Three Features that make the Big Laurel-Whitetop Laurel Creek Watershed Special – The Virginia Creeper Trail, Trout Fishing and the Gentle Giant the Eastern Hellbender Salamander
The Big Laurel Creek – Whitetop Laurel Creek watershed, located in southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee, USA, is unique and special for many reasons, but three important features that I would like to highlight are:
1. Home to the nationally recognized Virginia Creeper Trail (VCT),
2. One of the premier trout fishing stream in Virginia and the southeast United States, and
3. Critical habitat of the eastern hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis).
Number 1, the Virginia Creeper Trail.
The Virginia Creeper Trail (VCT) is a 34-mile (57.4 km) biking and hiking trail from the Town of Abingdon, VA to Whitetop, VA. The trail is owned and maintained by the Town of Abingdon from Abingdon to Damascus, and the U.S. Forest Service from Damascus to Whitetop. The trail was created along the old Norfolk and Western railroad right-of-way that was abandoned and sold, and eventually acquired by the Town of Abingdon and the U.S. Forest Service in the late 1970s. The trail from Damascus to Whitetop is currently closed due to extensive damage from Hurricane Helene in late 2024, but the 17-mile (27.4 km) section from Abingdon to Damascus remains open. The open portion of the trail was and is open year-round for biking, hiking, and horseback riding, offering scenic views of farmland, forests, and creeks. The U.S. Forest Service has established an aggressive schedule to have the trail repaired and re-opened by September 2026. More information about the trail and information on the Hurricane Helene damages and plans for repairs can be found at the following web-links:
1.1. https://www.virginia.org/listing/the-virginia-creeper-trail/7397/
1.2. https://dwr.virginia.gov/vbwt/sites/virginia-creeper-trail-damascus/
1.3. https://www.vacreepertrail.org/
1.4. https://vacreepertrail.com/
1.5. https://hawkinsrails.net/preservation/creeper/creeper.htm
Number 2, Trout Fishing.
From the official website of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), “Whitetop Laurel just might be the most unique trout stream in the Old Dominion. Located in Washington County in far Southwest Virginia near Damascus and Abingdon, Whitetop features mountainous scenery and classic trout habitat with plunge pools, runs, and pocket water. But as pristine as the setting is, the Virginia Creeper Trail runs along much of the stream, making it one of the most accessible wild trout fisheries in the state.”
“Whitetop Laurel Creek flows from Mt. Rogers down into the Holston River. At the Whitetop Laurel Fishing and Viewing Area, the Appalachian Trail and the Virginia Creeper Trail converge, providing easy access to the surrounding forests. The creek runs through dense rhododendron thickets with old white pine towering over the creek banks. The trails and overlooks that are found along the course of the stream are excellent vantage points to look for trout, which often come close to the surface from the deeper pools along the stream. Walk the trail along the creek checking the creekside brush for Louisiana waterthrush, which can often be seen flying along the creek. These birds are often joined by Carolina wren, which also frequent streamside brush. Looking higher into the trees, black-throated blue and black-and-white warblers and warbling vireos can be found. Listen for calls from all directions—the sounds of Carolina chickadees ring through the forest. The trails in this area are relatively open and flanked by numerous wildflowers including bee-balm. Spicebush and eastern tiger swallowtails are easily visible as they cruise the paths, while smaller butterflies, like eastern-tailed hairstreak, require a more careful look.”
The above cited Virginia DWR websites, two web videos, and additional non-governmental websites provide more information on trout fishing and experiencing the natural beauty of the Big Laurel Creek – Whitetop Laurel Creek watershed at these hyperlinks.
2.1. Whitetop
Laurel: Virginia’s Most Unique Trout Stream | Virginia DWR
2.2. Whitetop
Laurel Fishing and Viewing Area | Virginia DWR
2.3. Virginia
Trout Fishing - Whitetop Laurel Creek - YouTube
2.4. Fishing
Whitetop Laurel Creek in Virginia - YouTube
2.6. 4
Must-Fish Trout Streams in Southwest Virginia - Fly Fishing - Blue Ridge
Outdoors Magazine
2.7. Fly
Fishing On The Whitetop Laurel Creek, Virginia - The Perfect Fly Store
2.8. STREAMS | Virginia
Creeper Fly Shop (vcflyshop.com)
Number 3, Critical habitat of the gentle giant, the eastern hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis).
