Cranberry Glades

Cranberry Glades Cranberry Glades — also known simply as The Glades — are a cluster of five small, boreal-type bogs in southwestern Pocahontas County, West Virginia, United States. This area, high in the Allegheny Mountains at about , is protected as the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, part of the Monongahela National Forest. This site is the headwaters of the Cranberry River, a popular trout stream, and is adjacent to the nearly Cranberry Wilderness. The Glades are a grouping of peat bogs resembling some Canadian bogs. The gladed land is highly acidic and supports plants commonly found at higher latitudes, including cranberries, sphagnum moss, skunk cabbage, and two carnivorous plants (purple pitcher plant, sundew). The Glades serve as the southernmost home of many of the plant species found there. The Glades have been the subject of much scientific study, especially during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Professor Maurice Brooks conducted studies in 1930, 1934, and 1945. The work of Strausbaugh (1934), Darlington (1943), and Core (1955) followed. In 1974, the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area was designated a National Natural Landmark.