Posts Tagged ‘west virginia scenery’

The 5 Best Reasons To Spend Spring In The Mountains

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

If you ever needed a reminder about how great life is, do this:   Come to southern West Virginia in the spring.

Pinnacle Rock in "Spring Green"

Because this is hands-down, without-a-doubt the best time to be in the mountains.

Here are 5 reasons why:

•    The Green: The green that pops up during springtime isn’t just green.  It’s spring green.  So special they designed a crayon color for it.  And you can’t see it anywhere else like this.  Heck, even if you could, nowhere has the background of the ancient mountains to really draw it out.  Spring green in southern WV is truly like no other color on earth.

•    All The Other Colors: What isn’t green is every other color that’s bright, new, or refreshing.  The redbuds burst.  The forsythias pop.  The mountains reinvigorate all of your color sensibilities, and make you feel alive and awake in a way that a museum masterpiece never could.

•    The White Water :  Okay, okay… white water rafting isn’t for everyone.  Only 93% of you.  We understand.  If you think the mountains are pretty while driving down the road in the spring, wait until you see them from a wild river like the New or the Gauley.  Even if you don’t go to a wild section of a wild river, i.e. you like family floating more than white knuckle white water, it doesn’t matter.  Spring doesn’t care, and neither do we, as long as you’re having fun.

•    All The Other Adventures :  We like to say that, if you can do it outside, you can do it in West Virginia.  So spring is our chance to rediscover all that wildness and excitement.  Even if excitement is mushroom hunting instead of rock climbing, or antiquing instead of, say, ATV riding.  It doesn’t really matter how you define adventure, as long as you’re doing something that makes you feel adventurous.

•   The People:  You didn’t think we’d leave out the key ingredient, did you?  Mountaineers haven’t exactly been holed up all winter (we’re always free, remember?)  Still, spring unleashes a whole bunch of happiness in the Mountain State, and we’re going to celebrate it.  Our yards get the attention we’ve dreamed about.  So do our grills.  We get outside and stretch in the spring sun, and if that’s not a good time to visit somewhere, it’s going to be pretty hard to figure out when is.

Need another reason?  You.  You make spring here in West Virginia better.  Time to get outside, don’t you think?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

7 Spring Flowers To Look For In Southern West Virginia

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Spring hits Southern West Virginia like it’s really, really mad at winter.

Rhododendron - WV State Flower

One day, brown hills.  The next -BAM- green.  Everywhere.  And the only things that are breaking up all that new spring green (except a lot of mud) are our beautiful spring wildflowers.

The Beginning
In the beginning, there was brown.  All of a sudden, flowers come from everywhere.  That’s a typical West Virginia Spring.

And leading the pack are the deep green and bright yellow daffodils.  Daffodils happen to be some of the easiest flowers in the world to grow.  Since they grow from bulb and from seed, they end up literally all over the place.  Lucky us.

Right there in the running for first is the hardy little crocus.  Crocuses (crocii?) have all kinds of different colors, but the shapes are generally the same among species.  Also, the yellow stamen of the, um, crocii are collected to make the spice saffron.  Yum!

The Trees
There might not be any tree with a more appropriate name than the redbud.  Making red buds is what the redbud does.  Everywhere.  If you drive around the mountains of southern West Virginia in the spring, you’re going to see three things:  cliffs, waterfalls, and redbuds.

Right along with the redbud are the beautiful swaying chains of lilac-colored Pawlonia blooms.  The Royal Paulownia, or princess trees, are spread around the Mountain State for two reasons:  They were adopted as ornamentals around the turn of the century, and the seed pods were used as packing peanuts for everything that was shipped by rail.  Great way to proliferate.

Two More
Another early bloomer isn’t quite a flower.  Instead, look for spring green to be complimented everywhere by the bright, bright yellow of the Forsythia.  These bushes are great yard ornaments, and are also found around the edges of river corridors.  If lemons were leaves, it would look like a F0rsythia bush.

Spring flowers get rounded out when the roadways and walkways of the state get taken over by the chest high blooms of the wide spread tiger lily.  There might not be another flower that better shows off the state in spring.  They’re wild, they’re everywhere, and they’re beautiful.

