Best fetch
Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park
Stonewall Jackson Lake has the most open water and the most usable wind in the state park system.
Full guide to Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park →Sailing
A small but real scene on the larger reservoirs — Summersville, Stonewall Jackson and Cheat Lake host the state's dinghy and small-keelboat sailing. Mountain winds are fluky and thermally driven; afternoons are best.
Sailing here is a small, dedicated scene on a handful of lakes, and the wind on them is difficult to read.
Valley-bound reservoirs produce shifting, thermally driven wind. Afternoons are generally the most consistent.
Our recommendations
Where we'd send you
Prettiest
Summersville Lake
Summersville, when the thermals cooperate. Sandstone walls and clear water make up for the fluky conditions.
Full guide to Summersville Lake →Closest to a city
Cheat Lake
Cheat Lake outside Morgantown. Narrow and shifty, but it's twenty minutes from town.
Full guide to Cheat Lake →Practical note
Sailing is a secondary use of these lakes rather than a primary draw. Treat it as a bonus on a lake trip rather than the reason for one.
What to know before you go
- Wind is inconsistent in valley-bound reservoirs; expect shifty conditions
- Stonewall Jackson has the most open fetch
Regions that do it best
Reservoirs, trout water, developing rail-trail
Mountain Lakes
The geographic center of the state and its least-visited region.
Sandstone climbing, big whitewater, a national parkNew River Gorge
The New River has cut a gorge roughly 1,000 feet deep through Nuttall sandstone, protected since 2020 as New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Cheat River whitewater and rail-trail networkMountaineer Country
The northern counties around Morgantown.
Every place we cover for sailing
Lake · New River Gorge
Summersville Lake
West Virginia's largest lake and by a wide margin its clearest — 2,700 acres of blue-green water in a sandstone basin, popular for scuba diving, paddleboarding and boating.
2,700 ac surface327 ft max depth
State Park · Mountaineer Country
Tygart Lake State Park
A 1,750-acre reservoir behind a 1930s Corps of Engineers dam near Grafton, with a lodge, marina, scuba diving and steep wooded shoreline.
1,750 ac lake1938 dam completed
Lake · Mountaineer Country
Cheat Lake
A long, narrow 1,730-acre impoundment of the Cheat River just east of Morgantown, with a shoreline rail-trail, boat access and the closest flatwater paddling and lakeside recreation to the city.
1,730 ac lake13 mi length
State Park · Mountain Lakes
Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park
A 2,650-acre lake with the most developed resort facilities of any West Virginia lake park — a lodge, marina, Arnold Palmer golf course and the state's largest open-water fetch for small-boat sailing.
2,650 ac lake82 mi shoreline
AdvertiseThis space is available
Guides and rentals for sailing
Reserved for a West Virginia operator serving this activity. The listings above and below it are unpaid.
List your business hereQuestions people ask
Can you sail in West Virginia?
Yes, on the larger reservoirs. Stonewall Jackson Lake, Summersville Lake and Cheat Lake carry most of the state's small-boat sailing.
Organizations, agencies and resources · 1
Groups that handle access, maintenance, licensing and conditions data for this activity. Starred entries publish updates worth following.
Related activities
Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.
West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.