Ice Mountain in Hampshire County is a unique natural site that acts like a giant, natural refrigerator. The mountain has a large area covered in boulders and rock debris. In the winter, water freezes inside this pile of rocks. The thick layer of rocks acts like insulation, allowing the ice to melt very slowly through the spring and into the summer. Cool air escapes from small vents at the bottom of the slope.

Historically, people used this ice to make ice cream and to cool milk and other dairy products for the entire summer. Today, the ice usually melts by June, but the cool air lasts all summer long.

The constant cool microclimate is much colder than the rest of the area. This allows many plants, snails, and insects normally found only in the far northern United States or at high elevations (over 3,000 feet) in West Virginia to thrive here. Rare plants found here include the bunch berry and the twin flower.

The Nature Conservancy owns and manages Ice Mountain as a nature preserve. In 2012, Ice Mountain was officially named a National Natural Landmark for its outstanding condition and value to science.