Fodor's Expert Review Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest

One of the last remaining sections of old-growth forests in Appalachia, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, part of the 17,000-acre Joyce Kilmer–Slickrock Wilderness, has incredible 400-year-old yellow poplars that measure as large as 20 feet in circumference, along with huge hemlocks, oaks, and sycamores. If you haven't seen a true virgin forest, you can only imagine what America must have looked like in the early days of settlement. A 2-mile trail, moderately strenuous, takes you through wildflower- and moss-carpeted areas. During June, the parking lot is an excellent spot to see the light shows of the synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus), which blink off and on in unison.