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
Nature Observation
Birding
Hiking
Outdoor Photography
Accessible Recreation
Outdoor Education
Nature Observation
Guides, gear and lodging near Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
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Nearby in the Greenbrier Valley
Greenbrier River Trail
Seventy-eight miles from Cass to Caldwell on a former Chesapeake & Ohio logging grade, crossing 35 bridges 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.