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.
Know before you go
- The Cheat Lake Trail runs along the western shore
- Morning is calmest for paddling
- CLEAR is the local group working on lake water quality and access
What you can do here
Thirteen miles of narrow impoundment gives you a long shoreline to work along without ever being far from it. Morning is the calmest water, which on a lake this shape is worth planning around. The Cheat Lake Trail follows the western shore, so you can see where you are going from the road side. Powerboats share the lake — stay visible.
Narrow water means short crossings and a shoreline you can trace, which is what a board wants. Get on early: mornings are calmest here, and wind moving down a 13-mile channel builds the kind of chop that is no fun to stand up in. Summer is the practical window. Watch for boat wakes near ramps and docks.
This is the closest open water to Morgantown, and it carries the traffic that implies on a summer weekend. Thirteen miles of length means there is somewhere to go once you launch. Ramps, registration and navigation rules are administered through the WVDNR boating program rather than by the lake itself. Early hours are the calm ones.
Cheat Lake impounds 1,730 acres of the Cheat River, so the fishing is reservoir fishing — coves, shoreline structure and the old river channel underneath. Species and limits are not listed in this record; WVDNR regulations cover both. CLEAR, the local group working on lake water quality and access, is worth following if you fish here regularly.
The Cheat Lake Trail runs along the western shore, which makes it a lakeside walk rather than a valley-floor one — water beside you for its length, open year-round. Length and surface are not published in this record, so read the trailhead signage. It is also the easiest way to scout put-ins before you paddle.
Local organizations
Runners use the Cheat Lake Trail for the same reasons cyclists do: no cars, a rail-grade profile and enough distance to build a real session. Morgantown is close enough that this works as an after-work run. Winter keeps it open, though a shaded lakeshore holds ice longer than a street does. Start early if you want the lake quiet.
Cheat Lake is one of a handful of West Virginia waters with any sailing scene at all, and its shape decides the sailing: 13 miles long and narrow, so wind either runs the axis or dies. Mornings are calm here, which is the opposite of what a sailor wants. Expect shifty, thermally driven breeze in the afternoon rather than steady pressure.
Guides, gear and lodging near Cheat Lake
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Mountaineer Country
Coopers Rock State Forest
A 12,747-acre state forest above the Cheat River Canyon.
Cheat Canyon
One of the classic big-water runs of the East: roughly 11 miles of Class IV–V through a remote gorge below Albright, with named rapids including Big Nasty, Coliseum and Pete Morgan.
Mon River Rail-Trail System
About 48 miles of connected crushed-limestone rail-trail through Morgantown: the Caperton Trail along the riverfront downtown, the Mon River Trail running north to the Pennsylvania line and south toward Prickett's Fort, and the Deckers Creek Trail climbing 19 miles east to Reedsville.
Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Area
Purpose-built modern singletrack in Preston County, the anchor project of a regional effort to link northern West Virginia into a single mountain bike destination.
Big Bear Lake Trail Center
A long-established private trail center in Preston County with dozens of miles of cross-country singletrack and doubletrack around a lake, plus camping.
Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining in West Virginia.
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.