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.
Allegheny Trail
West Virginia's long-distance footpath, running the length of the state's mountain backbone from Virginia to Pennsylvania. It is a patchwork by design: 5.5 miles are inside Watoga State Park, 1.2 miles leave Blackwater Falls State Park at the Route 32 entrance, and the Forest Service maintains a five-mile section near Davis, the only stretch on the Monongahela National Forest. Between those, the route crosses public and private ground maintained by volunteers.
Know before you go
- Watoga rates its section moderate to difficult and treats it as part of a backpack system
- The Blackwater Falls section ends south of the riding stables
- Section detail and current reroutes come from the West Virginia Scenic Trails Association, not from any single agency
What you can do here
Watoga rates its 5.5-mile section moderate to difficult and treats it as part of a backpack system, which is the clearest signal of what multi-day travel here involves. Elsewhere the route crosses public and private ground held together by volunteers, so legal campsites are not evenly distributed. Check the West Virginia Scenic Trails Association for current reroutes before committing to an itinerary.
Local organizations
Most people meet this footpath in pieces rather than end to end. The 5.5 miles inside Watoga State Park and the 1.2-mile section leaving Blackwater Falls at the Route 32 entrance are both easy to reach and easy to turn into an out-and-back. The Forest Service maintains a five-mile stretch near Davis, the only part on the Monongahela National Forest.
Local organizations
Because the route is a patchwork of public and private ground, where you can legally sleep changes from section to section. The Forest Service stretch near Davis is on the Monongahela National Forest; the Watoga miles fall under state park rules as part of a backpack system. Confirm siting rules with the agency or landowner for the section you are on, and with the Scenic Trails Association.
Local organizations
Primitive & Dispersed Camping across West Virginia →Runners tend to use the shorter, better-maintained segments: the 1.2 miles out of Blackwater Falls from the Route 32 entrance, ending south of the riding stables, or the five Forest Service miles near Davis. Watoga rates its 5.5 miles moderate to difficult, which sets expectations for footing. Volunteer-maintained ground between segments can change, so check current conditions before a long link-up.
Guides, gear and lodging near Allegheny Trail
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Greenbrier Valley
Greenbrier River Trail
Seventy-eight miles from Cass to Caldwell on a former Chesapeake & Ohio logging grade, crossing 35 bridges by the state park's count and passing through 2 tunnels, following the Greenbrier River the entire way.
Watoga State Park
West Virginia's largest state park at over 10,100 acres, built largely by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Beartown State Park
A half-mile boardwalk through a formation of large Droop Sandstone blocks separated by deep crevasses, some of which hold ice into early summer.
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
The largest area of bogs in West Virginia — sphagnum and cranberry peat bogs holding plant communities left behind after the last glaciation, more typical of Canada than the mid-Atlantic, including carnivorous sundews and pitcher plants.
Falls of Hills Creek
Three waterfalls in three-quarters of a mile, dropping 25, 45 and 63 feet — the last is the second-highest waterfall in West Virginia.
Highland Scenic Highway
A 43-mile National Scenic Byway climbing over 4,500 feet across the Allegheny plateau between Richwood and US 219, with four major overlooks and access to Cranberry Glades, the Falls of Hills Creek and the Cranberry Wilderness.
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.