page_title: Crawfish Valley (Bear Creek)
section_title: Location and access
hierarchical_section_title: Crawfish Valley (Bear Creek) / Location and access
caption_attribution_description: English: Reed Creek Mill this is the third mill to exist on the site. The first was built around 1858. The mill's power was used during the Civil War to repair/manufacture guns. The first mill was demolished in 1896. The second mill burned around 1934. This is the third mill, no longer milling. This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 16000802
context_page_description: Crawfish Valley, a wildland in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests of western Virginia, has been recognized by the Wilderness Society as a special place worthy of protection from logging and road construction. The Wilderness Society has designated the area as a “Mountain Treasure”.
  The Forest Service refers to this area as “Bear Creek”, but the Wilderness Society prefers the name “Crawfish Valley” because the valley is larger and serves as a divide between Reed and Bear Creeks, two of the principal drainages in the area.
  The largest inventoried roadlesss area in the Jefferson Forest, the immense area includes a section of the Appalachian Trail and 24 miles of other trails making the area popular with hikers and horseback riders. Bounded by Walker Mountain on the north and Brushy and Little Brushy Mountain on the south, the area possesses the size and shape needed for making its preservation as a potential wilderness practical.
  The area is part of the Walker Mountain Cluster.
context_section_description: The area is located in the Appalachian Mountains of Southwestern Virginia, just east of Interstate 81 and about 7 miles west of Wytheville, Virginia.
  A 4.1 mile section of the Appalachian Trail crosses the southern end of the area.  Hikers traveling south enter the area at Tilson Gap and leave at the crest of Brushy Mountain. The trail intersects with the Black Lick-Plaster Bank Turnpike 0.2 miles south of Tilson Gap. a turnpike used to carry gypsum (plaster) from Plaster Bank, where it was mined, to Black Lick for shipment.  Gypsum was used as a fertilizer before being replaced by petroleum-based products.  Continuing south, the trail passes the Crawfish Valley Trail and the Walker Mountain Trail, then reaches Reed Creek in the Crawfish Valley.  Good campsites are found here.  In another 1.1 miles the trail reaches the crest of Brushy Mountain where it intersects once again with the Crawfish Valley Trail, offering the possibility of a loop hike that combines this section of the AT with the Crawfish Valley Trail.  The trail leaves the wild area at the crest of Brushy Mountain.  The Appalachian Trail is closed to  horses and mountain bikes, but a trail for horse and mountain bikes is nearby.
  Other trails into the area include: 
   
  Bear Creek Trail; Forest Trail 159; 3.5 miles; rated easy-moderate in difficulty; yellow blazed; hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.
  Crawfish Trail; Forest Trail 6506; 10.0 miles, moderate-difficult; orange blazed; hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding
  Walker Mountain Trail; Forest Trail 6501; 12.3 miles; moderate; yellow blazed; hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding
  Ceres Trail; Forest Trail 804.1; 2.5 miles; moderate, no blazes, hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding
  The Ceres Turnpike, Forest Service Road 804.1, is an unimproved, 2.1 mile road now gated and managed as closed.
  The boundary of the wildland as determined by the Wilderness Society is shown in the adjacent map.  The map can be enlarged by selecting the icon in the lower right of the image.  Additional roads and trails are given on National Geographic Maps 787 (Blacksburg, New River Valley, Trails Illustrated Hiking Maps, 787).  A great variety of information, including topographic maps, aerial views, satellite data and weather information, is obtained by selecting the link with the wild land's coordinates in the upper right of this page.
  Beyond maintained trails, old logging roads can be used to explore the area.  The Appalachian Mountains were extensively timbered in the early twentieth century leaving logging roads that are becoming overgrown but still passable. Old logging roads and railroad grades can be located by consulting the historical topographic maps available from the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The Crawfish Valley wildarea is covered by USGS topographic maps Nebo, Rural Retreat, Big Bend, and Garden Mountain.
caption: Reed Creek Mill in Wytheville, VA
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