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.
Kumbrabow State Forest
Local knowledge
The highest state forest in West Virginia, 9,474 acres of red spruce and northern hardwood on Rich Mountain, with rustic cabins, native brook trout in Mill Creek and almost no one there. Cool even in August.
The highest state forest in the state, red spruce at the top of Rich Mountain, reached on rough gravel — and cool in August when the rest of the state is not.
More places like thisKnow before you go
- Cabins are rustic and cold-season use requires wood heat
- Native brook trout water — light tackle and small flies
- Access roads are gravel and can be rough
What you can do here
Mill Creek holds native brook trout, and native brookies in small mountain water mean light tackle, small flies and a careful approach. The forest sits high on Rich Mountain in red spruce and northern hardwood, so the stream stays cold when valley water does not. Access roads are gravel and rough — allow more time than the map suggests.
Local organizations
At 9,474 acres this is the highest state forest in West Virginia, red spruce and northern hardwood along Rich Mountain, cool even in August. No trail mileage is published here, so ask at the forest office which routes are signed and currently open. Almost nobody else is walking them, which is most of the appeal.
Local organizations
Rustic cabins are what the forest is known for, and using them in the cold season means heating with wood. The gravel access roads can be rough, which makes a low car and a heavy trailer a poor combination. Check with the forest for what is open in your season — this is a lightly staffed, lightly visited place.
Nearly 9,500 acres of spruce and northern hardwood on Rich Mountain, the highest state forest in West Virginia, and very few people in it. Rough gravel access is the practical limit on where a vehicle goes, which shapes how far in you can realistically pack game. Confirm current seasons and forest-specific rules with WVDNR first.
Local organizations
Hunting across West Virginia →The forest's own lodging is rustic cabins; whether dispersed or primitive camping is permitted elsewhere on the 9,474 acres is a question for the office rather than something the record settles. The terrain is not in doubt — high, cold, spruce-covered ground reached by rough gravel road, cool through August, with almost no one around.
Local organizations
Primitive & Dispersed Camping across West Virginia →Horseback riding is listed, but no bridle mileage is published. The ground is steep Rich Mountain hardwood and spruce reached over rough gravel, which matters as much for hauling a trailer in as for riding once you are there. Ask the forest office which trails take horses in your season and where a rig can park.
Local organizations
Horseback Riding across West Virginia →Guides, gear and lodging near Kumbrabow State Forest
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Potomac Highlands
Dolly Sods Wilderness
A 17,371-acre federally designated wilderness on a plateau largely above 4,000 feet, containing wind-flagged red spruce, heath barrens, sphagnum bog and exposed rock.
Bear Rocks Preserve
The northern edge of the Dolly Sods plateau, owned by The Nature Conservancy: bare Pottsville sandstone slabs, one-sided spruce sculpted by prevailing wind, and blueberry heath dropping east into the Allegheny Front with a 3,000-foot view over the Potomac Highlands.
Spruce Knob
At 4,863 feet, the highest point in West Virginia and the high point of the entire Allegheny range.
Seneca Rocks
A 900-foot fin of near-vertical Tuscarora quartzite standing above the North Fork of the South Branch — the most recognizable rock formation in the eastern United States and the only true summit in the East that can only be reached by technical climbing.
Seneca Creek Backcountry
A network of trails below Spruce Knob following Seneca Creek through spruce and northern hardwood to a series of waterfalls, the largest around 20 feet.
Blackwater Falls State Park
A 57-foot falls where the Blackwater River drops into an eight-mile canyon, its water stained amber by hemlock and spruce tannins.
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.