BirdTrout

George Washington National Forest, Virginia

960,981 acres of public ground in Augusta, Bath, Rockingham, Alleghany counties, managed by US Forest Service. 482 named streams run through it, of which 248 are designated trout water — 658.4 miles of it. It is in the state's huntable-land layer.

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Map key
This unit — the ground this page is about
Other public land — state, federal and county ground around it
USGS gauge — a gauge, coloured by what it reads now
Water temperature — the colour of every stream on this ground

50°F and colder is cold, through cold-transitional and cool, to warm above 70°F — the same four bands the app paints. The colour is Virginia DWR's own classification of the stream, not a measurement, except at the gauge dots, which read live. Grey is water Virginia DWR has not typed.

The unit in numbers

Assembled from the state huntable public-land layer and PAD-US ownership records, dissolved into one block: the section lines a state forest is surveyed in are not a fact about access, so they are not drawn and not counted twice.

960,981 ac
public ground
1501.5 square miles · 142 separate blocks
US Forest Service
managing agency
National forest
482
named streams on it
2685.3 miles · 248 designated trout
Open access
public access
as recorded in the ownership file

Getting on it

Open to the public without a permit, as PAD-US records it. State licence and season rules still apply.

This unit is 142 separate blocks of ground rather than one, which is normal for public land held in surveyed sections: the blocks are not contiguous. The map above draws every one of them, and the ground between two of them belongs to somebody else. Boundaries, closures and anything posted on the ground are USDA Forest Service's to say.

Trout streams on this ground

Every named stream whose reaches touch this unit, longest first. 198 of them have a page of their own and are linked; the rest are in the app. The class column is Virginia DWR's designation of that stream, over the reaches it has classified. "Now" is the live USGS reading where a gauge stands in that stream.