From the official website of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR), “Eastern Hellbenders are large, stout-bodied, fully aquatic salamanders. They are the largest salamanders in North America; adults measure nearly 30 inches (75 cm) long and weigh up to 4 lbs (1.8 kg). Their heads are large and flattened with small, widely separated eyes. They are typically brown, but can range from gray, to yellowish brown to almost black. Their backs have markings that may be either darker or lighter than their skin color. Their bellies are lighter and occasionally may also be sparsely spotted. Fleshy skin folds run down both sides of their bodies and their tails have a fleshy flap of skin above and below. … Eastern Hellbenders are an aquatic species that prefer clear, fast-flowing, well-oxygenated streams and rivers in southwest Virginia. The stream bottom should be comprised of gravel and sand with an abundance of large flat rocks. In Virginia, hellbenders have been observed in streams as small as 5 meters (16 feet) wide and rivers over 200 meters (650 feet) wide. … Eastern Hellbenders range through much of the Appalachian Mountains, from southern New York to Northern Georgia. In Virginia, they are only found in the southwest corner of the state. … Because of hellbenders’ preference for clean streams and rivers, their presence serves as an excellent indicator of good water quality. … Hellbender populations have been declining since the 1970s. In most states within their range, hellbenders are listed as rare, threatened, or endangered. … Reports have shown Eastern Hellbenders have significantly declined or completely disappeared from many streams that they historically occupied. … The declines of Eastern Hellbenders can largely be attributed to the degradation of stream quality, which is caused by the damming of rivers, water pollution, and siltation of streams. Dams eliminate free-flowing sections of rivers and produce low oxygen conditions on the river bottom. Toxic chemicals, such as untreated sewage and chemical runoff from lawns, fields, and parking lots pollute rivers and streams, impacting water quality and the health of hellbenders. Like other amphibians, hellbenders “breathe” through their permeable skin, so any toxic substance in the water can enter their bodies and cause them harm. Siltation is the buildup of sediment on the bottom of a stream. Excess sediment enters streams from various human disturbances to the soil, such as the removal of streamside vegetation, logging, poor forestry practices, and erosion from farms and housing developments. Siltation affects hellbender survival by burying the large rocks that hellbenders depend on for reproduction, suffocating their eggs, filling in hiding places of their young, and killing the crayfish and other invertebrates that they feed on. … Fortunately, several efforts are underway in Virginia to address these many threats in order to conserve and manage hellbender populations. The Virginia DWR has taken the lead in Virginia on Eastern Hellbender conservation through multiple research studies, deployment of nest boxes, stream habitat restoration, and outreach and education.”
Also from DWR, “Hellbenders are listed as Tier 1a (Critical Conservation Need with “immediate and intense management action” required to prevent extinction) species of Greatest Conservation Need in the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan, and in December 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) submitted a proposal to list the eastern hellbender as federally endangered. Threats to hellbenders include loss of forest buffers along streams and rivers and human interference with their nesting sites, which are under large, flat rocks on the riverbed floor. … For the last decade, DWR and Virginia Tech have been working together on building and placing artificial nest boxes on the bottom of the rivers —large concrete boxes that mimic the under-rock space that hellbenders use for nesting.”
The above cited Virginia DWR websites, a website from the neighboring state of North Carolina, a website from the National Wildlife Fund (NWF), several videos and articles provide more information on the eastern hellbender populations and efforts to assist these gentle giants in the Big Laurel Creek – Whitetop Laurel Creek watershed at these hyperlinks.
3.1. https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/eastern-hellbender/
3.4. https://www.ncwildlife.gov/species/eastern-hellbender
3.5. https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Amphibians/Hellbender
3.6. Hellbender
salamander faces water quality woes, Aug 15, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdauKMkmK_w
3.7. These
gentle giants are disappearing, Aug 27, 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8f4gzqSUhk
3.8. Rescue
effort begins for disappearing hellbenders in Virginia streams, By Max
Esterhuizen, 21 Aug 2025, https://news.vt.edu/articles/2025/08/cnre-research-hellbender.html
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