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
- Access roads are narrow and winding
- Convenient to several Hatfield-McCoy trail systems
What you can do here
Steep hardwood in the heart of the southern coalfields, 7,810 acres of it in McDowell County, and very few visitors on any of it. No trail mileage is published here, so get a map from the forest office rather than assuming a loop exists. Narrow, winding access roads are part of why almost nobody comes.
Overlooks here
The campground here is small and the forest around it is one of the most remote units in the state system. A swimming pool is also on site, which is unusual this far out. Narrow, winding access roads make a large trailer a bad idea — call ahead about availability and what is open in your season.
Overlooks here
Fishing is listed among the activities, but no lake or stream on the property is named here, so ask the forest office what water is in the unit and what it holds. The setting is clear enough: steep hardwood hollows in McDowell County, lightly visited, reached by narrow road. Check WVDNR regulations before you fish.
Overlooks here
Just over 7,800 acres of steep hardwood in one of the least-visited corners of the state system means very little competition for ground. The terrain is the difficulty — coalfield hollows are steep, and the roads in are narrow and winding. Confirm with the forest and WVDNR which seasons apply and whether the whole unit is open.
Overlooks here
Unbroken steep hardwood and almost no foot traffic make for good listening, particularly at the May peak. Nothing about the species here is published on this site, so come with ears rather than a target list. The narrow, winding roads in mean a dawn start takes longer than the mileage on the map suggests.
Overlooks here
The forest runs a developed campground; whether it permits primitive or dispersed camping elsewhere on its 7,810 acres is a question for the office, not something the record answers. Remoteness cuts both ways here — you will not see anyone, and help is not close. Nearby Hatfield-McCoy trail systems absorb the traffic this forest never gets.
Overlooks here
Guides, gear and lodging near Panther State Forest
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the Southern Coalfields
Hatfield-McCoy Trails
The largest off-highway trail system in the eastern United States — more than a thousand miles across former coal lands in southern West Virginia, split into named systems including Rockhouse, Bearwallow, Buffalo Mountain, Pinnacle Creek, Devil Anse, Pocahontas, Indian Ridge, Ivy Branch and Warrior.
Twin Falls Resort State Park
A quiet resort park in Wyoming County with a lodge, golf course and two waterfalls on Black Fork and Marsh Fork.
Laurel Lake Wildlife Management Area
A quiet 12,854-acre WMA in Mingo County built around a 29-acre lake, with primitive camping, warm-water fishing and public hunting in the southern coalfields.
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.