Feral pony near Mount Rogers.  The Virginia ponies are in what is known as the Mount Rogers
High Country. The Mount Rogers National Recreation Area (NRA), a part of the George
Washington and Jefferson National Forest, covers over 140,000 acres of high mountain lands in
southwest Virginia. The high country, the heart of the NRA, contains over 25,000 acres of the
highest lands in Virginia, and the Mount Rogers NRA manages approximately 20,000 acres of the
high country (while the Grayson Highlands State Park manages the remaining 5,000 acres). The high
country consists of three areas which include the Lewis Fork Wilderness, the Little Wilson Creek
Wilderness, and the Crest Zone.

The Crest Zone includes the open areas on Brier Ridge, Cabin Ridge, Wilburn Ridge, Stone
Mountain, and Pine Mountain which total about 2,000 acres. The views here are spectacular, with
rocky ridges and grassy areas. The area was once heavily forested, but heavy logging by private
companies during the early 1900’s and wildfires created the balds. The grazing by domestic livestock
kept them open, and The USDA Forest Service acquired the property during the 1960’s. Today
the balds are kept open through prescribed burning and regulated cattle grazing by private farmers
who lease grazing rights. Two herds of free-roaming ponies make their home in the high country,
and also help to keep the balds clear. A private association manages the herds, one of which is in
Grayson Highlands State Park. The other lives within the Crest Zone of the Mount Rogers National
Recreation Area. There are many theories of their origin, but no one really knows. The ponies were
there long before the park was established in 1965.