Since we spent so much time with small people, we ended up driving out Canaan Loop Road to hike Table Rock Trail (we’d looked into hiking it from Lindy Point, but didn’t have enough time for a long hike).

Table Rock is very muddy, but the view is gorgeous.

Location: Canaan Mountain Backcountry
Trail: Table Rock Trail
Distance: 2.3 miles (out and back)
Elevation: 3391-3497 feet

Note, it hadn’t rained in awhile; when it’s been wet, these are generally giant muddy puddles.

Here’s a panorama for you!

And a look at one part of the view.

We hiked / walked a lot around Blackwater Falls, and there were lots of areas that were great for kids–rocks to climb and leap off and lots of water to play in.

The best places to play in the water were Elekala Falls (the water was low–higher water with a faster flow might not be recommended for smaller kids), and a stream just past Lindy Point–park at the Lindy Point trail head, and continue down the road that says it’s for 4×4 vehicles only. You’ll soon come to a stream.

Stop and play.

Location: Blackwater Falls State Park
Trails: Elekala Falls, Cannan Loop “Road”, Balanced Rock Trail

I just got back from a lovely vacation with extended family–and as many as 14 kids under 9. Which was AWESOME. Because none of those kids belong to me!

I encouraged the kids of hike, and we had two lovely hikes at Canaan Valley SP. These trails were chosen specifically because they were friendly for younger kids–the youngest hiker was 4 1/2, but an under 3 walked a good deal of these trails as well.

Location: Canaan Valley SP
Trails: Blackwater Trail, Deer & Abe Run Trails
Distance: 0.8, 1.7 miles
Elevation: 3265-3307, 3260-3363 feet

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, since I was enjoying hiking with the kids.

In addition to seeing how high the lake was, we took the opportunity to do some hiking in the Summersville Lake WMA. I don’t have a link to a trail map, because I can’t find one. The only reason I knew about it at all is because one of my hiking books mentioned trails there, and had directions how to get there.

It’s a relatively easy hike, and the the view at the end is gorgeous.

Location: Summersville Lake WMA
Trail: Long Point Trail
Distance: 4.0 miles
Elevation: 1797-1991 feet

To get there, head towards Summersville Airport. The Long Point trailhead is just past the airport.

Here is the gpx map of the Long Point trail hike at Summersville Lake WMA.

We had lunch at Fran’s Family Restaurant and Cafe, which was as delicious as it was inexpensive. (607 Main St, Summersville, WV 26651)

Saturday we hiked Coopers Rock, which we hadn’t done since March (because of traveling and rain).

It was hot, and we could hear the cicadas, but interestingly they weren’t at the lower elevations, just the higher elevations.

Location: Coopers Rock
Trails: Rhododendron, Mont Chateau, Ridge, Rock City Trails
Distance: 4.1 miles
Elevation: 1459-2069 feet

Rhododendron Trail: 6.7% grade
Mont Chateau Trail: 1.4 % grade
Ridge Trail: 7.1% grade
Rock City Trail: 2.8% grade

New trees down up the creek from Mont Chateau trail

Saturday we did the “Walk Between the Parks” which is an 8+ mile hike between Blackwater Falls State Park and Canaan Valley State Park.

It’s not advertised well enough, so you should look into it yourself. There are two more over the summer, and one October 1st, that I think we may do ourselves. They drive you from one park to the other, and provide a picnic lunch halfway

We’d been keeping an eye on the weather all week, and the forecast not only remained suspect, but it rained every day prior to Saturday.

But we were GOING to do this hike, rain or not, so we went down the night before, and packed for rain and mud.

Mud and water we go, rain, we did NOT. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful hike.

There were 28 of us, and two guides–one to lead and one at the back of the line, to look for stragglers and anyone in need (other than blisters, there were no problems).

The hike is supposedly 8 miles, by my GPS said 9.0 (and my cell phone GPS said 9.3) but we did avoid a super muddy area, which may well have added an extra mile.

Location: Blackwater Falls State Park, Canaan Valley State Park, and Canaan Mountain Backcountry
Trails: Davis, Plantation, Fire Trail #6 (Allegheny Trail), Allegheny Trail, Middle Grade Trails
Distance: 9.0 miles
Elevation: 3135- 3694 feet

No pictures, because as nice as a hike as it was, there weren’t breath-taking views. Just the beauty of being in the wilderness.

And the fifth place we checked off our list: Calvin Price State Forest.

For those who are familiar with Coopers Rock–Calvin Price is completely different. Aside from the Allegheny, there are no maintained trails in the forest.

