Once believed to be a subspecies of the eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana), extensive DNA analysis has proven it to be a distinct species.

[4] It is the second-largest member of the native North American rats, and can weigh up to a pound, roughly the size of an eastern gray squirrel.

[4] Allegheny woodrats prefer rocky outcrops associated with mountain ridges such as cliffs, caves, talus slopes, and even mines.

[4] Their diets primarily consist of plant materials including buds, leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, acorns, and other nuts.

[10] Individuals are generally aggressive towards each other, especially when competing for nest sites, and, while home ranges may overlap, each actively defends its own den.

[5] They also collect and store various non-food items such as bottle caps, snail shells, coins, gun cartridges, feathers, and bones.

[6] In some cases, researchers have found dried leaves placed around the nesting area which appear to act as alarms to warn the rats of approaching danger.

They live with their mothers in nests composed of grass, bark, and similar materials, often located in relatively inaccessible crevices or ledges.

They have historically been found as far north as Connecticut (where they are now extirpated), southeastern New York (extirpated), northern New Jersey, and northern Pennsylvania southwestward through western Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, northern and western Virginia to northeastern Alabama and northwestern North Carolina with isolated populations north of the Ohio River in southern Ohio (extirpated excluding Adams County) and southern Indiana (reintroduced).

Increased competition for acorns with overabundant white-tailed deer and growing populations of black bears and turkeys may also have a negative impact on woodrat survival.

A reintroduction of 30 woodrats from West Virginia near Mohonk was a complete failure; the population was wiped out within a year, and of 52 animals, only 12 had inspectionable carcasses; 11 of the 12 had died from roundworm complications.

[8] New Jersey's Division of Fish and Wildlife's Endangered and Nongame Species Program supported research by Kathleen LoGiudice.

[23] Pennsylvania is conducting a three-year study partially funded by a Game Commission State Wildlife Grant and being led by Indiana University of Pennsylvania in an attempt to shed light on the daily and seasonal movements of woodrats, identify high-quality woodrat habitat and learn whether providing food caches can boost a population.

Currently, they are investigating DNA relationships of Allegheny woodrats under a grant from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.