Gaudineer Knob

Gaudineer Knob is a mountain summit in the Allegheny Mountains that reaches about 4,460 feet in elevation. The peak sits covered in a vast red spruce forest that dominates the highest point of Shavers Mountain throughout the area.

A surveying mistake in the 1860s accidentally protected roughly 50 acres of red spruce forest from the logging boom of later decades. This error became fortunate, preserving the forest while surrounding areas faced heavy timber removal between 1890 and 1920.

The summit bears the name of Donald Gaudineer, a forest ranger whose memory was honored here starting in 1930 after a tragic loss. This naming connects the place to a personal story of sacrifice that shaped how people remember this mountain today.

Forest Service Road 27A provides vehicle access to a summit parking area equipped with basic facilities like toilets and picnic tables. Several hiking trails depart from this location, offering routes of varying difficulty through the surrounding forest.

The individual red spruce trees here grow to diameters around one meter and some have lived for roughly 3 centuries. These ancient specimens have become quite rare in this region, making the forest here a remarkable sight to encounter.

Location: West Virginia

GPS coordinates: 38.61539,-79.84423

Latest update: December 12, 2025 14:24