The Stauntonian

The Stauntonian

Outdoors & Recreaction

Twenty-Two Miles and a Hundred Years Away: Ramsey’s Draft Wilderness

The old-growth hemlocks that made this place famous are dying.

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Brad Thomas
Jul 22, 2026
∙ Paid
Major waterway through Ramsey’s Draft Wilderness Area near West Augusta, Virginia | Photo by Bennington200 via Wikimedia

Ramsey’s Draft Wilderness has been famous for its stands of old-growth eastern hemlock for as long as people have been writing about it. The trees along the creek bed in the lower hollow are massive, their trunks thick and centuries ol…

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