Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
LOCALITY |
OWNER |
ACRES |
ACCESS |
NEWS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockingham | DCR, private |
SITE DESCRIPTION:
Brocks Gap Natural Area Preserve (BGNAP) includes xx acres in Rockingham County, approximately four miles west of Broadway. The majority of BGNAP is owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR); however, a portion of the acreage remains in private ownership, and is protected by an open space easement and deed of dedication.
The Preserve was established to protect Virginia’s largest remaining example of globally rare natural community known as Northern White-cedar (NWC) Slope Forest. This community type is known from 9 locations in Virginia and a handful of locations in the larger Central Appalachians region where they are functionally disjunct from the continuous range of Northern White-cedars (Thuja occidentalis) in eastern Canada, the Upper Midwest, and the northeastern United States.
The BGNAP lies on rolling terrain on the eastern slope of Little North Mountain, adjoining the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. The elevation ranges from 1,000 feet at the river to 2,046 feet at the top of Little North Mountain. A small, unnamed, intermittent stream drains the property along the North Mountain geological fault, a major geologic boundary defining the edge of the Shenandoah Valley. The Preserve’s existing forests, which are part of one of Virginia’s most significant ecological cores, will be retained and provide downstream water quality benefits downstream in the Shenandoah River watershed. Surface waters on the Preserve enter the North Fork of the Shenandoah, before joining the Potomac River and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.
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