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.
Planning guides
Permit and license requirements by activity, common hazards and how people get into trouble, month-by-month conditions, driving times and road access, land access rules, and terminology used locally.
Permits, Licenses & Rules
No permit is required to hike on Monongahela National Forest, state park or state forest trails.
Safety in West Virginia
More people get hurt on West Virginia rivers than anywhere else outdoors in the state.
When to Go: A Month by Month Guide
Snowmelt and spring rain put the Cheat, the Blackwater, the Meadow and every creek in the Highlands at their best.
Getting Around West Virginia
West Virginia is the only state entirely within the Appalachian mountains, and its roads follow creeks and ridges rather than straight lines.
Stewardship & Access Ethics
A striking amount of West Virginia recreation happens on private land or on public land adjacent to private land, under arrangements that volunteers renegotiate constantly.
A West Virginia Outdoor Glossary
The roughly six weekends of scheduled dam releases on the Gauley River beginning the Friday after Labor Day, when the whitewater community converges on Nicholas and Fayette counties.
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.