Enlow Fork

Enlow Fork is as far-flung and remote as any spot you'll find in the Southwest corner of the state. It's tucked away in the shadow of Consol Energy's Enlow Fork Mine, a sinister looking complex with chutes, and towers, and smokestacks that looms over the hilly, green pasture land in this region of Washington County.

Enlow Fork is actually the name of the creek, and the wild lands here are also known as State Game Lands #302. This place is noted for its abundance of wildflowers, and if you chance across another human here, it's almost certainly a fisher.

This territory is gorgeous and vast. An old country lane--now closed to vehicles--runs through the Enlow Valley and traverses some outdated bridges, as seen in the bottom photo.

I followed a sidetrack up the razorback ridge of a mountain and found myself atop a narrow ridgeline far above the stream. There was no overlook, due to all the trees, but it's nice to sense the height through the trees. I assumed that it would be easy to follow the ridge back down the way I came up, but such was not the case. I ended up in a very different part of the reserve from where I meant to go.

But there were pleasant upland meadows on the mountainside on the way down, as in the second and third photos. Notice the splashes of red and white among the green.

This place can look pristine to the untrained eye, but honestly, nothing is pristine in Southwest PA. This land, too, has been raped. If you look closely, you'll find the scars.

Driving through Washington County is like driving through rural Kentucky. Round, grassy, treeless hills with horses grazing on the flanks. Narrow, winding roads. Enormous farmhouses, many abandoned. Covered bridges. It's really a beautiful place, the coal industry and the newborn Marcellus shale natural gas industry notwithstanding. Just don't drink the water.