Hidden within that landscape are artifacts of a far less nature-friendly past.

From 1942 to 1945, the land now frequented by hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers served a vital role in America's war effort. World War II was in full swing, and the U.S. Army needed explosives. They got them by building the West Virginia Ordnance Works, an 8,323-acre ammunition manufacturing facility, on the current McClintic site.

At its peak, the sprawling $45 million plant churned out an average of 250,000 tons of highly explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) a day. When the war ended, the Defense Department closed the Ordnance Works and declared the property surplus.

Part of the land eventually was used for the Point Pleasant/Mason County Airport and the Mason County Industrial Park. The remaining 3,665 acres were deeded to the state Division of Natural Resources. DNR workers scooped out ponds and planted food plots for wildlife, and in 1950, the agency named the tract for its director, Clifton F. McClintic, and opened it to the public.

Today's visitors include hunters, anglers, birders, wildlife watchers, history buffs and people interested in finding the mythical Mason County creature known as Mothman.

"There's no doubt that hunters are our most frequent visitors," said Dave McClung, the area's manager since 1987. "We have 23 ponds with open water and several others that have grown up into marshes. They're very popular with duck hunters."

White-tailed deer flourish in the area's heavy underbrush. In 1999, McClintic became the first West Virginia public hunting area to be managed specifically for trophy-buck hunting. Bucks are considered legal game only if they have antlers that span at least 14 inches, roughly the width of the animal's outstretched ears. The trophy-buck regulations proved to be so popular with hunters that DNR officials later established them on five other state-owned or state-leased wildlife management areas.

Other popular game species include rabbits and mourning doves, which abound in fields planted specifically to attract them; and wild turkeys, which inhabit the area's more heavily wooded sections.

During the spring and summer months, McClintic also attracts its share of fishermen. The ponds contain bass, bluegills, channel catfish and the occasional northern pike.

"The ponds aren't always easy to fish, though," McClung cautioned. "Aquatic vegetation is heavy in a lot of them, and that can make casting and retrieving pretty difficult. Anglers who stop by our office can get advice about the best places to fish."

The ponds are also popular with birders, who come to glimpse waterfowl and shorebirds not commonly found in the Mountain State.

"In mid to late February, this place is a magnet for waterfowl," McClung said. "That's when the birders really like to show up, because winter weather pushes birds normally found much farther north down into the Ohio Valley. There's probably more bird life here then than at any other time of the year."

McClintic's most unusual feature dates back to its days as an explosives factory. More than 100 dome-shaped, concrete-lined bunkers lie buried under mounds of earth. Factory workers stored TNT in the widely spaced bunkers to prevent an accidental detonation from taking out the entire facility.

Most of the bunkers have been sealed off, their steel doors welded shut to prevent vandalism or littering. Industrial history buffs visit occasionally, but McClung said most interest in the bunkers comes from Mothman fanciers.

"When the Mothman sightings were at their peak [in the late 1960s], a lot of the sightings supposedly took place in what the local folks call 'the TNT area,' which includes the bunkers," he explained.

In 1981, fishermen noticed red-stained water oozing from the ground near one of McClintic's ponds. Subsequent tests revealed that some of the area's groundwater had been contaminated by seepage from long-forgotten stores of chemicals used in the TNT-making process.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maintained a Superfund cleanup site on the property, and groundwater monitoring continues to this day. EPA officials estimate that cleanup efforts could continue through the year 2020.

"There's nothing for visitors to worry about, though," McClung said. "We haven't had to close any areas off to visitors, and the entire area is considered safe to use."

Reach John McCoy at johnmc...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1231.