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Germany Valley is a scenic upland valley high in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia originally settled by German (including Pennsylvania Dutch) farmers in the mid-18th century. It is today a part of the Spruce Knob–Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area of the Monongahela National Forest, although much ownership of the valley remains in private hands.
The Valley is noted for its extensive karst and cave development, with dozens of caves and cave systems having been formally documented and mapped. The area was made a National Natural Landmark, the Germany Valley Karst Area, in 1973 by the National Park Service. The NPS cited it as "one of the largest cove or intermountain karst areas in the country, unique because all the ground water recharge and solution activities are linked with precipitation within the cove."
Motorized traffic may gain access to the valley from the west by either Riverton Gap (via the town of Riverton) or Hinkle Gap, through which Root Run and Mill Creek, respectively, drain it. The southernmost Valley is also slightly entered, via Judy Gap, where a popular overlook is located along U.S. Route 33 just west of Franklin, West Virginia. Seneca Rocks rise near the northern end of the Valley.
Many of the named features in or near the Valley reflect old family names of the original settlers: Judy Gap, Bennett Gap, Teter Gap, and Harper Gap; also Bland Hills, Dolly Ridge, Harman Knob, Harper Knob, Mallow Knob, and Ketterman Knob.
Indians were by no means absent from the region, however, as the famous Seneca Trail (or Great Indian Warpath) passed near the Valley and the nearby British positions at Fort Seybert and Fort Upper Tract had been destroyed (1758) in Indian uprisings led by Bemino, a Lenape chieftain. Four years later, a blockhouse (Hinkle's Fort) was built by the men of the Hinkle family to protect these border settlements from additional Indian raids. At the time of the Revolution, the fort became headquarters and training ground for the North Fork Military Company which was organized by the sons and sons-in-law of John Justus Hinkle Sr. The fort is long since gone, but a large arrowhead-shaped stone monument enclosed by an iron fence marks its former site. (This is along the valley road leading east from Riverton).
These traditional farming families long retained their language and "old country" customs and so the Valley became known as "German Settlement" or "Germany Valley". At about the same time, many Scotch-Irish families also migrated from the north and bought land in Pendleton County, including Germany Valley. Although the community prospered, it long remained isolated and its agricultural economy continued to be based predominantly on Fodder, cattle, , Dairy cattle, and sheep. The farms remained largely self-sufficient because the poor roads and absence of turnpikes made it difficult to reach larger markets in adjacent areas.
In June 1781, after a difficult passage over North Fork Mountain, the Valley was evangelized by Bishop Francis Asbury. Asbury was one of the two original Methodist missionaries in the United States. In his Journal Asbury, Francis, Journal, New York: N. Bangs & T. Mason, 1821. Asbury records preaching to about ninety "Dutch folk" who, in his words, "appeared to feel the word". The Bishop records a June 21 visit to what for over 150 years was known as "Asbury Cave" — now Stratosphere Balloon Cave. He also describes the large spring (Judy Spring) found in the Valley.
Originally, the coves and moist slopes of the Valley were covered with fine timber stands, notably including black walnut. Much of the virgin forest was cut to supply local needs, and often good, commercial-grade logs were simply burned in land-clearing operations. Later, in the 19th century, professional lumbermen became interested and the remaining forests were harvested, sawn, and taken by horse and wagon to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Keyser, some away. In the northwestern part of the county, much of the timber was hauled by logging railroad to the Parsons Pulp and Lumber Company mill at Horton in Randolph County. Due to the prevailing isolation and poor transportation system, large were not found in the area during the last part of the 19th century. Small sash and circular saw, however, were present.
New Market limestone is rich in calcium carbonate, but also has significant amounts of potassium and phosphorus which, along with its low silicon content, makes it very popular with . These ingredients make the resulting lime commercially valuable for fertilizing farm pasture land and lawns and for steel and coal production. In the Valley, the limestone attracted the Greer Limestone Plant, a part of Greer Industries, Inc., which has done a thriving business since 19??, although not without controversy with regard to its environmental impact (see below).
The entrance to Hellhole is owned by a private landowner who has never wished to sell the land around it. The quarry, immediately to the west of the cave entrance, is operated by Greer Limestone Company (owned by West Virginia businessman and politician John Raese). Greer leased the entrance to Hellhole from the landowner in 1986, and as the lessee, soon began to deny most access to the cave. Greer did allow the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WV DNR) to conduct bi-annual trips into the cave for the purpose of counting the populations of endangered bat species. In the 1990s, at urging of the WV DNR, Greer also began to allow limited exploration and mapping of the cave (one or two trips per year).
In 1995 an extension to the cave ("Krause Hall") was discovered in the extreme northwest portion of the cave. In 1996 one of the deepest sections of the cave was explored at over below the entrance elevation. In 1997, a break-through discovery off this area extended the known extent of Hellhole well to the south of its originally known range. This showed that the historically known portions of Hellhole were a mere side passage to a much larger cave system.
By this time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had recognized Hellhole as a critical habitat for two species of endangered (and federally protected) bat, the Indiana bat ( Myotis sodalis) and the Virginia big-eared bat ( Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus). It was known that about 45% of the world's estimated 20,000 remaining Virginia big-eared bats hibernate in Hellhole. Greer had responded by establishing a no-work buffer zone of and a no-blast buffer zone of from the nearest known passage in Hellhole. That word "known" proved to be the bone of contention.
The reason Hellhole is such an important cave for these bats is its unusually low ambient air temperature. Most caves in West Virginia average around . Hellhole averages around 47 degrees. This cold temperature is critical for these species survival. The cave remains cool because it functions as a natural cold air trap. Located in the middle of an enclosed valley, and having only one entrance, all cold air flowing off North Fork Mountain in winter collects in the cave. Cold air goes down, and having no place to escape, stays down, filling the cave's massive passages. This cold air collecting phenomenon is what makes the cave so vulnerable to accidental damage from quarrying activities. If this natural cold air trap were to be breached at an elevation lower than the entrance, the cold air would quickly flow out, and the cave would likely no longer function as a bat hibernaculum, at least for these particular species.
With the advent of the 1997 discoveries, Greer was threatened with the potential loss of a valuable section of limestone to the endangered species habitat. From that point forward Greer permitted no further exploration of Hellhole. Cavers perceived that because the quarry did not wish to lose any further areas of limestone to bat habitat, it effectively began to impede further exploration and, therefore, "knowledge" of the cave's extent.
In 2000, Greer announced its intention to seek a renewal permit to continue its quarrying operations in Germany Valley and to extend them to the north and south of the existing open pit. This request was filed publicly, as required by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) requirements, and it ignited a furor among Virginia and West Virginia cavers who began petitioning officials and started a letter campaign. In their view, it was highly likely that quarry operations, conducted with a lack of knowledge regarding the cave's complete extent, would in time penetrate some portion of the cave. Such an event, it was argued, would have disastrous effects upon the suitability of the cave as an endangered bat species hibernaculum. In 2002—after prolonged negotiations with Greer—the USFWS, West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WV DNR), WV DEP, caving organizations and local landowners, the Germany Valley Karst Survey (GVKS) was formally contracted to survey the extent of the Hellhole cave system. In accordance with USFWS requirements regarding endangered bats, all annual survey activities must be completed within a 16-week window during the summer months. Since that time, the known extent of the cave has expanded to and of depth. The GVKS-Greer contract ended in 2007.
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