Potomac Highlands of West Virginia

城市概覽

The Potomac Highlands of West Virginia is a large region comprised of 11 counties. This region is filled with hills and mountains that provide remarkable beauty, but at the same time make travel by land difficult. Counties that seem very close on a map are much more distant as far as travel time, and some areas in West Virginia are more closely related and connected to nearby cities in neighboring states. For example, the Appalachian Mountains and I-81 (this region's only interstate highway) keep Martinsburg, WV more closely connected to Hagerstown, MD than Berkeley, Springs, WV. However, this lack of interstate highways provides for more relaxed, scenic travel along smaller highways and county roads. One of the best ways to experience the Potomac Highlands is to leave the main roads behind and travel along the more local roads. They provide spectacular off the beaten path views or winding roads clinging to pristine creeks and rivers.

如何抵達

By train Amtrak serves Harpers Ferry. MARC commuter trains from Washington, D.C. serve Harpers Ferry and Martinsburg.

體驗活動

Collect fossils Baker. Four to five miles south of the unincorporated community of Baker are a series of roadcuts exposing the middle Devonian Mahantango Formation where fossils can be collected. Large, well-preserved specimens of the brachiopod Spinocyrtia granulosa are common, and large, well preserved Tropidoleptus carinatus specimens can also be found in the area. Like the aforementioned brachiopods, some of the local Fenestella bryozoans are also fairly large. Other local fossils include bivalves, corals, the gastropod Loxonema hamiltonae, straight-shelled nautiloids, and trilobites. (updated Jun 2015) Baxter. A mile and a quarter north of the unincorporated community of Baxter proper, near Tihance Creek, Devonian fossils can be found at a limestone exposure along a country road at the northwest end of Ferrell Ridge. Local fossils include a great variety of brachiopods as well as the trilobites Dalmanites and Phacops. Schellwienella, Rhipidomella, Leptostrophia, Rensselaeria, Meristella, Spirifer, Actinopteria, Phacops, Dalmanites. (updated Jun 2015) Capon Lake. Just to the south of the unincorporated community of Capon Lake, five miles south of Wardensville, is a quarry where early to middle Devonian fossils can be found in the rocks of the Needmore Formation. Local fossils include the ammonoid Agoniatites venuxemi, bivalves, brachiopods, the nautiloid Michelinoceras subulatum, the conularid Conularia, horn corals, crinoids, the gastropod Loxonema, ostracodes, and trilobites. (updated Jun 2015) Falls. A quarter of a mile northwest of the unincorporated community of Falls, at the eastern end of Greenland Gap, fossils of the Devonian brachiopod Spirifer can be collected from exposures of the Ridgeley Sandstone along Patterson Creek. (updated Jun 2015) Lost City. The unincorporated community of Lost City is home to an outcrop of the middle Devonian Mahantango Formation where fossils can be collected. Notable local fossils include bivalves, brachiopods, the