Stream Miles Class Now Designation
Jackson River 99.7 untyped — Class II, Class V, Class VI
Cowpasture River 86.3 untyped — Class VI
South Fork Shenandoah River 77.6 untyped — —
Back Creek 55.2 untyped — Class II, Class V, Class VI
Potts Creek 48.2 untyped — Class V
North Fork Shenandoah River 45.6 untyped — —
Mill Creek 45.0 untyped — Class I, Class II, Class III
Passage Creek 38.9 untyped — Class VI
Cedar Creek 36.9 untyped — Class III
North River 34.8 untyped — Class IV, Class VI
Dry Run 34.3 untyped — Class II, Class IV
Calfpasture River 32.1 untyped — —
Stony Creek 30.7 untyped — Class V
Pedlar River 28.4 untyped — Class III, Class VI
Dry Run 27.8 untyped — Class IV
Little Calfpasture River 24.0 untyped — Class IV
Dry River 23.8 untyped — Class IV
Maury River 22.9 untyped — —
Mill Creek 22.4 untyped — Class VI
Stony Run 22.4 untyped — Class II, Class III
Back Creek 21.5 untyped — —
Big Run 18.5 untyped — Class II, Class IV
Stuart Run 18.4 untyped — —
Wilson Creek 18.2 untyped — Class II
Laurel Fork 17.9 untyped — Class II
Sinking Creek 16.9 untyped — Class II
Briery Branch 16.4 untyped — Class III, Class V
German River 15.7 untyped — Class IV
Little Back Creek 15.6 untyped — Class II
Skidmore Fork 15.4 untyped — Class IV
South River 15.1 untyped — —
Irish Creek 14.3 untyped — Class III
Shaws Fork 13.3 untyped — Class VI
Jennings Branch 12.7 untyped — Class IV
Piney River 12.7 untyped — Class II
Brattons Run 12.2 untyped — Class II
Tye River 11.8 untyped — Class VI
Narrow Passage Creek 11.6 untyped — —
Little Dry River 11.5 untyped — —
Shoemaker River 11.5 untyped — —
James River 11.1 untyped — —
Dunlap Creek 10.7 untyped — Class V
Otter Creek 10.4 untyped — Class III, Class VI
Simpson Creek 10.4 untyped — Class II
Smith Creek 10.3 untyped — Class II, Class V
Cub Run 10.1 untyped — Class II
Pads Creek 10.1 untyped — Class VIII
Lick Run 9.5 untyped — Class II
Saint Marys River 9.4 untyped — Class I, Class II
Blue Spring Run 9.3 untyped — Class II
Laurel Branch 9.2 untyped — —
Jerrys Run 9.1 untyped — Class IV, Class VIII
Mills Creek 9.1 untyped — Class II, Class VI
North Fork Tye River 8.8 untyped — Class II
Stony Run 8.8 untyped — Class II, Class III
Peters Mill Run 8.7 untyped — Class VI
East Dry Branch 8.2 untyped — Class IV
Laurel Run 8.2 untyped — Class II
Mill Branch 8.2 untyped — Class II
Straight Fork 8.2 untyped — —
Buffalo Branch 8.1 untyped — Class IV
Capon Run 8.1 untyped — —
Riles Run 8.1 untyped — —
Pughs Run 8.0 untyped — —
Indian Creek 7.9 untyped — —
War Branch 7.9 untyped — —
Boone Run 7.7 untyped — Class II
Little River 7.7 untyped — Class IV
Little Piney River 7.6 untyped — Class II
South Fork Tye River 7.6 untyped — Class II
Freemason Run 7.4 untyped — —
Hughes Creek 7.4 untyped — —
Mountain Run 7.4 untyped — Class VI
Slate Lick Branch 7.4 untyped — Class IV
Cast Steel Run 7.2 untyped — Class II
Coles Run 7.2 untyped — Class II
Guys Run 7.1 untyped — —
Hays Creek 7.1 untyped — Class III
Hone Quarry Run 7.1 untyped — Class III
Karnes Creek 7.1 untyped — Class II
Kennedy Creek 7.1 untyped — Class II
Mare Run 7.0 untyped — Class II
North Fork Buffalo River 7.0 untyped — Class II
Bennett Run 6.9 untyped — —
Big Branch 6.9 untyped — —
Little Stony Creek 6.9 untyped — Class II
Long Run 6.9 untyped — —
Roaring Run 6.9 untyped — Class II
