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.
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. The trail to the first falls is paved and accessible; beyond that it becomes steep stairs and boardwalk into a mossy shale gorge.
Know before you go
- The upper falls section is accessible; the lower two are not
- Best flow in spring and after rain
- Ice makes winter descent dangerous
What you can do here
Three-quarters of a mile takes you past three waterfalls dropping 25, 45 and 63 feet, 1.6 miles for the round trip. The first stretch is paved; past that it turns into steep stairs and boardwalk down into a shale gorge. Everything you descend you climb back, and ice makes the winter descent dangerous.
Local organizations
Flow is the variable — spring and the days after rain give the falls their weight, and the gorge stays mossy and dim enough to want a tripod. The 63-foot lower drop is the second-highest waterfall in West Virginia and the hardest of the three to reach, at the bottom of the stairs and boardwalk. Skip that descent when it is iced.
Local organizations
Outdoor Photography across West Virginia →The paved trail to the upper falls is accessible; the lower two are not, and reaching them means steep stairs and boardwalk into the gorge. That makes the first waterfall a destination in its own right rather than a consolation prize. No grade or surface specifics beyond the paved section are published, so ask the ranger district if you need them.
Shade and constant spray keep the shale gorge mossy, and that wet-rock plant community is as much the subject here as the water is. Dropping three-quarters of a mile past three falls moves you through a gorge that changes as it deepens. Spring and the days after rain show it at full volume; winter ice closes the lower section off in practice.
Local organizations
Nature Observation across West Virginia →Guides, gear and lodging near Falls of Hills Creek
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.
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.
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.