Champe Rocks are a pair of large crags in Pendleton County in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, USA. Easily visible and accessible along West Virginia Route 28, they are situated within the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. They are — along with the nearby and more celebrated Seneca Rocks — the most imposing examples in eastern West Virginia of several formations of the white/gray Tuscarora quartzite and are a popular challenge for rock climbers.
Champe Knobs, from which the Rocks emerge, are a northern extension of the River Knobs, which contain other similar "razorback" ridges or "fins". Champe Rocks are 2,257 feet above sea level.
[edit] History
Champ Rocks are named for Sergeant Major John Champe (1752-1798), a Revolutioonary War soldier who became a double agent in an attempt to capture the American traitor General Benedict Arnold. Commanded by Major Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee and handpicked by George Washington for the mission, Champe “defected” to the British side and came very close to succeeding, but at the last moment, Arnold changed plans and the whole endeavor had to be called off. Champe, who was born in Loudoun County, Virginia, settled near the Rocks after the War.