Actually, there’s one more that might show off the state even better than the tiger lily.  It’s the state flower: the rhododendron.  This one will be in full flower right around Mother’s Day in colors from white to flaming pink.  The stand at Grandview Park in the New River Gorge National Park are the prettiest ones in the state.

Hope you get a chance to see some spring flowers this year.  What are your favorites?

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

What’s The Big Deal With Summers County?

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Pipestem State Park Tram

Pipestem State Park Tram

If you go less than 200 miles from home, is that considered a “stay-cation”?  If so, and you live in Southern West Virginia, go ahead and sign up for one in Summers County.

Hinton’s there.  If you have any interest in railroads, or rivers, or coal mining history, or hot dogs (you know what I’m talkin’ about!) that’s your town.  Hinton was a hub in during the coal boom, mainly because 3 major rivers, and as many major rail lines, come together there.

Trivia:  Guess which rivers.  If you said the Elk, Big Coal, and Kanawha, you’re wrong! And you’re thinking of Charleston.  The three rivers that meet in Hinton are the Bluestone, the Greenbrier, and the New.

And, it just so happens that Hinton is also the gateway to some of the coolest outdoor recreation in SWV.  That’s saying a lot.

Bluestone State Park
Just minutes down the road from Hinton is Bluestone State Park, at the mouth of the Bluestone River where it joins the New.  Actually, that’s all part of Bluestone Lake, being backed up by the Bluestone Dam.

But the park – the park is awesome!  Very laid back.  Clean.  Friendly folks.  Lots of space.  The cabins are the way to go if you want to be up on the mountain, but there’s a lot of great camping down at the river.

A bonus is the YPP- Young People for Parks program.  A naturalist meets up with kids every afternoon and evening to explore part of the park.  Check out the bats, find wild mushrooms, go fishing, and on and on.  It’s a very cool program for keeping the kids entertained.

Pipestem
Pipestem is a jewel in the crown of the West Virginia State Parks system.   The park opens up to a big rolling hill of green grass and tall trees, pushed right up to the edge of the Bluestone River Gorge.

Let’s just say that the picture window in the lodge is a good place to spend about 15 hours watching wildlife.  Deer, bear, all kinds of birds.  Walk outside and you’re in a painting.

Also, there’s a ton to do.  If you have kids, and you want the “park” experience, go there.  Archery, interpretive hikes, swimming.  Mini golf, not-so mini golf (par 3 course), big golf.  Camping, cabins,  and two lodges – one’s accessible only by tram.

That’s right.  I said tram.

The place is like a perfect mountain getaway, with plenty to do.  And plenty to not do.  It all depends on what you want.

Bet Summers County has it.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Places to Stay, Things to Do, Things to See | No Comments »

Waterfall Watching In Southern West Virginia

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

5 Must-See Cascades In the Mountain State

Sandstone Falls

Sandstone Falls

One thing about people:  we’re attracted to water.  Something about vacations lead us to lakes, rivers, and oceans.  Ski vacations?  Yep.  Frozen water.  We can’t get enough of the stuff.

And we love to watch it fall.  Give people a Sunday drive and a picnic next to a waterfall, and it’s like you’ve set the stage to solve the world’s problems.  At least for an hour or so.

Here are some of our favorites…

Sandstone Falls
Stretching across the New River just below the town of Hinton, Sandstone Falls is an impressive piece of waterfall-ery.  On the far left side of the river, there’s a nice, uniform break. On the right side, the river gets squeezed and channeled into a torrent of exploding, frothy whitewater.  It’s inside the New River Gorge National Park so the boardwalks and viewing area here are well maintained.  Don’t miss it.

Twin Falls
Nestled up inside Twin Falls Resort State Park are the beautiful Marsh Fork Falls and Black Fork Falls that the resort is named for.  These are easy to find (take the Falls Trail) and well worth the stop.  The first set of falls, Marsh Fork, is only 1/10 of a mile from the trailhead, with the Black Fork coming in about ½ mile later.  If they named the whole place after these waterfalls, that means they’re something to see.

