinflower, dwarf dogwood, and bristly rose, and southern mountain endemics such as the Appalachian oak fern. The largest number of rare plants bloom in May.

What to See: Animals
Animals that are typical of the mid-Atlantic states and breeding neotropical migrant birds including warblers, vireos, and thrushes.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Partnering with volunteers to control invasive non-native plants (tree-of-Heaven, garlic mustard, and Japenese stiltgrass), partnering with the US Forest Service and West Virginia Department of Agriculture to try to prevent the death of hemlocks (which shade and help cool the ice vents) from an infestation of a non-native insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, and cooperating with West Virginia University geologists on research about how the ice forms.