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.
Oglebay Resort
A municipal resort park in Wheeling with multiple public golf courses, including the Speidel Course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Jones Course. The wider park holds a zoo, gardens and a large winter light display, making it one of the most-visited destinations in the Northern Panhandle.
Know before you go
- Courses are open to the public, unlike most resort golf in the state
- Easy access from I-70 and the Pittsburgh area
- Book well ahead for autumn weekends
What you can do here
Several public courses, among them the Speidel, a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, and the Jones Course. Public access is the unusual part, since most resort golf in the state is not open that way. The park sits close to I-70 and draws heavily from Pittsburgh, so book autumn weekends well ahead.
1,700 acres of municipal resort park in Wheeling, with a zoo and gardens folded into it, but no trail mileage is published. Expect managed park walking rather than backcountry — this is one of the most-visited destinations in the Northern Panhandle and the ground is kept accordingly. Ask the park what is marked and how far it runs.
Local organizations
The resort lists camping but publishes no site count, hookup detail or fee. What the record does establish is the setting: a 1,700-acre municipal park with a zoo, gardens and a large winter light display, minutes from Wheeling and I-70. Call for site specifics, and book early if you are coming for an autumn weekend.
Guides, gear and lodging near Oglebay Resort
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Mountaineer Country
Coopers Rock State Forest
A 12,747-acre state forest above the Cheat River Canyon.
Cheat Canyon
One of the classic big-water runs of the East: roughly 11 miles of Class IV–V through a remote gorge below Albright, with named rapids including Big Nasty, Coliseum and Pete Morgan.
Mon River Rail-Trail System
About 48 miles of connected crushed-limestone rail-trail through Morgantown: the Caperton Trail along the riverfront downtown, the Mon River Trail running north to the Pennsylvania line and south toward Prickett's Fort, and the Deckers Creek Trail climbing 19 miles east to Reedsville.
Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Area
Purpose-built modern singletrack in Preston County, the anchor project of a regional effort to link northern West Virginia into a single mountain bike destination.
Big Bear Lake Trail Center
A long-established private trail center in Preston County with dozens of miles of cross-country singletrack and doubletrack around a lake, plus camping.
Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining 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.