Rocky Run 6.7 untyped — Class III, Class IV
Dancing Creek 6.6 untyped — Class VI
Duck Run 6.6 untyped — Class II
Mill Creek 6.6 untyped — Class II
Pine Run 6.6 untyped — —
Sharvers Run 6.6 untyped — —
Bible Run 6.5 untyped — Class III
Hamilton Branch 6.5 untyped — —
Black Run 6.4 untyped — Class II
Laurel Run 6.4 untyped — Class II
Mud Run 6.4 untyped — —
Little Mill Creek 6.3 untyped — Class II
Little Passage Creek 6.2 untyped — Class III
Meadow Creek 6.2 untyped — Class II
Roaring Run 6.2 untyped — Class V
Union Springs Run 6.2 untyped — Class II
Ponding Mill Creek 6.1 untyped — Class II
Muddy Run 6.0 untyped — Class II
South Fork Piney River 6.0 untyped — Class II
Browns Creek 5.9 untyped — Class II
Little Wilson Creek 5.9 untyped — Class II
Whisky Creek 5.9 untyped — —
Benson Run 5.8 untyped — Class IV
Long Run 5.8 untyped — Class IV
Spy Run 5.8 untyped — Class II
Beaver Creek 5.7 untyped — Class V
Chimney Run 5.7 untyped — —
Broad Run 5.6 untyped — —
Jordan Run 5.6 untyped — Class II
Marshall Run 5.6 untyped — Class IV
McKittricks Branch 5.6 untyped — —
Johns Run 5.5 untyped — Class II
South Fork Pads Creek 5.5 untyped — Class VI
Tygers Creek 5.5 untyped — Class VII
Big Marys Creek 5.4 untyped — Class II
Clayton Mill Creek 5.4 untyped — Class II
Franklin Creek 5.4 untyped — —
Harmon Run 5.4 untyped — —
Loves Run 5.4 untyped — Class III
Pitt Spring Run 5.4 untyped — Class II
Rocky Run 5.4 untyped — Class II
Big Lick Creek 5.3 untyped — —
Still Run 5.3 untyped — —
Fridley Branch 5.2 untyped — —
North Fork Back Creek 5.2 untyped — Class II, Class VI
Laurel Run 5.1 untyped — Class II
Sirks Run 5.1 untyped — Class IV
Thorny Branch 5.1 untyped — —
Cold Spring Run 5.0 untyped — —
Stony Run 5.0 untyped — —
Falls Run 4.9 untyped — Class VI
Indiandraft Creek 4.9 untyped — Class III
Mill Run 4.9 untyped — Class II
Alum Creek 4.8 untyped — Class II
Bolshers Run 4.8 untyped — —
Jerkemtight Branch 4.8 untyped — Class IV
Belle Cove Branch 4.7 untyped — Class IV
Johns Run 4.7 untyped — —
Brown Mountain Creek 4.6 untyped — Class II
Lairs Run 4.6 untyped — —
Peterfish Run 4.6 untyped — —
Goshen Branch 4.5 untyped — —
Paxton Branch 4.5 untyped — Class II
Spring Run 4.5 untyped — Class II
Turner Run 4.5 untyped — —
Campbell Run 4.4 untyped — —
Mill Dam Creek 4.4 untyped — —
North Fork Little River 4.4 untyped — Class IV
Overly Run 4.4 untyped — —
Beetle Run 4.3 untyped — —
Charlie Lick Branch 4.3 untyped — —
Gochenour Branch 4.3 untyped — Class II
Shawvers Run 4.3 untyped — Class II
Statons Creek 4.3 untyped — Class II
Canada Run 4.2 untyped — —
Christleys Run 4.2 untyped — Class III
Hogpen Run 4.2 untyped — —
Jim Dave Run 4.2 untyped — Class IV
Lick Run 4.2 untyped — —
North Fork Piney River 4.2 untyped — Class I
Rocky Row Run 4.2 untyped — Class VI
Cedar Creek 4.1 untyped — —
Little Laurel Run 4.1 untyped — Class II
Spruce Run 4.1 untyped — Class III, Class IV
Bens Run 4.0 untyped — —
Crow Run 4.0 untyped — Class II
Love Lady Creek 4.0 untyped — —
Mine Run 4.0 untyped — Class III
Mines Run 4.0 untyped — Class IV
North Branch Simpson Creek 4.0 untyped — Class II
South Fork Buffalo River 4.0 untyped — —
White Rock Branch 4.0 untyped — —
Daddy Run 3.9 untyped — —
Hoover Creek 3.9 untyped — —
Hughart Run 3.9 untyped — —
Left Prong Wilson Creek 3.9 untyped — Class II
Browns Run 3.8 untyped — Class III
