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.
Current conditions
River levels change within hours of rainfall, forest service roads close seasonally, and snowfall in the Canaan Valley belt differs sharply from valleys twenty miles west. These are the primary sources for current conditions, updated by the agencies that collect the data.
In season now
September — Gauley Season starts the Friday after Labor Day. Best climbing friction of the year. Color begins on the highest ridges.
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.