Canaan Valley
The highest large valley east of the Mississippi, at about 3,200 feet — a 14-mile-long bowl of wetland, bog, beaver meadow and northern hardwood that behaves climatically like central Canada. Holds a resort state park with downhill skiing, a national wildlife refuge covering more than 17,000 acres, and the reliable upslope snowfall that makes the region West Virginia's winter capital.
Know before you go
- The valley catches upslope snow that misses everywhere else in the mid-Atlantic
- Refuge boardwalks give access to wetland without damaging it
- Beaver, black bear, snowshoe hare and Cerulean Warbler all occur here
- Summer is cool — nights in the fifties in July are normal
What you can do here
Downhill Skiing
Snowboarding
Cross-Country Skiing
Snowshoeing
Birding
Wildlife Viewing
Hiking
Mountain Biking
Sledding & Tubing Hills
Guides, gear and lodging near Canaan Valley
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
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Nearby in the Potomac Highlands
Dolly Sods Wilderness
A 17,371-acre federally designated wilderness on a plateau largely above 4,000 feet, containing wind-flagged red spruce, heath barrens, sphagnum bog and exposed rock.
Bear Rocks Preserve
The northern edge of the Dolly Sods plateau, owned by The Nature Conservancy: bare Pottsville sandstone slabs, one-sided spruce sculpted by prevailing wind, and blueberry heath dropping east into the Allegheny Front with a 3,000-foot view over the Potomac Highlands.
Spruce Knob
At 4,863 feet, the highest point in West Virginia and the high point of the entire Allegheny range.
Seneca Rocks
A 900-foot fin of near-vertical Tuscarora quartzite standing above the North Fork of the South Branch — the most recognizable rock formation in the eastern United States and the only true summit in the East that can only be reached by technical climbing.
Seneca Creek Backcountry
A network of trails below Spruce Knob following Seneca Creek through spruce and northern hardwood to a series of waterfalls, the largest around 20 feet.
Blackwater Falls State Park
A 57-foot falls where the Blackwater River drops into an eight-mile canyon, its water stained amber by hemlock and spruce tannins.