It also is adjacent to Watoga State Park (WATOGA! WATOGA! WATOGA!), so although there aren’t trails, you can access some parts from Watoga.

Because we’d had a long hike the day before, and because we were heading home, we only hiked about a mile into the forest, along the Allegheny Trail.

This is as far as we hiked in.

And as proof, the forest sign!

Our main hike for the trip was at Greenbrier State Forest, where we did the Kates Mountain Trail.

Location: Greenbrier State Forest
Trails: Old Road, Rocky Ridge, Holsapple, Youngs Nature, Mable Dowdy Nature Trails, and Kates Mountain Road
Distance: 10.2 miles
Elevation: 1689 – 3370 feet (1680 feet elevation gain)

Our hike started with two miles trail, that felt like it went straight up the mountain.

Pictures do not come close to showing precisely how steep this trail was, and I didn’t take many, because I was too tired to even pull out my cell phone for a quick snapshot.

Does this help? Probably not. Just take my word that it was REALLY steep, and I was very glad to be going UP that slope rather than down. (1)

Here is the view looking down towards the valley.

Look! Holsapple Trail!

Sadly, I can’t recommend hiking Holsapple trail, because it is being actively logged, which is not attractive, or pleasant to hike.

We found lots of random bits of wall, in the middle of the woods.

(1) Because of my ankle, I am very uncomfortable going down extremely steep slopes. It puts extra strain on my ankle and both hurts and makes me feel like I’m more likely to plummet down the hill.

For the sake of completeness, I’ll mention that we also stopped and walked (about a mile and a half) on the Greenbrier Rail Trail at its southern terminus.

We plan to go back at a later point in time and bike–I especially would like to visit the Droop Mountain Tunnel–but for now, here’s another crossed off our list!

The second location we checked off our list was Moncove Lake State Park.

The skies cleared on our way there, so no dramatic fog on the water pictures. But it was still pretty. (But not much in the way of hiking.)

Location: Moncove Lake State Park
Trails: Devil’s Creek Trail
Distance: 1.72 miles
Elevation: 2470 – 2550 feet

Another checked off the list!

Plum Orchard Lake Wildlife Management Area is a lake, and so didn’t have much in the way of hiking.

Although it didn’t feel so on the drive, we were lucky to go when it was overcast and foggy. There might not have been any hiking, but it was gorgeous.

Taking advantage of the gorgeous weather, we went back to Kumbrabow State Forest. It was a lovely day for a hike, and (for the most part) a lovely location for a hike.

Location: Kumbrabow State Park
Trails: Mill Creek Falls, Potato Hole Trail, Clay Run
Distance: 0.5, 3.3, 2.0 miles
Elevation: 2287-2795, 3187-3881, 3273-3621 feet

We hiked to the top of the mountain, up Potato Hole trail (which follows Potato Hole creek). The trail was interesting, going through several types of land, ending with a disconcertingly barren mountaintop.

Here’s the view from the top.

Here’s the tower you can climb for a better view.

The rustic cabins (as in, outhouses) are near the Mill Falls creek.

The Clay Run Trail itself was nice, but it emptied onto the Fire Road Trail, which you took to an overlook.

Which is being–logged? widened? uglified?

Here’s the view from the overlook. Feel free to skip the fire trail now you’ve seen the view.

But the trail itself was quite lovely

And had a marvelous bridge over the creek.

GPS Maps of the Hike

Saturday we went to Berkeley Springs to check out the flowers, and then on to Cacapon. The hike we choose is rather strenuous, but it was lovely all the same.

Location: Cacapon State Park
Trails: Ziler Loop, Central, Laurel Trails
Distance: 6.5 miles
Elevation: 975 – 2260 feet

There is no clearing or tower from which you can see the whole valley clearly, but you can often see the trees (perhaps not as well once the trees leaf out).

The back down was at time quite exciting.

There were several areas with a lot of downed trees.

Elevation Chart:

Cacapon-2016-04-02

Our plan for the day had been to go to Cacapon and Berkeley Springs, but I just didn’t feel like spending that much time in the car, so we instead went and hiked the other side of Coopers Rock.

I’ll note that I did NOT get us lost, hiking the Hemlock Trail. :)

Location: Coopers Rock State Forest
Trails: Hemlock Trail, Glade Run Trail
Distance: 2.2 miles, 3.3 miles
Elevation: 1664-1927 feet, 2117-2405 feet

The Hemlock Trail is gorgeous, and I took several pictures. The Glade Run Trail was nice, but not particularly photogenic.