Rapidan Wildlife Management Area is a protected area

Protected area

Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...

 located in Madison

Madison County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 12,520 people, 4,739 households, and 3,521 families residing in the county. The population density was 39 people per square mile . There were 5,239 housing units at an average density of 16 per square mile...

 and Greene Counties, Virginia

Greene County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there are 15,244 people, 5,574 households, and 4,291 families residing in the county. The population density is 97 people per square mile . There are 5,986 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...

. It is composed of eight separate tracts of land, 10326 acres (41.8 km²) in all, along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...

; four of these adjoin Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...

, and combined share some 25 miles (40.2 km) of boundary. Elevations within the area range from 1400 to 3840 feet (1,170.4 m) above sea level

Sea level

Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...

. Three major waterways, the Rapidan

Rapidan River

The Rapidan River, flowing through north-central Virginia in the United States, is the largest tributary of the Rappahannock River. The two rivers converge just west of the city of Fredericksburg...

, Conway

Conway River (Virginia)

The Conway River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. Rising near the triple junction of Madison, Greene and Page counties at the crest of Shenandoah National Park, the river flows south, then southeast to the Rapidan River northwest of Burtonville. The river is part of the Rappahannock...

, and South Rivers

South River (South Fork Shenandoah River)

The South River is one of the two main tributaries of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. It begins south of Staunton, Virginia, and flows northward to Port Republic, where it merges with the North River to form the South Fork...

, cross the property. Much of the area was forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

ed before its takeover by the state, although timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 harvesting took place frequently. Most of the woods are hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

, dominated by chestnut oak

Chestnut oak

Quercus prinus , the chestnut oak, is a species of oak in the white oak group, Quercus sect. Quercus. It is native to the eastern United States, where it is one of the most important ridgetop trees from southern Maine southwest to central Mississippi, with an outlying northwestern population in...

 and tulip poplar; populations of sugar maple

Sugar Maple

Acer saccharum is a species of maple native to the hardwood forests of northeastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario, and south to Georgia and Texas...

 and yellow

Yellow Birch

Betula alleghaniensis , is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.It is a...

 and black birch

Black Birch

Black Birch may refer to:* Betula lenta* Betula nigra* Black Birch Ridge outside of Blenheim on the South Island of New Zealand* the Black Birch Astrometric Observatory at Black Birch Ridge...

 may be found in some of the higher and deeper areas. Some evidence remains of human habitation - old home sites, cemeteries

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

, and rock piles - may still be found in the area. Some of the older timber nearly died from gypsy moth

Gypsy moth

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth in the family Lymantriidae of Eurasian origin. Originally ranging from Europe to Asia, it was introduced to North America in the late 1860s and has been expanding its range ever since...

infestation before being salvaged in the late 1980s.