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There are two fine waterfalls at Camp Creek State Park in Mercer County that are easy to get to. One is Campbell Falls, which is well known and often photographed. The other, Mash Fork Falls, is not as popular but to me is more interesting. To reach Camp Creek State Park take Interstate 77 to Exit 20, the Camp Creek exit. Turn right off the exit road onto US 19 South and then take the first right off US 19, which is the road to Camp Creek State Park. After less than two miles you�ll enter the park. To reach Campbell Falls, drive to the Blue Jay Campground parking area. The road is gated beyond the campground, but it�s only 0.3 miles up the road to Campbell Falls. The falls descend about 15 feet in a series of four or five shelves, into an oval pool, which is a favorite fishing and swimming hole in the summer. This is a very picturesque waterfall and sports several good camera angles.      Campbell Falls Campbell Falls To find Mash Fork Falls, take the road to the Mash For...

Searching for waterfalls in the New River Gorge, I�ve scoured mountainsides, bushwhacked rough trails, and scrambled over steep slopes to find them. Yet to my surprise, I�ve learned that some of the loveliest waterfalls in southern West Virginia are hiding in plain sight. Meadow Creek Falls, also known as Claypool Falls, are a good example. They�re right off a hardtop road and no more than four miles from an interstate highway. Yet, they remain �off the radar� so to speak for most visitors to the Gorge.  To find this not so elusive waterfall, take I-64 to the National Park Service Sandstone Visitor Center at Exit 139 (GPS: Lat. 37.78320, Long. -80.89778). Then take the road to the town of Meadow Creek, which is a little less than three miles from the visitor center. When you reach a junction in town with a sharp left turn, bear straight ahead onto Claypool Road. Claypool Road is a hardtop road that runs along Meadow Creek all the way to the Town of Meadow Bridge. About a mile and a...

If you like wildflowers, you�ll love the Charles Creek Loop Trail. It�s right next to the Cranberry Glades Boardwalk and supports wildflowers galore. Creek side, glade, meadow, forest, the trail slices through a diverse set of environments each with a unique charm. All this variety comes in just a round trip of 2 1/4 miles and an elevation change of just 100 feet. The best time to hike this loop is mid-July, and I will describe the flowers you�re likely to see at that time of year. Start at the Cowpasture Trailhead (GPS: Lat. 38.195573, Long. -80.272579) on the Cranberry Glades Road about 750 feet before (south) of the Cranberry Glades Parking Lot. The trail begins in woods and is flat with a smooth tread. Great Rhododendron line both sides of the trail, and in mid-July the shrubs are loaded with blossoms. Hugging the ground, Heal-all plants abound as well. What I especially like about this section of trail are all the Bee balm flowers. In the wetter stretches of the trail, they are pr...

According to a database of waterfalls world-wide, Sandstone Falls ranks 19th by width and 33rd by volume. In southern West Virginia we�re lucky to have this world class waterfall in our backyard. Here are some tips to get the most out of a trip to Sandstone Falls. You might want to begin your trip at the National Park Service�s (NPS) Sandstone Visitor Center at the intersection of State Route 20 and I-64 (exit 139). According to the NPS, �the Visitor Center has excellent exhibits on the New River watershed, water resources, and natural and cultural history of the upper New River Gorge, plus park maps and information.� Sandstone Falls From the Visitor Center take State Route 20 south into Hinton. On the way to Hinton, you�ll want to stop at two overlooks. The Sandstone Falls Overlook (GPS: Lat. 37.752460, Long. -80.903900) provides an aerial view of the falls from 600 feet above the river, while the Brooks Overlook looks down on the mile-long Brooks Island, where bald eagles nest. In Hi...

by Mike Powell and Ed Rehbein Around 1600, in London, England, Shakespeare�s Hamlet was performed for the first time. In that same era, Capt. John Smith established a settlement called Jamestown in what is now Virginia, and the Pilgrims, after a three-month voyage on the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock. And in the remote mountains of what would become Preston County, West Virginia, a plot of hemlock seedlings began to sprout. Shakespeare, Capt. Smith, and the Pilgrims have long since passed from this earth. But 400 years later, those hemlock seedlings are still alive, having grown to be trees of great size. Today, walking through the ancient, storied halls of what is now Cathedral State Park is like taking a stroll back in time. Cathedral State Park The opportunity to walk among trees that were living before European settlement is a rare experience in the eastern United States. Old-growth, or virgin, forests are perhaps the rarest forest type in the region. Even in West Virginia, a ...

1)    The Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park is one of the most photographed sights in West Virginia. You�ll find pictures of the mill on calendars and postcards, in magazines and travel brochures. The grist mill is a great ambassador of travel and tourism for southern West Virginia. Indeed more than 200,000 people visit Babcock every year. Babcock State Park 2)    The grist mill at Babcock is really three mills in one , which were salvaged from around the State. The Stoney Creek Grist Mill, dating back to the 1890s, near Campbelltown in Pocahontas County and the Onego Grist Mill near Seneca Rocks in Pendleton County supplied the main building and stone floor. The giant overshot water wheel was salvaged from the Spring Run Grist Mill near Petersburg in Grant County after the remainder of the mill was destroyed by fire. Portions of each mill were disassembled piece-by-piece and reassembled on Glade Creek in Babcock. The reconstruction was completed in 1976....

John Muir once wrote: "To the sane and free, it will hardly seem necessary to cross the continent in search of wild beauty, however easy the way, for they find it in abundance wherever they chance to be." Guided by the words of Muir, my wife and I are always on the lookout for �Wild Beauty.� It seems Wild Beauty comes naturally to West Virginia where nature is always at work casting beauty in unlikely places. For instance, last Tuesday (August 9, 2016), we went in search of a purple fringeless orchid that had been spotted on the Highland Scenic Highway by a member of the staff at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center. Having a rough idea of where the orchids were located, we slowly drove the Highway looking for them. On our second pass, we caught sight of them. Growing on a tall central stalk they stood out from the grasses and ferns growing by the side of the road. Purple Fringeless Orchid Purple Fringeless Orchid That�s what amazes me about Wild Beauty. Like gold, it�s where...