Cold Spring River 3.8 untyped — —
South Fork Little River 3.8 untyped — Class IV
Tizzle Branch 3.8 untyped — —
West Dry Branch 3.8 untyped — —
White Rock Creek 3.8 untyped — —
Coal Run 3.7 untyped — —
Fortney Branch 3.7 untyped — —
Inch Branch 3.7 untyped — Class IV
Laurel Branch 3.7 untyped — —
Reedy Run 3.7 untyped — —
Whites Run 3.7 untyped — —
Blue Suck Branch 3.6 untyped — Class III
Cold Spring Branch 3.6 untyped — Class III
Davidson Run 3.6 untyped — Class II
Gum Run 3.6 untyped — Class IV
Hog Run 3.6 untyped — —
Jerry Run 3.6 untyped — —
Orebank Creek 3.6 untyped — Class II
Pedlar Gap Run 3.6 untyped — Class III
South Fork Back Creek 3.6 untyped — Class II
Hawksclaw Creek 3.5 untyped — —
Little Irish Creek 3.5 untyped — Class III
Spring Run 3.5 untyped — Class IV
Brushy Fork 3.4 untyped — —
Davis Mill Creek 3.4 untyped — Class II
Enchanted Creek 3.4 untyped — Class II
Kempers Run 3.4 untyped — Class III
Montgomery Run 3.4 untyped — —
Noels Run 3.4 untyped — Class II
Snag Run 3.4 untyped — —
Warwick Run 3.4 untyped — —
Buck Lick Run 3.3 untyped — —
Campbell Creek 3.3 untyped — Class II
Cowardin Run 3.3 untyped — Class II
Flat Run 3.3 untyped — —
Gravel Springs Run 3.3 untyped — —
Little Marys Creek 3.3 untyped — Class II
Low Place Run 3.3 untyped — Class II
Mill Run 3.3 untyped — Class II
North Fork McKittricks Branch 3.3 untyped — —
Porters Mill Creek 3.3 untyped — Class III
Shoe Creek 3.3 untyped — Class I
Lowry Run 3.2 untyped — Class III
Spring Branch 3.2 untyped — Class II
Swapping Camp Creek 3.2 untyped — —
Cove Run 3.1 untyped — —
Coxs Creek 3.1 untyped — Class II
Daniel Run 3.1 untyped — —
Edinburg Run 3.1 untyped — —
Kephart Run 3.1 untyped — Class IV
Maple Spring Run 3.1 untyped — Class IV
Battle Run 3.0 untyped — —
Brushy Run 3.0 untyped — —
Corbett Branch 3.0 untyped — —
Foltz Creek 3.0 untyped — Class III
Fowlers Run 3.0 untyped — —
Locust Spring Run 3.0 untyped — Class II
Martin Lick Run 3.0 untyped — —
Seventy Buck Lick Run 3.0 untyped — Class IV
Shell Run 3.0 untyped — —
South Fork Thrashers Creek 3.0 untyped — —
Toms Branch 3.0 untyped — Class III
White Oak Run 3.0 untyped — —
Alum Run 2.9 untyped — —
Cove Creek 2.9 untyped — Class II
Liptrap Run 2.9 untyped — —
Rinker Run 2.9 untyped — —
Saltpeter Run 2.9 untyped — —
Still Run 2.9 untyped — Class IV
Stillhouse Run 2.9 untyped — —
Stony Lick 2.9 untyped — —
Stoutameyer Branch 2.9 untyped — —
Cashaw Creek 2.8 untyped — Class VI
Hulit Draft 2.8 untyped — —
Humes Run 2.8 untyped — —
Left Fork 2.8 untyped — —
Limekiln Run 2.8 untyped — —
Miller Spring Run 2.8 untyped — Class IV
Piney Mountain Branch 2.8 untyped — Class VI
South Fork White Rock Branch 2.8 untyped — —
Board Tree Run 2.7 untyped — —
Carr Run 2.7 untyped — —
Cold Sulphur Springs Branch 2.7 untyped — —
Elliott Springs Run 2.7 untyped — —
Falling Rock Creek 2.7 untyped — —
Gate Run 2.7 untyped — Class VIII
Millstone Run 2.7 untyped — —
Poplar Cove Run 2.7 untyped — Class III
Slabcamp Run 2.7 untyped — Class II
White Sulphur Spring Branch 2.7 untyped — —
Davidson Creek 2.6 untyped — —
Dry Creek 2.6 untyped — —
East Branch Jackson River 2.6 untyped — —
Mill Creek 2.6 untyped — Class III
Redbanks Run 2.6 untyped — —
Bearwallow Run 2.5 untyped — Class II
Downy Branch 2.5 untyped — Class III
Indian Gap Run 2.5 untyped — Class IV
