West Virginia Vacation Input

West Virginia is filled with historic small towns, mountain vistas, rushing rivers. Just a short list. Seneca Rocks, New River Gorge, Berkeley Springs, Lewisburg, Romney (Potomic Eagle Train). Best traveled and appreciated on two wheels. Too many great roads to list. 219, 220, 33, 28, 39, 250.... On and on.

 Also, not in WV but just on the state line, Cumberland, MD for the Western Maryland Train and Paint Bank, VA with its general store and former station and caboose with lodging. Google will bring up all these places.

Pete

Elkins, is a good "Base of Operations". It is right at the edge of mountains, and, has a lot of railroading history. It is close to Cass, the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley, and the West Virginia Central, in Bellington. also nearby are places like Sceneca Rocks, Blackwater Falls State Park, Spruce Knob,Green Bank Observatory, and the scenic Germany Valley.

 You could spend a month railfanning, and siteseeing, all within 75-100 miles from Elkins.

Jeff

Call out AMC Dave, he lives real close to Cass, and would be an extremely good person to get some ideas from.............................Brandy..................... !

Yes, You don't want to miss the Cass Trip, and if you can get there early, take the Shop tour, before the train ride. Talk with the Engineers, as they'll probably let you cab ride and help fire, or at least they use to do that.

Especially you being an engineer, that will know doubt happen!............Brandy!

Get to Thurmond and Hawks Nest State Park in the New River Gorge, and to Sandstone

Falls on the New River.  There is also another state park with a falls and old mill built

on it, and a covered bridge that was a battle site in the Civil War.  A lot of time can

be spent around the New River Gorge, even if not rafting.

I concur that Elkins would be a great place to use as a base to then go to Cass, Durbin, Grafton, et al.

I survived a 5 hour bus charter from Hagerstown,MD., to Cass back in 1992 which really turned me off of long-distance bus rides. Cass is a long way from any major city.
I would say most of your week could be spent in this area and then spend a day or two down at the New River Gorge area. I would recommend Thurmond down in the Gorge itself, and the Fayetteville/Hawks Nest area further west. The closer you get to Charleston, the highways get better, so your route to the west could be determined from there.
As mentioned, cell phone signals can be spotty, also beware of wildlife wherever you go in the wilderness, also beware of the occasional wild driver. 

Of interest.  C&O Canal Path, Great Allegheny Passage, Western Maryland Scenic RR, all focus to Cumberland Maryland.  Most of that route is I 70 and I 68, beware of the fog, some areas. 

Anything along the Potomac River. (Maryland side of the river), Great Falls Park, Antietam Civil War Battle Field, Harpers Ferry, Fort Frederick......etc.  All the way to DC. 

There were recent threads on the Western Maryland Scenic RR, and the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail.  A bit north of WV, but still right there, a beautiful part of the Eastern U.S.

Have fun

Mike CT.  

Don't forget the Potomac Eagle train.

I-80 ??  That is way north in from West Va. in northern Pa. state.  Maybe that was a misprint, just be sure.

Wow!  Lots of information!  Thank you to ALL that have participated!

Jim: Idiots type things without double checking.  I MEANT to say we'll be working our way south/southwest to I-81 and run it to Knoxville, then I-40 until time to exit at Van Buren AR, and head for our Oklahoma abode.

Again, thank you all very much for all the input. I will be investigating the suggestions over the coming days/weeks. 

Feel free to keep the input coming!

Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum In Westin WV. 

I think there is a lodge you can stay in at Hawks Nest state park.    It overlooks the gorge and the old C&O (Now CSX) mainline.

Here's a thought: how confident are you on back roads? Everyone's comfort level is different--I know people who are scared to death of our road, but we're used to it.

If you're headed down 81, more or less, once you've escaped DC metro traffic try either getting off on US 11 and riding down the Valley, or going up the mountain at Front Royal and driving down Skyline Drive to Waynesboro. You can go down to the Shenandoah Valley, pick up US 250 westbound and get over the state line through some mighty nice country. You'll run into WV 28/92, then you can take 92 south to the NRAO and eventually Cass. It's a pretty big arc north and then south again, but worth the detour because of the scenery and multiple attractions along the way (and it's my dad's family's old stomping grounds, pre-Late Unpleasantness, so look out for any roaming cousins of ours.)

250 is pretty nice most of the way, and 92 is fine as long as you're used to curves and hills and it's not storming like crazy. Take a look at it on Google Earth and see what you think. You can also take a look at some of the territory on trafficland.com as you get close to the trip. They have traffic cams all over the US (and yes, there are some near York) so if you have a smartphone you can check on road conditions ahead.

We stayed at the Elk Horn Inn in Eckman WV. Great food and railfanning with NS tracks just on the other side of the street. We took the Vette and had an absolute blast on the WV roads.  You'll also want to see the New River Gorge bridge. The Raven golf course at Snowshoe is a very nice course. We also attended Oktoberfest in Bramwell WV. 

As for Cass, there are accommodations in town in the old company row houses. Or, you can rent a Caboose up on the mountain (maybe next time for us). Unless you enjoy eating cinders, get on early and find a seat furthest from the engine. You'll have no problems seeing, hearing, or smelling it even on the last car. You'll get a great views as the train climbs the mountain. Even in the early Fall, take a jacket.

My wife thought I was flat crazy when I told her I wanted to vacation in WVa. Turned out to be one of our very best vacations ever. 

Gilly

Being crazy doesn't mean you can't be right once in a while.  

Hard to find a straight road in WV. Someone from the area should point out when the leaves start to turn. I am guessing its later than Sept. 21 but if not rooms will be harder to find. Snoshoe is just over the mountain from Cass. Its a ski area and has plenty of lodging if you can't snag one of the houses in Cass.

