View source for Seneca Rocks

{{Short description|Rock formation in West Virginia, U.S.}}
{{about|the rock formation|the community|Seneca Rocks, West Virginia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox climbing area
| name = Seneca Rocks

| range = [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]]
| photo = Seneca Rocks - front 1.jpg
| photo_width = 275
| photo_caption = The North and South Peaks viewed from the west
| map = West Virginia
| map_width = 250
| map_caption = 
| location =  [[Pendleton County, West Virginia|Pendleton County]], [[West Virginia]]
| nearest_city =  [[Seneca Rocks, West Virginia]]
| coords = 
| coordinates = {{coord|38|50|05|N|79|21|58|W|region:US-WV_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| climbing_type = [[Traditional climbing|traditional]] [[cliff|crag]]
| height = 900 feet above stream level<ref>{{cite web|last=Forest Service|author-link=United States National Forest|title=Seneca Rocks|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/monongahela/recreation|access-date=29 October 2012}}</ref>  
| pitches = 4
| ratings = 5.0-5.13 with most routes in 5.7-5.11 range
| grades = I and II
| rock_type = [[Tuscarora Formation|Tuscarora]] [[quartzite]]
| quantity = months worth (over 375 routes)
| development = well developed
| aspect = [[east]] and [[west]]
| season = spring to fall
| elevation = 
| ownership = [[United States National Forest|National Forest]]
| camping = Seneca Shadows<ref>{{cite web|last=Forest Service|author-link=United States National Forest|title=Seneca Shadows Campground|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/monongahela/recreation|access-date=29 October 2012}}</ref> & 2 private campsites in [[Seneca Rocks, West Virginia|town]] (all paid)
| classic_climbs = 
*Gunsight to South Peak (5.3),
*Conn's West (5.4),
*Conn's East (5.6),
*Candy Corner (5.5),
*Ecstasy(5.7),
*Soler (5.7),
*West Pole (5.7),
*The Burn (5.8),
*Triple S (5.8),
*Castor / Pollux (5.10),
*Marshall's Madness / Crack of Dawn (5.10a),
*Adam's Climb (5.10c),
*Mr. Jones (5.11c),
*The Bell (5.11+),
*Psycho Driller (5.12c),
*Black Mamba (5.12c),
*Fine Young Cannibals (5.13a)
| stars = 4
}}
'''Seneca Rocks''' is a large [[cliff|crag]] and local landmark in [[Pendleton County, West Virginia|Pendleton County]] in the [[Eastern Panhandle]] of [[West Virginia]], United States. The south peak is the only peak inaccessible except by technical [[rock climbing]] techniques on the East Coast of the United States. One of the best-known scenic attractions in West Virginia, the sheer rock faces are a popular challenge for [[rock climbing|rock climbers]].

Seneca Rocks is easily visible from and accessible by way of [[West Virginia Route 28]], [[West Virginia Route 55]] and [[U.S. Route 33 in West Virginia|U.S. Route 33]] in the [[Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area]] of the [[Monongahela National Forest]]. The three highways converge in the hamlet of [[Seneca Rocks, West Virginia|Seneca Rocks]], which is named for the cliffs nearby.
{{stack|[[File:"The Gendarme" at Seneca Rocks 1985.jpeg|thumb|"The Gendarme" at Seneca Rocks in mid-summer 1985]]}}

==Description==
Seneca Rocks is at the north end of the [[River Knobs (West Virginia)|River Knobs]], which contain several other similar "razorback" ridges or "[[Fin (geology)|fins]]" such as [[Judy Gap, West Virginia|Judy Rocks]] and [[Nelson Rocks]], all on the western flank of [[North Fork Mountain]]. Seneca Rocks is a prominent and visually striking formation rising nearly 900 feet above the confluence of [[Seneca Creek (North Fork South Branch Potomac River)|Seneca Creek]] with the [[Potomac River#North Fork South Branch Potomac River|North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River]]. It overlooks the community of [[Seneca Rocks, West Virginia|Seneca Rocks]], formerly known as "The Mouth of Seneca". The Rocks consist of a North and a South Peak, with a central notch between. Formerly, a prominent pinnacle – "the Gendarme" – occupied the notch.