Millers Run 2.5 untyped — —
Mitchell Branch 2.5 untyped — Class IV
Morris Run 2.5 untyped — —
Mountain Run 2.5 untyped — —
Silver Creek 2.5 untyped — Class III
Trout Run 2.5 untyped — Class II
Archer Run 2.4 untyped — —
Big Lick Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Buck Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Coalpit Run 2.4 untyped — —
Fridley Run 2.4 untyped — —
Gum Springs Branch 2.4 untyped — —
Kelly Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Morgan Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Pheasanty Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Piney Branch 2.4 untyped — Class II
Rocky Run 2.4 untyped — Class II
Bear Run 2.3 untyped — Class III
Bennetts Run 2.3 untyped — Class II
Buck Run 2.3 untyped — —
Crabtree Creek 2.3 untyped — Class II
Laurel Springs Branch 2.3 untyped — —
Left Prong Benson Run 2.3 untyped — Class IV
Little Cedar Creek 2.3 untyped — —
May Spring Run 2.3 untyped — —
Phillips Lick 2.3 untyped — —
Poplar Run 2.3 untyped — Class II
Right Prong Benson Run 2.3 untyped — Class IV
Sand Run 2.3 untyped — Class III
Sugar Run 2.3 untyped — —
Terrapin Creek 2.3 untyped — Class VI
Toms Branch 2.3 untyped — —
Barnetts Run 2.2 untyped — —
Big Run 2.2 untyped — Class III
Bogan Run 2.2 untyped — Class VIII
Castle Run 2.2 untyped — Class II
Dutchman Branch 2.2 untyped — —
Fall Hollow Branch 2.2 untyped — —
Hickory Lick 2.2 untyped — —
Kelly Run 2.2 untyped — —
Panther Run 2.2 untyped — Class II
Persimmon Run 2.2 untyped — —
Raccoon Run 2.2 untyped — Class VIII
Robinson Branch 2.2 untyped — —
Root Run 2.2 untyped — Class IV
Trout Branch 2.2 untyped — Class IV
Wylies Run 2.2 untyped — —
Bennets Run 2.1 untyped — —
Bennett Branch 2.1 untyped — —
Georges Creek 2.1 untyped — Class II
Hamilton Branch 2.1 untyped — —
Harpers Creek 2.1 untyped — Class II
Jerrys Run 2.1 untyped — Class IV
Rock Lick 2.1 untyped — —
Scaffold Run 2.1 untyped — —
Teams Hollow Run 2.1 untyped — —
Bear Hole Run 2.0 untyped — Class II
Big Bend Creek 2.0 untyped — Class IV
Body Lick Branch 2.0 untyped — —
Cave Run 2.0 untyped — Class II
Crawleys Creek 2.0 untyped — Class II
Ford Run 2.0 untyped — Class II
Lick Block Run 2.0 untyped — Class II
Little Skidmore Fork 2.0 untyped — —
Mud Run 2.0 untyped — —
Neal Run 2.0 untyped — —
Pond Lick Branch 2.0 untyped — —
Port Lock Run 2.0 untyped — —
South Fork Bennetts Run 2.0 untyped — Class IV
Spruce Lick Run 2.0 untyped — Class III
White Rock Creek 2.0 untyped — Class II
Yellow Spring Run 2.0 untyped — —
Black Run 1.9 untyped — —
Blue Lick Run 1.9 untyped — —
Broad Run 1.9 untyped — —
Brushy Lick 1.9 untyped — —
Cub Run 1.9 untyped — Class II
Durham Run 1.9 untyped — Class II
Finley Branch 1.9 untyped — —
Gap Run 1.9 untyped — —
Little Cove Creek 1.9 untyped — Class II
Lost Run 1.9 untyped — Class II
Louisa Spring Branch 1.9 untyped — Class I
Maidenhead Branch 1.9 untyped — Class II
Nelse Branch 1.9 untyped — Class II
North Fork Bennetts Run 1.9 untyped — Class IV
Paddy Lick 1.9 untyped — —
Page Run 1.9 untyped — —
Peach Run 1.9 untyped — Class IV
Rattlesnake Run 1.9 untyped — Class IV
Robins Run 1.9 untyped — —
Roses Run 1.9 untyped — —
Spruce Lick Branch 1.9 untyped — —
Trout Run 1.9 untyped — —
Anderson Run 1.8 untyped — Class II
Bear Branch 1.8 untyped — Class II
