Grayson Highlands is the highest state park in Virginia, with elevations topping 5,089 feet. This altitude creates an environment more like what you’d find hundreds of miles north in New England than what’s typical of the southern Appalachians.

The eastern hellbender is North America's largest salamander. Unfortunately, the future of the this aquatic giant is uncertain due to habitat loss from damming, sedimentation from logging and mining, agricultural runoff, pollution and flooding.