The boreal red-back vole, another Pleistocene relict, has been found here. On top is a dwarfed oak forest of white and red oak with a remarkably extensive growth of beaked hazelnut, which, with mountain raspberry, dominates the understory. Large hawthorn trees grow here and there. One can climb a dwarfed oak, as if walking up a ladder, and obtain fine views. The ridgeline is supported by massive gneiss and amphibolite.
Dwarf willow grows here in abundance on the cliff edge, and purple rhododendron is common.
There is extensive rhododendron on the north face of Rattlesnake Knob. Otherwise the ridge is a fairly easy walk all the way to Eagle Mountain. Much is to be learned from this relatively unexplored area. Early settlers lived remarkably high and far back in the mountain coves. On the Loggy Branch Road, a family named Davenport lived on rocky soil at about 3,000 feet.