Devils Branch 1.8 untyped — —
Georges Run 1.8 untyped — —
Little Crow Run 1.8 untyped — Class II
Little Hogpen Run 1.8 untyped — —
Newman Run 1.8 untyped — Class II
North Fork Spy Run 1.8 untyped — Class II
North Fork Thrashers Creek 1.8 untyped — Class III
Rocky Run 1.8 untyped — —
Sawmill Run 1.8 untyped — Class II
Siebert Run 1.8 untyped — —
Solomons Run 1.8 untyped — —
Springhouse Run 1.8 untyped — —
Staples Run 1.8 untyped — —
Beech Lick Run 1.7 untyped — Class IV
Big Turn Run 1.7 untyped — —
Claylick Run 1.7 untyped — —
Eowyns Run 1.7 untyped — —
Gillam Run 1.7 untyped — —
Hoover Run 1.7 untyped — —
Kyles Branch 1.7 untyped — —
Little Otter Creek 1.7 untyped — —
Long Spring Run 1.7 untyped — Class IV
Mill Branch 1.7 untyped — —
Mud Lick Run 1.7 untyped — —
Pole Run 1.7 untyped — —
Rankin Run 1.7 untyped — —
Rock Branch 1.7 untyped — Class IV
Saville Branch 1.7 untyped — —
Spice Run 1.7 untyped — —
Sumac Run 1.7 untyped — Class IV
Wheelers Run 1.7 untyped — Class II
Beaver Run 1.6 untyped — Class II
Black Lick Run 1.6 untyped — —
Chimney Branch 1.6 untyped — Class II
Hacken Run 1.6 untyped — —
Hogback Creek 1.6 untyped — Class II
Little Creek 1.6 untyped — —
Mud Lick Run 1.6 untyped — —
Roberts Creek 1.6 untyped — Class III
Schoolhouse Run 1.6 untyped — —
Sixteenmile Branch 1.6 untyped — —
South Fork Chalk Run 1.6 untyped — —
Sugartree Branch 1.6 untyped — Class II
Swanson Branch 1.6 untyped — —
Big Branch 1.5 untyped — Class II
Christian Run 1.5 untyped — —
Craig Creek 1.5 untyped — —
Cross Mountain Run 1.5 untyped — —
Dry Run 1.5 untyped — —
Fall Branch 1.5 untyped — —
King Creek 1.5 untyped — Class II
Locust Fork 1.5 untyped — Class II
Mine Bank Creek 1.5 untyped — Class II
North Fork Camp Rader Run 1.5 untyped — —
Als Run 1.4 untyped — Class IV
Barney Run 1.4 untyped — Class II
Bear Loop Branch 1.4 untyped — Class II
Camp Rader Run 1.4 untyped — Class II
Cowbone Branch 1.4 untyped — —
Elk Pond Branch 1.4 untyped — Class II
Greasy Spring Branch 1.4 untyped — Class II
Knotmaul Run 1.4 untyped — —
Lower Mountain Lick 1.4 untyped — —
Nicholson Run 1.4 untyped — Class II
Skulking Branch 1.4 untyped — —
Slim Ridge Branch 1.4 untyped — —
Stillhouse Run 1.4 untyped — —
Stouts Creek 1.4 untyped — —
Bean Run 1.3 untyped — —
Birch Run 1.3 untyped — —
Bluff Creek 1.3 untyped — Class II
Buck Lick Run 1.3 untyped — —
Bull Run 1.3 untyped — Class III
Carroll Draft 1.3 untyped — —
Green Swamp Branch 1.3 untyped — —
Hombarck Branch 1.3 untyped — —
Paint Lick Run 1.3 untyped — Class IV
Payne Run 1.3 untyped — —
Rocky Branch 1.3 untyped — Class II
Swamp Branch 1.3 untyped — —
Swoope Run 1.3 untyped — —
Hook Branch 1.2 untyped — —
Lightner Run 1.2 untyped — —
Shady Mountain Creek 1.2 untyped — —
Wiggins Branch 1.2 untyped — Class II
Gulley Run 1.1 untyped — —
Hevener Run 1.1 untyped — —
Ryder Run 1.1 untyped — —
Cold Spring Run 1.0 untyped — —
Pompey Creek 1.0 untyped — Class II
South Fork Camp Rader Run 1.0 untyped — —
Upper Mountain Lick 1.0 untyped — —
Cripple Creek 0.9 untyped — —
Mud Lick 0.9 untyped — —
Sugar Run 0.9 untyped — Class II
Williams Branch 0.9 untyped — —
Alex Run 0.8 untyped — —
Childress Branch 0.8 untyped — —
Graveyard Run 0.8 untyped — —
Fridleys Branch 0.7 untyped — —
Paddy Bee Tree Run 0.7 untyped — —
Red Swamp 0.6 untyped — —
Lady Slipper Run 0.1 untyped — —

