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.
Undeveloped by design — no campground, no cabins, minimal trail marking. Most people who use it walk in from Watoga next door.
More places like thisKnow before you go
- No campground or cabins; backcountry use only
- Access is easiest through Watoga State Park
What you can do here
Backcountry hunting is one of the three things this forest is managed for, alongside timber and wildlife, and 9,482 undeveloped acres is a lot of ground with few other people on it. There are no facilities and trail marking is minimal, so carry a map and a compass or GPS. Seasons and licensing are WVDNR's.
Local organizations
Hunting across West Virginia →No campground, no cabins, minimal marking. What this forest offers is 9,482 acres of unmanaged walking, which is why it suits people who can navigate. Most parties come in through Watoga State Park to the north, the easiest access. The April-to-November window overlaps fall hunting seasons, so plan for that.
Local organizations
Trails here are marked minimally or not at all, and the forest publishes no mileage, so a day out is really a navigation exercise across 9,482 acres of timber ground. Enter from Watoga State Park to the north. Anyone wanting signed, maintained tread should walk Watoga's trails instead.
Local organizations
Backcountry use only, since there is no campground, so any night spent here is a dispersed one. Nothing about site rules, permits or fire restrictions is published in this record, so check with the state forest office before you count on staying out. The season runs April through November and there are no facilities.
Local organizations
Primitive & Dispersed Camping across West Virginia →Nothing here is arranged for birders: no signed loops, no facilities, no published species list. What the forest does offer is 9,482 acres of unbroken, lightly visited timber and wildlife ground, and May is when it is loudest. Come in through Watoga and be ready to navigate on your own.
Guides, gear and lodging near Calvin Price State Forest
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.