==Geology==
The west flank of the [[Wills Mountain Anticline]] in the area of Seneca Rocks consists of geological strata that have been upended and rotated 90 degrees to form the impressive crag as well as other prominent outcroppings of the erosion-resistant white/gray [[Tuscarora Formation|Tuscarora]] [[quartzite]], including nearby [[Champe Rocks]]. The Anticline is a gigantic upward bulge formed more than 200 million years ago at the end of the [[Paleozoic Era]].<ref>Perry, William J. (1978), ''The Wills Mountain Anticline: A Study in Complex Folding and Faulting in Eastern West Virginia'' (Series: Report of Investigation - West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey; No. RI-32), 29 pp.</ref> The quartzite is approximately 250 feet thick here, located primarily on exposed ridges such as caprock or exposed crags. The rock is composed of fine grains of sand that were laid down in the [[Silurian]] Period some 440 million years ago, in an extensive sand shoal at the edge of the ancient [[Iapetus Ocean]]. Eons of geologic activity followed, as the ocean slowly closed and the underlying rock uplifted and folded.  Millions of years of erosion stripped away the overlying rock and left remnants of the arching folds in the form of these landmark outcrops.

==History==
[[File:The Cliffs of Seneca.jpg|thumb|left|''"The Cliffs of Seneca"'' (Wood engraving by David H.Strother, from "The Mountains III", ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's New Monthly Magazine]]'' XLV (June 1872), 30.)]]
[[File:SenecaRocksCrop75.jpg|thumb|left|"The Gendarme" in a 1975 photo]]

Evidence suggests that the [[Native Americans (U.S.)|Native Americans]] of the [[Archaic period in the Americas|Archaic Period]] may have camped frequently at the mouth of nearby [[Seneca Creek (North Fork South Branch Potomac River)|Seneca Creek]] at the foot of the Rocks. The famous [[Great Indian Warpath]], known locally as the "Seneca Trail", followed the [[Potomac River]], allowing the [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]], [[Tuscarora (tribe)|Tuscarora]], and [[Seneca nation]]s to transit the area for purposes of trade and war. Excavation for the building of the present Seneca Rocks Visitor Center uncovered evidence of two villages,<ref>Site No.: 46PD1, Site Name: Mouth of Seneca Site, Component Age: (blank) AD 810  AD 893, References: Robertson et al. in progress; also 46PD1, Mouth of Seneca Site, (blank), AD 960  AD 1025, Robertson et al. in progress. Source: Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc.</ref> the more recent of which thrived about 700 years ago. About a dozen dwellings were found.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

The first [[European ethnic groups|European]] visitors to see the region were surveyors who [[Fairfax Line|passed through around 1746]], and the first settlers arrived at Mouth of Seneca fifteen years later. At that time, West Virginia (or western [[Virginia]] as it was then) was at the edge of the great wilderness. The Rocks were visited and sketched by the well-known writer and [[magazine]] [[illustrator]] [[David Hunter Strother]] (known by his pseudonym  "Porte Crayon") around 1853. His sketches were reworked and published two decades later as a popular wood engraving in an 1872 issue of ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's New Monthly Magazine]]''.  (see image left).
 
It is unknown who the first person was to climb Seneca Rocks. Undoubtedly Native Americans scaled the rocks before European settlers reaching the area, but there is no record of their ascents. The historic ascent of [[Paul Bradt]], [[Don Hubbard]], and [[Sam Moore (rock climber)|Sam Moore]] in 1939 found an inscription of "D.B. September 16, 1908." This has been attributed to a surveyor named Bittenger who was known to be working in the area.<ref name="Barnes">{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Tony|title=The Climber's Guide, 2nd Edit|year=2006|publisher=Earthbound Sports, LLC|pages=16–18}}</ref>

The documented climbing history of the Rocks begins in 1935 with a roped descent - the ascent was a steep hike – of the North Peak by Paul Bradt and Florence Perry.<ref name="Barnes" /> In the 1930s and 1940s only a few climbers, mostly from the [[Washington D.C.|Washington, D.C.]], and [[Pittsburgh]] areas, attempted to climb Seneca Rocks.