The miles are the whole stream's, not the miles inside this boundary: a river does not stop at a property line and neither does its page.

Hunting

This ground is in Virginia's huntable public-land layer as national forest, managed by US Forest Service — 100% of the unit is covered by it. The seasons below are the 2026–2027 small-game seasons as the state's own digest publishes them; they are statewide except where a species is zoned, and the bars run 1 September to 31 August.

Northern bobwhite 7 Nov – 31 Jan

Daily bag 6. Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not. Quail is closed on all public land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and on Flippo-Gentry WMA in Sussex County until further notice. That is a rule about the parcel you are standing on, not about a line on this map, and this app cannot draw it — check the ownership of the ground before you hunt quail in the mountains.

Ring-necked pheasant 7 Nov – 31 Jan

Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not. VDWR publishes no daily or seasonal bag limit for pheasant. The null here is that, not an unread digest. Virginia holds no self-sustaining wild pheasant population. What is hunted is released birds on a handful of stocked and licensed shooting preserves, and the season above is the wild-bird season that barely applies.

American woodcock 11 Nov – 1 Dec, 26 Dec – 18 Jan

Daily bag 3, possession 9. Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not. Migratory bird: HIP registration is required in addition to the hunting licence, and it lapses every July 1. Two segments, split around the late-December break. The birds in the second are flight birds moving through on cold fronts, not Virginia's own.

Ruffed grouse zoned — see below

Daily bag 3. Zoned — Virginia publishes this season by zone, and this page does not place this unit in one, so no season bar is drawn. Seasons by zone — West of I-95: 24 Oct – 13 Feb; East of I-95: closed all season. Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not. The I-95 line is not drawn in this app. The dates are for the western zone; which side of the interstate you are on is not answered here. East of I-95 is a continuous closed season — not a gap in this app's data, a closure Virginia has declared. Virginia's grouse are a Blue Ridge and Allegheny bird and the population has been declining for decades. West of I-95 is where the season is; the mountains are where the birds are.

