Virginia Wilderness:
Keeping It Like It Is
Lynn Camp Creek - Proposed Wilderness Area
Bland County
©Virginia Wilderness Committee
The 3,226-acre Lynn Camp Creek area provides a microcosm of the Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia. Three parallel ridges enclose the major stream valleys of Lick Creek and Lynn Camp Creek, with Lick Creek receiving its major tributaries through typical water gaps. From the top of Lynn Camp Mountain, there are good views northwest towards Chestnut Ridge and the Beartown Wilderness. From Brushy Mountain, one overlooks the valley of Lynn Camp Creek on one side and Big Walker Mountain on the other. Both Lick Creek and Lynn Camp Creek are excellent brook trout waters. In addition, Lick Creek harbors one of only three Virginia populations of the Tennessee Dace, a state endangered species, also listed as "sensitive" by the U.S. Forest Service.
Although Lynn Camp was logged about a hundred years ago, the area has made a remarkable recovery. Thickets of rhododendron along the drainages make a riot of color in season. In many places, hiking trails are virtual tunnels through the dense growth. The rhododendrons are accompanied by stately white pines and hemlocks, the latter still untouched by the wooly adelgid insects. Cove hardwoods, tulip tree, basswood, white ash, red maple, northern red oak, white oak, and cucumber tree are found in the valley bottoms. On the drier ridges, chestnut oak and scarlet oak predominate. Significant stands of old-growth trees are here, especially in the northeast portion. The area harbors good populations of game species and is popular with local hunters and anglers. Two trails provide access; the Lynn Camp Trail follows the drainage of that creek and intersects with the Appalachian Trail, which crosses Lynn Camp Mountain and Brushy Mountain.
Embracing two major drainages from ridge top to ridge top, Lynn Camp offers excellent opportunities for the watershed protection, primitive recreation, solitude, hunting, and fishing that wilderness would provide.