In 1943 and 1944, as part of the [[West Virginia Maneuver Area]], [[10th Mountain Division (United States)|the 10th Mountain Division]]<ref name="Horst"/> of the U.S. Army used Seneca, [[Nelson Rocks|Nelson]] and [[Champe Rocks|Champe]] Rocks to train mountain troops in [[assault climbing]] in preparation for action in the [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]] of Italy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/fall07/seneca.html|title=WWII Assault Training at Seneca Rocks|website=www.wvculture.org|access-date=2018-12-19}}</ref> They left behind an estimated 75,000 soft iron [[piton]]s, some of which can still be found on the rocks,<ref name="Horst">{{cite book|last=Hörst|first=Eric J.|title=Rock climbing Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland|year=2001|publisher=FalconGuides|location=Guilford, Conn.|isbn=1560448121|edition=1st}}</ref> and which inspired one of the faces to be named "The Face of a Thousand Pitons". Many of those pitons were retrieved and reused by local climbers in the following years,<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Up Rope! |date=16 May 1945 |volume=1 |issue=14 |page=2 |url=http://files.patcms.org/upropes/1945/1945-10.pdf |access-date=4 May 2021 | title=Ups and downs|author=[[Jan and Herb Conn]]}}</ref> but many remained in the rock for decades.

The [[Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area]] (NRA) was established within the Monongahela National Forest by an act of the [[U.S. Congress]] on September 28, 1965. The Rocks themselves were purchased by the federal government in 1969<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/generalinfo/!ut/p/z1/jZBPC4JAFMQ_jVffyzKs20aBpeQh_NNeQmNbjdUV3fTrJ4qHIK25zeM3A2-AQgS0iJuMxyqTRSw6f6XrG3orPC4CstvgwXAu5t4xcBCEPTBaYqFn28E5cHEE6D95nBD5Nz8N0Pn6EGiPzH3wq-MElAuZDHORIllaHGjFHqxilf6qunOqVFlvNdSwbVudS8kF0-8y1_BbJJW1guiThDL3_Qifpmhc8gZpJKXh/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?groupid=9521&pname=Monongahela%20National%20Forest-%20Climbing&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ss=110921&recid=7051&pnavid=110000000000000&navid=110150000000000&ttype=generalinfo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230332/https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/generalinfo/!ut/p/z1/jZBPC4JAFMQ_jVffyzKs20aBpeQh_NNeQmNbjdUV3fTrJ4qHIK25zeM3A2-AQgS0iJuMxyqTRSw6f6XrG3orPC4CstvgwXAu5t4xcBCEPTBaYqFn28E5cHEE6D95nBD5Nz8N0Pn6EGiPzH3wq-MElAuZDHORIllaHGjFHqxilf6qunOqVFlvNdSwbVudS8kF0-8y1_BbJJW1guiThDL3_Qifpmhc8gZpJKXh/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?groupid=9521&pname=Monongahela%20National%20Forest-%20Climbing&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ss=110921&recid=7051&pnavid=110000000000000&navid=110150000000000&ttype=generalinfo|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2018|title=Seneca Rocks|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture|access-date=19 December 2018}}</ref> from the heirs of D. C. Harper.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}

