To examine the effects of elevated N and S inputs on a central hardwood forest, a whole-watershed acidification experiment was initiated in 1989 on the Fernow Experimental Forest, West Virginia. Annual experimental additions of 40 kg S ha −1 year −1 and 35 kg N ha −1 year −1 as ammonium sulfate fertilizer were applied to a 34 ha watershed with a 25-year-old stand of central Appalachian hardwoods. An adjacent watershed served as the control. After 5 years of treatment (total additions of 275 kg S ha −1 and 220 kg N ha −1 ), stream water NO 3 − , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ concentrations and export increased. Soil solution concentrations provide evidence that the treatment watershed is nitrogen-saturated, which was unexpected for such a young stand. No statistically significant changes in annual SO 4 2− export were observed, but peak stream water concentrations of SO 4 2− did increase during the treatment period. Changes in soil solution chemistry suggest that the treated watershed also may be approaching SO 4 2− saturation.