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.
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. A half-mile boardwalk crosses two of the glades. Adjacent forest holds some of the best breeding-bird habitat in the state.
Know before you go
- The boardwalk is fully accessible and the interpretation is excellent
- Adjacent Cranberry Wilderness is 47,815 acres of unblazed backcountry
- Peak birding is late May and early June
What you can do here
The half-mile boardwalk crosses two of the glades, which is how you see sphagnum bog left behind by the last glaciation without stepping on it, sundews and pitcher plants included. The interpretation along it is genuinely good. Plants are the reason to come, so time a visit for the growing season even though the boardwalk stands year-round.
Local organizations
Nature Observation across West Virginia →Late May and early June is the peak, and the forest adjacent to the 750 acres of glades is some of the best breeding-bird habitat in the state. The boardwalk puts you over open bog, an unusual habitat for the mid-Atlantic, while the surrounding woods hold the forest species. Go early.
The boardwalk itself is half a mile and flat, which is a walk rather than a hike. Real distance starts next door in the Cranberry Wilderness, 47,815 acres of unblazed backcountry, a serious step up in both effort and navigation. Decide which of the two you came for before you park.
Local organizations
Bog light is the subject here: open sphagnum ground inside a forested basin, reached on a half-mile boardwalk that keeps you off the peat. A tripod works, though the boardwalk is a shared surface and other people are trying to pass. The relict boreal plants, sundews and pitcher plants, reward a macro lens more than a wide one.
Local organizations
Outdoor Photography across West Virginia →The boardwalk is fully accessible for its whole half mile, and the signage along it is well done, so this is one of the few places in the state where a wheelchair user reaches the actual feature rather than a view of it. Open year-round in principle; confirm winter road access before making the drive.
For a class or a group this is a compact, legible site: 750 acres of relict boreal bog, a half-mile accessible boardwalk that keeps everyone off the peat, and interpretation already written. Carnivorous plants and glacial leftovers do much of the teaching for you. Contact the managing forest office about group visits.
The half-mile boardwalk crosses two of the glades, which is how you see sphagnum bog left behind by the last glaciation without stepping on it, sundews and pitcher plants included. The interpretation along it is genuinely good. Plants are the reason to come, so time a visit for the growing season even though the boardwalk stands year-round.
Local organizations
Nature Observation across West Virginia →Guides, gear and lodging near Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
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.
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.
Cranberry Wilderness
47,815 acres of second-growth northern hardwood and red spruce on the high plateau — the largest wilderness 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.