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.
Tomlinson Run State Park
The northernmost park in the system, in Hancock County at the tip of the Northern Panhandle. A 29-acre lake, a campground, a swimming pool complex and quiet hardwood trails. Closer to Pittsburgh and Youngstown than to most of West Virginia.
Know before you go
- Trout stocked in Tomlinson Run and the lake in season
- One of the few parks easily reached from Ohio and western Pennsylvania
- The pool has a 182-foot figure-eight waterslide and runs Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day
- The 29-acre lake is electric motors only; rowboats, kayaks and paddleboats rent Friday to Sunday
- Pool admission is $9 for 12 and over, $7 for younger
What you can do here
Trout go into both Tomlinson Run and the lake in season, which is worth knowing this far north, at the tip of the Northern Panhandle. The lake is small and restricted to electric motors, so shore fishing and quiet boat work are the modes. Check WVDNR stocking timing before making the drive.
Overlooks here
The campground here is the northernmost in the state park system, closer to Pittsburgh and Youngstown than to most of West Virginia, which is largely who fills it. This record gives no site count and no hookup detail, so confirm both when you book. April through October is the season.
Overlooks here
Quiet hardwood trails cover a 1,398-acre park, with the lake and the run as the features you walk between. No trail mileage is published, so ask at the park office or pick up a map on the way in. Winter walking is fine here: it is the pool and the boat rentals that close.
Overlooks here
Local organizations
Rowboats, kayaks and paddleboats rent Friday to Sunday, which shapes the week for anyone without a boat of their own. The lake is electric motors only, so the water stays flat and quiet, which is beginner conditions. April through October is the season; midweek visitors should bring their own hull.
Overlooks here
The park lists disc golf but publishes no course detail, no hole count, no layout and no fee. On 1,398 acres of hardwood park the ground would be rolling and wooded rather than open field, which changes how you throw. Call the park office to confirm the course is in and playable before building a day around it.
Overlooks here
Swimming here means the pool complex rather than a river hole: a 182-foot figure-eight waterslide, open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, at $9 for anyone 12 and over and $7 for younger children. That is the developed option. Rules for swimming in the lake are not published, so ask before planning on it.
Overlooks here
Guides, gear and lodging near Tomlinson Run State Park
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.