Discover the Unique Cranberry Glades Botanical Area in West Virginia

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The Cranberry Glades Botanical Area consists of four bog wetlands in the Monongahela National Forest in Pocahontas County.  The 750 acre area is located high in the Allegheny Mountains, and it is a wonderful place to see a very unique habitat that supports a fascinating array of plants and wildlife. 

Like other bog areas more typical of the northern part of the United States, the ground at the Cranberry Glades is mostly made up of peat.  This spongy, partially-decayed plant matter is highly acidic, and this unique habitat supports northern tundra plants and animals that normally would not grow in West Virginia.  Visitors can see rare and beautiful plants, many birds and other wildlife thriving in this special habitat at the Cranberry Glades.

The Cranberry Glades is named for the red cranberries that thrive in the area.  You can see many other beautiful and interesting plants at the Glades, including two rare carnivorous plant species.  Both the purple pitcher plant and the native sundew developed into insect-eating plants due to a nearly complete lack of root food in the ground.  

Bock rosemary and buckbean are two rare and fascinating boreal plants you can spot in the Glades.  Many different types of mosses thrive here, including bog moss, sphagnum moss, and reindeer lichen.  A variety of ferns, herbs, grasses, shrubs and flowers including orchids are also located throughout the Cranberry Glades.

A half-mile boardwalk traverses two different bogs at the Cranberry Glades, and a six mile trail circumnavigates the Glades.  In addition to studying and enjoying the incredible diversity of plants, you can bird watch and look for deer and even black bears on your walk.

The trails at the Cranberry Glades are specially designed to give visitors plenty of opportunities to safely spot plants and wildlife without destroying the habit.  The Glades is a highly protected area, and visitors must avoid stepping off the trails that run through it. Failure to abide by strictly enforced Park guidelines about staying on designated paths will result in fines.

Not only is it in the interest of conservation to avoid touching any of the plants at the Cranberry Glades, it is also a matter of safety.  Mosses at the Glades produce tannic acid which can seriously injure skin. The spongy peat at Cranberry Glades is over ten feet deep in some areas, and there are areas of the bog where animals or humans could quickly sink and become trapped beneath the surface.

Although camping is not allowed at the Cranberry Glades, there are many campsites located nearby within Monongahela Forest along the Cranberry River.  Visitors can learn about the Glades at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center located at the start of the access road to the Glades.