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
- East Lynn Lake WMA surrounds the reservoir with public hunting
- East Fork Campground is the main Corps site
What you can do here
The reservoir covers 1,005 acres in Wayne County and carries a strong bass and crappie fishery with very little pressure on it. Traffic is light enough that you can work a bank at length without company. WVDNR handles licensing and regulations; the lake and its facilities are run by the Corps of Engineers.
A thousand acres with almost no traffic is easy paddling water — no current, and a wildlife management area of more than 23,000 acres keeping the far arms undeveloped. East Fork Campground is the main Corps site and the obvious base for a long day. The lake is open to motorboats, so hold a line near shore where you can.
Motor traffic is light here for a lake this size, which is most of the appeal. East Fork Campground is the main Corps facility on the water. Ramps, registration and navigation rules run through the WVDNR boating program — confirm ramp status and lake level with the Corps before you haul a boat in.
East Fork Campground is the main Corps site on the reservoir, and federal campgrounds book through the federal reservation system rather than the state park one. What surrounds it is the point: more than 23,000 acres of wildlife management area, which is why the place stays quiet. Confirm season and site details with the Corps before you commit.
East Lynn Lake WMA wraps the reservoir with more than 23,000 acres of public hunting, a large block by any standard and lightly used by southwestern West Virginia standards. The season here runs September into February. WVDNR sets seasons, licensing and any rules specific to this WMA — read them for this area rather than assuming statewide defaults.
Bass and crappie in 1,005 acres of quiet water, with little motor traffic to push you off a bank, suits a boat you can carry. East Fork Campground is the practical launch and base. The WMA shoreline means long stretches with nothing built on them, so plan distance out and back against the wind rather than the clock.
Local organizations
Kayak Fishing across West Virginia →Guides, gear and lodging near East Lynn Lake
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Metro Valley
Kanawha State Forest
9,300 acres of steep, wooded hollow just fifteen minutes from downtown Charleston, with more than 25 miles of trails, a well-known mountain bike network, a swimming pool, campground and some of the best spring warbler birding in the state.
Coal River Water Trail
An organized water trail on the Big Coal, Little Coal and main-stem Coal rivers south of Charleston, with maintained access points, mapped mileages and signage — the product of sustained work by the Coal River Group to turn a working-class industrial river back into a recreation asset.
Beech Fork State Park
A 3,981-acre park around a 720-acre Corps reservoir near Huntington, with one of the largest campgrounds in the state park system, good bass fishing and easy trails.
Chief Logan State Park
A 4,000-acre park in Logan County with a wildlife exhibit, trails through reclaimed coal country and an outdoor amphitheatre.
Kanawha Falls
A wide ledge falls at Glen Ferris where the Gauley and New join to form the Kanawha — a well-known bank fishing spot for hybrid striped bass, walleye and catfish, with roadside access and a historic inn across the highway.
Tu-Endie-Wei State Park
The smallest park in the system, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers in Point Pleasant, marking the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant.
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.