Kanawha Falls
If you drive through Glen Ferris, you cannot miss the great Kanawha Falls.  Just glance over at where it looks like the entire river broke in half.  Kanawha Falls is a series of ledges, and it’s easy to see where the river had been dammed up.  Stretching from one side of the river to the other, Kanawha Falls is the very first feature of the river, still visible from where the New and the Gauley make their confluence.  Just a short distance from Kanawha Falls is Cathedral Falls – another can’t miss!

Glade Creek Falls
Just outside of Beckley and still within the New River Gorge National Park, you’ll find Glade Creek Falls.  The big falls are at the bottom of the creek just upstream from where the creek meets the river.  This is an impressive drop to see when you’re looking at the creek with a lot of water in it.  When the water is low, this is great for swimming, with a big jump into the pool below for the adventurous.

Sweet’s Falls
The world famous Sweet’s Falls on West Virginia’s mighty Gauley River is only available for viewing one way:  going over it.  Rafters have had a love affair with Sweets Falls for nearly 40 years, and there is nothing- repeat: NOTHING- like running the falls during Gauley Season in autumn.  The big bonus is that, once you go over, you get to turn around and watch others test their luck on the same drop.  Part fun, part coliseum, at Sweet’s Falls, rafters prove the old rule of thumb, “Sometimes you watch the show, and sometimes you are the show.”

Okay, there’s our five.  Which ones did we miss?  Please, share your favorites with us- one of the great things about the Mountain State is that there’s so much falling water around.

Tags: ,
Posted in Things to See | No Comments »

Rafting, Rhododendrons, and Recreation… Spring Hits Southern West Virginia

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Ah, spring!  Little green buds, wildflowers, the great outdoors… is there anything better?

Well, the answer to that question depends on… where you spend your spring.  We’re biased, of course, but how can we not be?  Spring is pretty dramatic here in the mountains.  If you choose to spend time here, you’ll find out that the changing seasons reveal some great secrets.

Secrets Of Springtime

Here’s one:  Did you know that when trees turn green in the spring, they do it according to elevation?  Lowest goes first, then up and up.  It makes sense, when you think about it.  Spend time here in the spring, and you’ll see blooms and buds advance up the sides of the valleys right in front of you.  Green below, brown on top.  Seriously- it happens overnight; you can tell a difference if your plan you stay at the right time.  It’s dramatic.  It’s alive.

Time To Hit The River

Another secret: rafting in West Virginia starts each spring.  Spring is high water time here on the New and Gauley Rivers.  The rapids are big and the water is chilly. It’s like a wake-you-up-better-than-coffee kind of brisk.  It might be too big or to cold for a traditional family trip, but high adventure rafting is just about perfect here in the spring.  If you want to take one of the greatest white water rafting trips you can get take, look at coming in the springtime months.

Blooms Everywhere

Southern West Virginia, for anyone looking for it on a map, is just about smack dab in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains.  It’s one of the most diverse ecosystems you’ll find anywhere on earth.  Spring flowers start with forsythia and daffodils, redbud and paulownia.  When you see the yellow, red, and purple, get ready – things are beginning to pop.  By the time the rhododendron’s bright pink and the dogwood’s delicate white flowers arrive, spring has sprung.  In all nine counties that make up southern West Virginia, you’ll find some of the brightest blooms anywhere, and it happens every spring.

Recreation? Check…

Do you enjoy taking a fishing trip?  It’s a pretty popular sport in our part of the state.  Spring is an exciting time as the fish get active, especially trout.  The water temperatures start to rise in the creeks, rivers, and lakes, and the fish get moving.  Warm days start to get more and more productive as trout stir.  If you like to use bait, try stretching out worms on gang hooks.  You’ll present more naturally to the trout, and your bite rate will start to climb.  Some of the best places to fish (and for recreation in general), are the southern West Virginia State Parks and Forests.  There are twelve (twelve!) of them in our area.

Southern West Virginia is a great place.  If you’ve never been, spring is a perfect time to come take a look.  Give us a call – we’d love to help you plan your stay and remember southern West Virginia is Closer Than You Think!

Tags: , ,
Posted in Things to Do, Things to See | No Comments »

National Parks West Virginia Hotels in West Virginia