The original visitor center was opened in 1978 and constructed on a grant of $297,000.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YYgMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KGUDAAAAIBAJ&dq=seneca-rocks&pg=2832%2C1329313 "Grant County Press"], 1970-7-1, Retrieved from Google news scan on 2009-1-10.</ref> A 1985 flood severely damaged the facility. On October 22, 1987, "the [[Gendarme (mountaineering)|Gendarme]]", an isolated and prominent pinnacle of the Rocks, fell to the ground.<ref>RobSC [http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=373451 "The Gendarme"], ''summitpost.org'', 2008-1-16. Retrieved on 2009-1-7.</ref><ref>Baker, Donald P. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022221444/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1351245.html "Famed W.Va. Rock Takes Tumble After 440 Million Years"], The Washington Post, October 29, 1987. Retrieved on 2009-1-10.</ref> On May 26, 1992, the visitor center was destroyed by arson.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VaMMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nWIDAAAAIBAJ&dq=seneca%20rocks%20visitor%20center%20fire&pg=4207%2C165935 "The Glenville Democrat"], 1992-6-11, Retrieved from Google news scan on 2009-1-10.</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YqMMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nWIDAAAAIBAJ&dq=seneca%20rocks%20visitor%20center%20fire&pg=4263%2C727164 "The Glenville Democrat"], 1992-9-10, Retrieved from Google news scan on 2009-1-10.</ref> The current visitor center — known as the Seneca Rocks Discovery Center — was completed in the fall of 1998 on a 5 million dollar grant.<ref>[http://www.wamonline.com/summer1999/senecarocks.htm "Seneca Rocks New Discovery Center Opens"], "wamonline.com", retrieved on 2009-1-10.</ref>

The "Seneca Rock" turnpoint at {{coord|38|50|03|N|79|22|04|W}} has been used by [[Glider (sailplane)|glider]] pilots for [[gliding competitions]] and [[FAI Gliding Commission#Badges|soaring awards]] because its distinctive appearance in aerial photographs made it suitable for photo documentation of the flight performance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://soaringweb.org/TP/Keystone/control_points.html |title=Ridge Soaring Gliderport - Photo Based (Julian, Pennsylvania) |access-date=2008-01-26 |author= Weir, Walter |work=Worldwide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange}}</ref> This turnpoint was used on many 500-kilometer out-and-return course flights from [[Ridge Soaring Gliderport]] in [[Julian, Pennsylvania]], including an October 15, 1995, flight by [[Canadians|Canadian]] pilot Walter Weir that was recognized as a world record at the time.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.sac.ca/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=17&Itemid=52 |title= The book of the best | year = 2007 | location = Claresholm, AB, Canada | author = Wiese, Ursula | publisher = [[Soaring Association of Canada]] |access-date=2008-01-26 }}</ref>

==Rock climbing==
[[File:North Peak Warning Sign at Seneca Rocks.jpg|alt=A warning sign stating, "Since 1971, 15 people have died at Seneca Rocks from falls. It's not worth the risk."|thumb|According to the warning sign near the top of North Peak, 15 people have died in falls while climbing Seneca Rocks since 1971.]]
Seneca Rocks is a popular location for recreational [[rock climbing]]. There are 375 major mapped climbing routes, varying in [[Yosemite Decimal System#YDS class|degree]] from 5.0 (the easiest) to 5.14b (the hardest). There are two climbing schools located in Seneca Rocks that train prospective climbers in beginning and advanced rock climbing: Seneca Rocks Climbing School and Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides. Other climbing guide services, particularly those located in the surrounding states, also guide and instruct rock climbing at Seneca Rocks.

Both the East and West faces of the North and South Peak offer single and multi-pitch routes up to 300&nbsp;ft in length.  Technical routes also exist on the Lower Slabs, located on the slopes below the west face of the North Peak, and on the Southern Pillar, directly across Roy Gap from the South Peak.  Because of the way the rock was uplifted, many vertical cracks offer excellent jamming and good protection. Routes range from 5.0 to 5.14, nearly all of which require the leader to place protection ([[trad climbing|traditional climbing]]). The South Peak is the tallest peak east of [[Devils Tower National Monument|Devils Tower]] in Wyoming and is only accessible by 5th-class climbing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://climbseneca.com/index.php/general-info/west-virginia-rock-climbing/|title=Why Rock Climbing at Seneca Rocks West Virginia?|work=Seneca Rocks Climbing School}}</ref>