Wild turkey (fall) zoned — see below

Daily bag 1. Zoned — Virginia publishes this season by zone, and this page does not place this unit in one, so no season bar is drawn. Seasons by zone — Albemarle, Alleghany, Augusta, Bath, Greene, Highland, Madison, Page and Rockingham counties: 17 Oct – 30 Oct, 26 Nov – 26 Nov; Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Caroline, Carroll, Clarke, Craig, Culpeper, Dickenson, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Lee, Loudoun, Montgomery, Nelson, Northumberland, Prince William, Pulaski, Rappahannock, Richmond, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Stafford, Washington, Westmoreland, Wise and Wythe counties, plus Camp Peary, Hampton and Newport News: 17 Oct – 30 Oct, 25 Nov – 26 Nov, 30 Nov – 26 Dec, 9 Jan – 23 Jan; Accomack, Amelia, Dinwiddie, Gloucester, Greensville, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Powhatan, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, Sussex and York counties, plus Suffolk: 17 Oct – 30 Oct, 25 Nov – 26 Nov, 30 Nov – 12 Dec; Amherst, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buchanan, Buckingham, Campbell, Charles City, Charlotte, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Floyd, Fluvanna, Frederick, Goochland, Halifax, Hanover, Henrico, Henry, Louisa, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Orange, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Tazewell and Warren counties: 17 Oct – 30 Oct, 25 Nov – 26 Nov, 30 Nov – 12 Dec, 9 Jan – 23 Jan; Statewide archery: 3 Oct – 13 Nov. Virginia requires solid blaze orange or blaze pink — a hat, 360-degree upper-body clothing, or 100 square inches at shoulder level. Waterfowl and dove hunters are exempt; upland bird hunters are not. Virginia names the fall turkey zones as county lists rather than as drawn boundaries, and this app does not join them to its geography. Confirm your county against the VDWR table before opening day. Three turkeys per licence year across the fall and spring seasons in any combination, of which at most one may be beardless. That is a yearly total, not a daily or possession limit. Archery runs October 3 to November 13 across the state, on its own dates, in addition to the firearms zones below.

Hunter orange: Every hunter, and anyone accompanying one, must wear a solid blaze orange or blaze pink hat, or solid blaze upper-body clothing visible from 360 degrees, or display at least 100 square inches of solid blaze material at shoulder level, visible from 360 degrees. Waterfowl, dove, field trials and mounted fox hunting are exempt.

Virginia allows Sunday hunting, with two exceptions: not within 200 yards of a house of worship, and not for deer or bear with dogs.

Access sites and amenities

No public access site we have on record stands on this unit. We hold no trail or campground data at all, so what is here is what the state publishes as launches and walk-in access, and none of it falls on this ground.

When to come

The hatch calendar for the Virginia mountains, which is the region this unit's centre falls in — the same regions the app's hatch panel uses. It is a regional record, not a survey of this ground: nobody has counted insects unit by unit. Year-round records (midges, scuds, sculpins) are left out. The seasons above are the other half of this calendar: the water is best before the ground is.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Nothing seasonal on the water.

What makes this unit distinctive

The George Washington is the largest block of public ground on this site outside Michigan: 960,981 acres in 142 parts along the Alleghenies and the western Blue Ridge, and it is the reason four Virginia watersheds on this site are more than half public. Four hundred and eighty-two named streams touch it and VDWR designates 248 of them as trout water. The Jackson River runs 99.7 miles through it carrying Class II, V and VI water, the Cowpasture 86.3 miles at Class VI, Back Creek 55.2 miles across three classes and Potts Creek 48.2 at Class V; the South Fork Shenandoah's 77.6 miles and the North Fork's 45.6 are undesignated valley river. PAD-US records it open access. The upland seasons below are Virginia's statewide ones, not a per-unit list.

Regulations

Nothing on this page is a regulation. The fishing rules that apply to the water on this ground — the types, the seasons, the size limits and the gear restrictions — are on the Virginia fishing regulations page, built from the agency's own columns. The hunting seasons above come from the state's hunting digest, read against the 2026 licence year.

Watersheds it lies in

The subbasins this ground drains into. Each one has the whole basin's water on it.

Public land nearby

The nearest other blocks of public ground, centre to centre. Public land does not tile a state the way watersheds do, so this is nearness rather than adjacency.

Plan a weekend around it

The trip pages whose range reaches this ground — the water in the same drive, what is hatching, and a three-day plan built from it.