 view from Buffalo Mountain |
 land use in Little River valley, viewed from Buffalo Mountain |
|
view from Buffalo Mountain |
land use in Little River valley, viewed from Buffalo Mountain |
Buffalo Mountain stands out as a western spur of the Blue Ridge, about 1,000 feet high above the Little River valley. It is covered with forest; the only open "balds" are where their is no soil and bedrock is exposed.
The mountain looks like a buffalo with a hump, when viewed from certain angles. But do you have any idea what a buffalo looks like? Could you sketch one with a hump now, without pulling out a reference book?
When European settlers arrived in the area, there were "woods buffalo" still remaining in the area. The Geographic Names Information System, a database on all "official" place names approved by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, lists over 100 places in Virginia with the word "buffalo." Most of these names were chosen long before Hollywood romanticized the western buffalo hunters in movies.
The soils are unusually rich in magnesium, and a rare plant community has developed on the mountain. To protect it, the state of Virginia purchased the property and included it in the system of state preserves. The site is open for public visits, but will never be developed for active recreation. In particular, don't look for a set of mountainbike trails to be constructed here, equivalent to those on Brush Mountain at Pandapas Pond. Different places are managed in different ways, for different purposes...
 parking lot at base of trail up Buffalo Mountain |
 trail up Buffalo Mountain |
For more background, read:
