West Virginia - Day 3

Knowing that the sunrise would be around 7:15, we left our hotel at 6:30 on Sunday morning. Our first stop was Blackwater Falls State Park, an hour drive from Elkins. 

It was a bit scary as we left Elkins and headed north - at one point, the road closed and we had to exit. Hard to see what is happening in front of you when it is still dark out, the fog is heavy, construction cones around you and no street lights to help. Thank you Lord for keeping us safe!

We drove Seneca Trail (Rt 48) into Davis, stopping at Fred Long Centennial Park to enjoy this breaktaking view of the valley below us!

Blackwater Falls State Park

We arrived at Blackwater Falls State Park right at 7:30. We were surprised to see that we were the only visitors in the main lot (the falls parking area). 

We spotted the Almost Heaven Swing but decided to wait to take the pictures on our way back to the car. 

It was COLD! It was in the high 30s when we got out of the car and much colder as we walked into the gorge, towards the falls. We obviously didn't pack warm enough clothing. As we reached the falls, we assumed it was in the low 30s/high 20s. You can see Matt's breath in this picture. 

Blackwater Falls - Wow! The falls were beautiful! The longer we stayed, the more color we saw thanks to the sun rising over the tree line.

As we made our way back up to the swing, we met up with a few other visitors - it was nice to enjoy the quiet of the morning and the beauty of the falls (not quiet!) all by ourselves.

We left the falls parking lot and traveled further into the park.

We stopped at Blackwater Lodge, walking around back to the terrace, which overlooked the Blackwater River.

Our last stop in the park was Lindy Point Trail/Observation Deck. This trail is an out & back trail (about 1.5 miles in total). 

Back in the car, we hit the road to head south to Canaan Valley Resort State Park.

Canaan Valley Resort State Park

After finding the swing and getting our pictures, we crossed over Appalachian Hwy (32) driving to the ski resort portion of the park. We were looking forward to riding the ski lift!

The day was beautiful and views were amazing - such vibrant colors!

While planning our trip, we loaded our days with stops. We were quickly realizing that we wouldn't be able to do everything and had to scratch some things off our itinerary as we went. After Canaan Ski Resort, our next few stops were Seneca Rocks & Cass (possible train ride). We ended up driving straight to Snowshoe Mountain Resort (2 hours), skipping Seneca & Cass. 

That's a lot of roads converging in a small town!

Snowshoe Mountain Resort

We headed back down the mountain to drive the Highland Scenic Highway (Route 150), making stops at Little Laurel Overlook, Big Spruce Overlook and Williams River Valley Overlook.

Cranberry Bog Boardwalk Trail

We saw this picture at the trailhead...made me think twice about walking the boardwalk...we were VERY thankful to have a bear-free walk. 

Falls of Hills Creek

This stop was on our list as a "maybe" hike, depending on how much time we had left in the day, how we were feeling, etc. There are multiple waterfalls along this hike. We decided to give the hike a try. We walked for a bit and saw a few small falls, but decided to turn around because of waning daylight. 

Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park

Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is a part of the Civil War Discovery Trail. This park was the site of the last major Civil War conflict in West Virginia. 

We drove another hour to Lewisburg, our hotel for the night. We grabbed a late dinner and checked in to our hotel. Another day comes to a close.

Favorites from Day 3

We both agreed that our favorites were Blackwater Falls (it was so cold, but we had the falls to ourselves!) and Droop Mountain Battlefield (a perfect way to end our day. Taking in the quiet of the evening and climbing the unique lookout tower.