My family was trying to find a vacation spot for Spring Break within driving distance and which could probably be like a 2-3 nights trip. It was almost impossible to find some place close by in the New Jersey-New York-PA tristate area which would be fun to visit and keep the whole family entertained. Finger Lakes and Cherry Springs State Park seemed interesting. Lakes, waterfalls and night skies seemed very scenic and relaxing to me, but we weren’t sure the kids would really enjoy it without some real activities planned.
As the weather was still a bit cold and windy in spring, I wasn’t seeing much options till we named each state which was close by and possible to drive to within 7 hours or so. I’ve worked in West Virginia before and almost scratched it off my list, till my daughter asked me if I’ve actually visited all places there. That is when I realized that the place I worked at was more near the DC area border, and that I really hadn’t been to more areas of the West Virginia. Looking up things to do in the area opened up a whole new world of possibilities.
Planning
We visited several places in northern west Virginia (closer to Western MD) in the Allegheny mountains. The drive was so scenic and many places looked like a picture from a postcard – red barns surrounded by green rolling meadows and the mountains in the background. Th people in West Virginia seemed very friendly compared to where we lived in the NY-NJ-PA tristate area.
Another thing I found out after researching my options was that not only was many of the scenic/tourist places very far away from each other, but that it was hard to find many hotel options. The hotel we finally found was probably within an hour of driving distance to the attractions we planned to visit. So, here is an itinerary I planned based on the locations of the attractions I found in West Virginia.
Deep Creek, Maryland
We stopped by Deep Creek Maryland as it was on the way and I heard of the place many times as a nice vacation spot. It’s popular during the summer as well as for winter activities. We rented a pontoon at Deep Creek Aquatic center and were out on the lake for 2 hours. It was enjoyable as luckily the weather was nice on that Spring afternoon. We checked out a ropes course at Wisp Resort as well. Deep Creek Lake State park has nice views of the lake which are picture worthy, and there is also a spot where there is beach sand the kids can play with.
Smoke hole caverns:
Smoke hole caverns is open all year and maintains a constant temperature in the 50s Fahrenheit unlike Seneca caverns, which cannot maintain constant temp in spring. One thing to note is there is no phone signal at Smoke Hole caverns and also part of the way there. So, make sure you turn on your google maps on your phones way before you get here, unless u get lost. I’ve had friends who lost their way before and had to find their way back by stopping at Seneca Rocks which was luckily close by.
Seneca Rocks
Seneca Rocks is a unique rock formation, which you basically cannot miss while driving around the Alleghany mountains around Canaan valley. The white color rocks stand out majestically among all the other hills. Seneca Rocks are popular with rock climbing enthusiasts and hikers alike. Seneca Rocks Discovery Center lies at the bottom of the Rocks.
Horse back riding
We got to experience horse back riding at mountain trail rides in Davis, WV, which my whole family enjoyed, even though we were all beginners to horse riding. It was slow paced and the horses rode in a straight line one after the other into the mountains. The view was magnificent and the horses cooperated very well. The guides gave us some basic instructions like how to hold the reigns and control the horse and lead it in the right direction.
Buddy rides (parent with child) must have a weight limit within 240 lb. Mountain trail rides offer various time limits for the rides starting from 30 mins all the way to 1.5 hours (you can check the website for more details). A thirty min (priced at $35) ride is good enough for buddy ride or may be uncomfortable for long. It rained a lot the day before, so there were some spots down hill which were slippery, but the horses seemed to be trained pretty well to handle the trail.
There are a few other places which offer horse riding like Yokum’s stables which take you up into Seneca rocks hills, and Western Trails in the Deep Creek area of Maryland which is around 1 hour from Davis, WV.
Blackwater Falls
Blackwater falls is a beautiful 57 ft waterfall near Davis, West Virginia. It was much bigger than I had expected it to be and had several walk ways and view points to get nice pictures and views from. Lindy Point overlook is a short trail from Blackwater falls which one can get a nice view of the Alleghany mountains.
Spruce Knob
Spruce Knob hill is the highest point in West Virginia at 4,862 ft. The drive took about an hour to go up hill and seemed a bit scary at parts, but the view at the top was very good. Make sure you follow speed limits and focus on the road.
Train rides
Mountain Rail in West Virginia offers many train rides varying from half hour to 4 hour train rides. Some of the train rides provide a meal or view of a waterfall at the end of the ride. One of the train rides also takes you to the top of Bald Knob mountain. Most train rides start sometime in May, so we didn’t have much options except a train ride during the ‘Ramps and Rails’ festival which took place in April.
Place we stayed at
Caanan Valley resort or Elkins are good places to stay at which are nearby these attractions. Elkins is a small town surrounded by mountains – it kind of reminded me of Jim Thorpe, PA in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania. We preferred to stay at Elkins as it had more facilities like shopping and restaurants during our stay in West Virginia and close enough to all the attractions. The Hampton hotel in Elkins we stayed at was on the top of a hill and had a beautiful view.