The dark green is the Forest Service estimate of good black bear habitat, the main criterion being less than 1/4 mile of open road per square mile, or essentially roadless.  Counting National Forest land only, there are 11,950 acres with a road density of .07 mi/sq mi. Brown and dark gray areas are private land.  White is other National Forest land.  Major trails are shown as dashed lines. The Inventoried Roadless Area is smaller, since it must meet the road density standard of .32 mi improved road/sq mi, for each 1000 acres of the area.

Location:
    McDowell County, E of Curtis Creek, SE of Parkway, NE of Old Fort, S of Woods Mtn. and NC 80.

Access:
    From Old Fort, take US 70 NE to Curtis Creek Road (Cty 1227 and then FS road 482) to Hickory Branch Trail (FS trail 213) at the Curtis Creek campground, or proceed farther N on 482 to the junction with Mackey Mt. Trail (FS 216), about 1 mile S of Big Laurel Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway where FS road 482 joins FS road 1188.  For access into the E side of the wild area, take US 70 from Old Fort to Cty 1422 up Clear Creek to junction with Deep Cove Creek and the other end of the Mackey Mt. Trail (FS trail 216).

USGS Topographic Quadrangles:
    Old Fort, (Marion West, E tip).  A map and trail guide was published by the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition, Sierra Club, and the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy  in 1997.

Features/Description/Potential:
    The Mackey Mtn wild area is one of the largest roadless areas in the wild area inventory, and is primarily old growth or virgin forest. One outing produced sightings of black bear; The Mackey Creek drainage is a N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Black Bear Sanctuary.  It is the first National Forest area in the East to have been purchased by the Forest Service under the Weeks Act of 1911.  Watershed protection was the primary rationale for establishing Eastern National Forests.  A black bear sanctuary extends from Newberry Creek in the Jarrett Creek Wild Area E to the east dividing ridge E of Mackey Creek.
    Hiking trails afford excellent views from steep ridges.  Decending SW from Sams Knob on the Mackey Mt.trail (FS 216), there are spectacular views to the west, east and north beyond the Parkway. FS 216 is a ridgetop trail running over Mackey Mt. from Sams Knob in the NW to the SE side of the wild area along Deep Cove Creek to County 1422. There are views along this trail to the S down into the Mackey Creek Watershed. There is lots of backcountry. The area along FS trail 216 has not been logged for over 100 years. John Blanton, Forest Service silviculturist on Grandfather Dist., says this section contains virgin timber.  Mackey Mtn. itself is 3990 feet in elevation, a commanding peak given its location.
     Besides FS 216 there are three unnumbered trails that run N and NE to the Buck Creek valley from Sams Knob, Narrows Knob, and Mackey Mountain.    FS 222 (Greenlee Mt) splits from this trail and runs SE to Stillhouse Branch and County 1414.  FS 215 (Laurel Fork) splits from this trail at Grassy Ridge and runs SW to Laurel Fork Creek to Mackey Creek Road (FS Road 4090(closed)).  From this road it is about 1 mile SE to County 1412.  At the NW end of FS Road 4090 the topo shows an old trail, now obliterated, that crosses the wild area to the NW to FS Road 4098(closed) which then runs a half mile to the Curtis Creek Road (FS 482).  Scouting of this route indicates extensive old growth in the Mackey Creek drainage  not shown on the Forest Service inventory map.  From the Hickory Branch Trail (FS 213) in the SW corner of the wild area, trails connect to the Jarrett Creek wild area via Slick Falls Branch, Snooks Nose, down Horse Branch to Newberry Creek Road (FS 482A, seasonally open).  A 1500 ft hitch NW up this road meets FS Trail 209 to Star Gap, from which an unnumbered trail leads NW to Rocky Mtn. on the NE border of the Jarrett Creek wild area.
     The area has abundant recreational opportunities. Curtis Creek, which forms the western border, has good trout fishing. Existing trails are good. The area is largely devoid of logging activities. It has excellent potential for Wilderness given its size and relativly natural state, and its closeness to Woods Mtn wild area on the N and to Jarrett Creek on the SW.
    Mackey Creek and Clear Creek are drinking water supplies for Marion.  The town of Old Fort is considering using Curtis Creek as its water supply, which could help protect the area between the Mackey Mt. and Jarrett Creek wild areas.
     The Mackey Mtn, Woods Mtn, and Jarrett Creek wild areas, lying as close together as they do, constitute a large wild block of land, which because of its size is extremely important to wildlife.

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