==Popular legends==
A popular [[Historical romance|romance]] of the Rocks — "The Betrothal of Snow Bird, Princess of the Seneca Indians" — was written in 1932 by [[Harry Malcolm Wade]].<ref>{{cite journal | title = The Betrothal of Snow Bird | journal = West Virginia Review | date = July 1932 | first = Harry Malcolm | last = Wade |volume=IX | pages = 418–| access-date = 2012-04-16 | url=https://archive.org/stream/indextowestvirgi00munn#page/140/mode/2up/search/Betrothal}}</ref> West Virginia writer J. Lawrence Smith provides the following summary of the story:

<blockquote>Princess Snow Bird, who had grown to maidenhood in the shadow of the rocks and scaled their heights many times, proposed a contest to her father, [Chief] Bald Eagle. She would climb to the crest of the rocks as prospective suitors followed. The first to take her hand would become her mate. Bald Eagle agreed, and at the end of the climb, of seven suitors, only one remained, the others having turned back from fear or fallen to their deaths. From their lofty perch, Snow Bird and her future mate surveyed the surrounding realm of the Seneca that would be theirs to rule one day.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Fact and the Fanciful: Native American History and Legends | journal = Wonderful West Virginia Magazine | date = November 2007 | first = J. Lawrence | last = Smith | pages = 23–27| url = http://www.wvdnr.gov/wwvmagazine/archive/Batch2007/2007%20-%2011%20November.pdf | access-date = 2012-04-16}}</ref></blockquote>

In reality, the Seneca homeland was in what is now western [[New York (state)|New York]] state, and what Seneca tribesmen passed this way were strictly transients. (The historical "Chief Bald Eagle" [d. 1779], also known as Chief [[Woapalanne]], was a [[Lenape]] leader of central Pennsylvania, not a Seneca of [West] Virginia.)

==Gallery==
{{wide image|2017-08-09 14 23 27 Full 360-degree panoramic view from the North Peak of Seneca Rocks, in Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, West Virginia.jpg|1200px|align-cap=center|360-degree panorama from the top of the north peak of Seneca Rocks||none|alt=Seneca Rocks view}}
<gallery>
File:SenecaRocks22.jpg|Seneca Rocks viewed from the parking lot
File:Roy Gap.jpg|View of the trail / road (Roy Gap Road) to the South Peak area in the morning
File:Seneca East Face.jpg|Climber on "Castor," east face of Seneca Rocks
File:Seneca Rocks climbing - 12.jpg|Climber on top of "Bring on the nubiles", west face of Seneca Rocks
File:Seneca1.JPG|East face of Seneca Rocks
File:Triple S Seneca.jpg|Vertical panorama of "Triple S" on the west face of Seneca Rocks
File:Seneca Rocks by Asilverstein Oct 2013 High Dynamic Range Merge from 7 Exposures.jpg|Seneca Rocks in the Fall
File:20140310- DSC8249.jpg|Seneca Rocks night sky, as seen from the town of Seneca Rocks, West Virginia in the Monongahela National Forest.
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Germany Valley]]
*[[Shawnee Trail (West Virginia)]]

== Nearby State Parks ==

* [[Audra State Park]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Other sources===
* {{cite book
  | author = Tony Barnes
  | title = Seneca Rocks: The Climber's Guide, 2nd edition
  | publisher = Earthbound Sports 
  | isbn = 978-0-9643698-8-7 
  | year = 2006}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/sp/senrcks_txt.html Monongahela National Forest] (USDA Forest Service site website)
*[https://www.fs.usda.gov/photogallery/mnf/recreation "The Betrothal of Snow Bird, Princess of the Seneca Indians"] at the MNF website

{{Monongahela National Forest}}
{{Eastern_Panhandle_of_West Virginia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rock formations of West Virginia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Pendleton County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Quartzite formations]]
[[Category:Silurian geology]]
[[Category:Silurian West Virginia]]
[[Category:Landmarks in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Monongahela National Forest]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Pendleton County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Climbing areas of the United States]]
[[Category:West Virginia placenames of Native American origin]]