Pete

This, IMO, is the easiest, low-stress route from I-81 to get to Cass.
Exit onto VA37 west at Winchester, then exit onto US50 West towards Gore,VA.
Just past Gore, turn south onto VA259 towards Wardensville,WV.

At Wardensville, go onto new US48 west towards Moorefield,WV.
At Moorefield, turn south onto WV28, stay on thru Petersburg, Seneca Rocks, Thornwood, Green Bank, and then Cass.
Seneca Rocks is worth a stop, along with the NRAO in Green Bank.
US48 is a new 4-lane built to Interstate standards between Wardensville and Moorefield.

If you want to spend a few days doing some non-train related sightseeing, stay at the Blackwater Falls State Park lodge.  The old lodge is great, and the park has some good easy to moderate hikes.  The falls, close to the lodge, are really nice.

If you are interested in unique scenery, take a quick trip over to the Dolly Sods Wilderness.  Some consider it the most unique and beautiful hiking area on the East Coast because its a high-altitude plateau with lifeforms normally found much farther north.

I live in Pocahontas county....home of Cass and other great places.

Elkins is a good place to stay but there are a few others too. 

Boyer Station is a nice small hotel I'd stay at before I moved back here. 

Clean and simple with a small diner. 

Marlinton Motor Inn is OK too. Simple but clean. 

Marlinton has some places to eat, gas, grocery, banks/ATM etc. 

As for this county I'd hit Cass for sure. Ride to Bald Knob or Spruce....Google Cass RR for hard info. 

The drive from Cass to US 219 via Route 66 is great.....and you can run by Snow Shoe resort. GREAT views....rugged mountains.

Other things in the county you may want to see. 

GBT - Green Bank Observatory - Worlds largest movable radio telescope. Very small charge for a demo and  bus tour.

Cranberry Glades - A protected natural area with a nice boardwalk through the glade. Free to visit. Also the Cranberry visitor center. 

Another free place that's kinda cool is Beartown off US 219 at Droop. It's a natural rock formation that looks like a small town. And bears loved it at one time...thus Beartown. Droop also has a Civil War park with a small museum. 

Outside the area is US 60 starting at US 19 just north of Beckley.....follow it west to Charleston. This takes you along the New River gorge and GREAT places like Hawks Nest. Lots of things in that area. A number of water falls and overlooks along US 60. 

There is more to do in WV than many places.....and lots for free. 

You can google any of these places for more info......and feel free to contact me about places to stay, or not stay, roads and other places. Thanks

We lived in Keyser, West Virginia for some time, before I was laid off, couldn't find work, and moved back to Butler, Pennsylvania.  I love West Virginia.  These are all great suggestions!  Yes, you need to go to Cass, Spruce.  Yes Elkins would be a good place to stay and make trips out various directions.  One place mentioned that struck me when I first saw it was Seneca Rock.  I came upon it as total surprise driving from Virginia back to Pennsylvania in the mid '70s and couldn't leave.  At that time I never dreamed that I would climb its front side in '82.  Sometimes I have to see the pictures of my group at the top to believe I wasn't dreaming it.  I was always very timid of adventure and sports.  Also, I was rather klutzy as a kid and young man.  Now I can blame it on knee operations and arthritis.  ;-)

Reading everyone's posts makes me ready to load the car and head down that country road tomorrow morning!!

You speak the truth.  I met some guys from Jersey there.  That was a surprise.  

if you're coming down 81 -- take 64 East -- you can take in Clifton Forge, VA then keep going towards Charleston -- not too far a side trip to Thurmond WV -- almost a bucket list item for Railroad in the New River. Then go to I-77 to Wytheville and pick 81 back up, On 81 -- Wytheville is a known heavy speed enforcement zone as is the area around Marion Va ( should you have a heavy foot  

Thanks again to all of you for this excellent input.  Each post is being read. Pretty soon the wife and I will have to form a plan of attack based on suggestions found here and start making some reservation plans.

September will be here before we know it!

Andre

laming,

   I agree with Gilly stay at the Elk Horn Inn and have a nice time, watch the NS and see the Gorge.  However if you go in the fall, take your Shotgun, hunt some Grouse and forget the Golf Course.

PCRR/Dave

Oh, as mentioned above, WV is a GREAT state to see on 2 wheels regardless of whatever you ride.    And it's a MUCH bigger state than it appears... It's a LOOOOOONG state when traversing it from north to south. 

>>. Unless you enjoy eating cinders, get on early and find a seat furthest from the engine. You'll have no problems seeing, hearing, or smelling it even on the last car.

Don't understand this.  Except for a short switchback, the Cass engines PUSH the train up the mountain, so cinders aren't a problem.  Downgrade they mostly coast.

Not mentioned here are the excursion trains out of Elkins.  If you like wilderness, ride the "Cheat Mountain Salamander". An all day trip through miles of uninhabited rivers, hills and forests.  A shorter trip is the "New Tygart Flyer" to the "High Falls" and back. (The falls are only about 14 feet, "high" refers to the altitude!).  And for an even shorter trip, there is the steam-powered "Durban Rocket" a bit further east. They have a "Castaway Caboose" that can be dropped off at a remote location and picked up 1 or more days later.  see www.mountainrail.com

For some local flavor, rent this movie before you go.  "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia"

PLEASE.......That's like saying 'make sure and watch the Saprano's' before going to Jersey....

Or advising a person to by a English to Meralin translation book because everyone Tawks funny in Maryland......

Pictures from Antietam National Park, battle field, Sharpsburg, MD. and the Baltimore Railroad Museum.

I agree with route 60 ride and look at the Hawks Nest lookout and then continue up and check out the New River Gorge if you have time.