Bluestone SP West Virginia

This was the start of our trip to West Virginia.  We drove to Bristol Virginia and stayed at their City Park, Sugar Hollow Campground. It is a beautiful park up in the woods with a bit of space between campers. All electric sites and clean. Lot's of bike trails as well as walking trails. After we got set up we visited with the host who was very informative and talkative. We hiked the Wetlands Trail before dinner and saw baby ducks swimming the creek.The next morning we hiked the Rocky Top trail before heading North. We got to see deer.

Day two: We left Bristol Virginia stopping in Princeton City Park, West Virginia for lunch. From there we continued to Bluestone SP where we had reservations for three nights at the Meador campground. After we set up camp we drove around the park to familiar ourselves with it. Then we attended a spoon carving demostration by Jonathan an Interpretive Ranger. We took a dinner break, hiked the Riverview Trail to the two waterfalls and back, then we joined Jonathan again for the campfire. The Riverview Trail was overgrown, but the falls were pretty and we saw a raccoon. Jonathan had a lot of knowledge to share and was fun to talk to.

Day Three: We drove to Pipestem Resort State Park. First stop was the Bolar Lookout Tower right at the enterance. There is a paved road for you to walk to the top of the hill and then climb the tower for some good views of the surrounding mountains. From there we went to the Nature Center for a map. The Ranger there, Julie, was extremely friendly and helpful. Lora loved her because they both got so excited about flowers. From there we went to the McKeever Lodge for a overlook of the gorge.

We headed to Brush Creek Falls State Park and hiked the three and three quarter miles to Brush Creek Falls and White Oak Creek Falls and back. Lora was blessed to see a black snake. We had lunch at  White Oak Creek Falls. There were quite a few people hiking today.

We headed to Camp Creek State Park and Forest. We drove to see Mash Fork Falls and Campbell Falls and got some play time in the creek.

Day Four: We drove to Cascades National Recreation trail in Pembroke VA for a four mile hike which we extended for another mile to see the upper falls as well. There was some beautiful stone work done by the CCC on the lower trail. We took it on the way up to the 66 foot falls. We ate lunch at the falls and then climbed to the upper trail. There was a split where the trail continues at the top. I guy was coming down so I asked what we were missing. Well a half mile up was the upper falls and if you continued a mile further it went to an overlook of the gorge called Barney's Wall. We hiked to the upper falls which was really pretty. We found some ground bees which we had to avoid to get to the bottom of the falls.

On the way back to camp we stopped in Narrows at the Mill Creek Nature Park. There was another hike to a couple of water falls, but we were done for the day. Back to camp we went. 

Monday we headed home..

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New River Gorge National Park and Preserve

We left Restrite campground and drove 250 S. Not long after getting on 250 S we came across a detour because the road was flooded. It took us down a narrow road with water and debris all over it. We were squeezing by folks going the other way. One got close enough to rub mirrors. Because of all the rain that went through, we called back to Bear Creek campground and found that they had evacuated the campers next to the creek as the water came up. They were calling for snow in the mountains so we were glad to be heading to lower ground. We cut across and took some bigger roads.

We stopped at the visitor center for the New River Gorge NP. We did the walk to the bridge overlook and then we drove across the bridge. We set up camp at Little Beaver SP and took a hike around their lake. They have a pretty spillway at the bottom. Then we drove over to the New River Gorge NP Sandstone Area. We saw the Sandstone Falls overlook which is really cool as the falls is across the whole river. We stopped at the Brooks overlook and the historic town of Hinton by the river. Got some snow overnight.

Thursday we headed over the park again at the Grandview area. We saw the Grandview overlook and then hiked the Castle Rock trail. From there we headed to the Thurmond Historic District. There is a bunch of old buildings there to look at plus the bonus of a few waterfalls along the drive. We had a couple of trains come through while we were there. From there we headed to Babcock SP where we hiked the Island in the Sky trail, saw the natural arch, gristmill, and lake. We then took the Scenic Drive from Lansing down the gorge under the big bridge across the river and up the other side. More waterfalls. Snow falling most of the day.

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Black Water Falls West Virginia

We left Bear Creek Campground and headed South on Scenic Hwy 50 through Virginia and back into West Virginia. We set up camp at Restrite Campground just outside of Blackwater Falls SP. Nice little campground for less money. 

After setting up and eating lunch we headed to the State Park. We hiked Blackwater Falls trail, Elakala trail to the falls, and Lindy Point trail to the overlook. Lindy Point was extremely muddy and we had gale force winds at the overlook. We saw the beautiful Pendleton Falls at the Pendleton Falls Overlook. Then we went to the lake to check it out as well. Saw deer on the way out.

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Harpers Ferry

Sunday was a traveling day. We left Cooper's Rock SF and headed East through the mountains with the plan of exploring Harpers Ferry and area. We made camp at Bear Creek campground, which is a new campground only two years old. It is just out of Hedgesville West Virginia in a beautiful area and an extrememly nice owner, Steve. Lora immediately fell in love with the wildflowers. 

After setting up camp and eating lunch, we headed over to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal NHP Cushwa Basin. We looked at the historic buildings and walked along the canal. From there we headed over to the Antietam Battlefield in time to pick up my America the Beautiful Pass just before the visitor center closed. We explored the battlefield. Time for a good evenings rest.

Monday we were off to Harpers Ferry. We rode a bus from the Visitor Center to Lower Town. We toured all the historical buildings, hiked up to St. Peter's Catholic Church, on further to Jefferson Rock, on further to the Mansion, then circled around back to town. 

We talked to a guy at the Magpie Pottery while working at the wheel. He told us a ghost story of Jennifer, girl is a daughter of one of the first families in Harpers Ferry, whose picture is in the train station. She has been haunting his store for years and a psychic told him about her.

We hiked across the bridge to Maryland where we hiked to an overlook of Harper Ferry on the Maryland Heights trail. It is a very steep trail and we earned an icecream from town for hiking up there. 

Another great day of fun!

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Cooper's Rock State Forest, West Virginia

We left Ashland and headed to Cooper's Rock State Forest in West Virginia. After we set up camp and ate, we hiked out to the reservoir loop trail. After that we went out to Cooper's Rock for the sunset.

Saturday we got up and hiked out to Raven's Rock for a view of the gorge. We then went over to the Henry Clay Iron Furnace parking area and hiked to the furnace and on to Rock City doing an out and back.

After lunch we headed to Valley Falls SP and checked it out. Beautiful small park. We drove on to Tygart SP and all they had was really a large lake.

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