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.
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.
West Virginia state parks and forests
Thirty-five state parks, nine state forests and several rail-trails, administered by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. No state park in West Virginia charges an entrance fee, which is unusual among state systems and is written into state code.
West Virginia charges nothing to walk into any of its 35 state parks, which shapes how the system is used.
The parks carry a large share of the state's camping, cabin lodging and family recreation, and several of them protect features that would be national park units in another state: an old-growth hemlock stand, a boreal bog, a 78-mile rail-trail and the highest valley floor in the eastern United States.
How the system works
No entrance fees
West Virginia does not charge admission at state parks or forests. The policy dates to the system's founding and is set in state code, so day use costs nothing at any of the 35 parks. Fees apply only to specific services: camping, cabins, lodge rooms, pools, golf, and equipment rental.
Built by the CCC
Much of the system was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps between 1933 and 1942. Watoga, Babcock, Lost River, Cabwaylingo, Greenbrier and Blue Bend all carry recognizable CCC stonework, timber cabins and shelter houses, and several of those cabins are still rented today.
Resort parks and rustic parks
Resort parks operate full lodges with restaurants and conference space: Pipestem, Canaan Valley, Blackwater Falls, Cacapon, Twin Falls, Hawks Nest, North Bend, Tygart Lake, Stonewall Jackson and Chief Logan. At the other end, forests such as Kumbrabow and Seneca rent cabins without electricity, and Calvin Price has no facilities at all.
Camping and cabins
Roughly two dozen parks and forests operate campgrounds, with sites ranging from full hookups to primitive. Cabin bookings open a year in advance and the popular parks, particularly Babcock, Blackwater Falls and Watoga, fill for summer and October weekends within days of opening.
State forests differ from parks
Forests are managed for timber, wildlife and watershed alongside recreation, and most permit hunting in season. State parks generally do not allow hunting. If you are hiking on a state forest in autumn, wear blaze orange.
Dark skies
Watoga State Park holds an International Dark Sky Park designation, and Droop Mountain, Calvin Price and the wider Pocahontas County area benefit from the National Radio Quiet Zone's restrictions on transmission and the region's very low population density.
Almost Heaven Swings
Almost Heaven Swings is a West Virginia Department of Tourism program launched in 2020. It installs oversized wooden porch-style swings, each large enough for two or three people, at scenic overlooks around the state. The swings are free to use, first come first served, and are positioned to face a view rather than a car park.
The program began as a small set of installations and expanded steadily, with swings now at state parks, state forests, town overlooks, farms, breweries and private attractions. Several sit at locations that already drew visitors, including well-known state park overlooks; others were placed deliberately in smaller communities to give travelers a reason to stop. The result functions as a loose driving route across the state rather than a single destination.
Using the swings
- The swings are free and require no booking. They sit outdoors, unstaffed, and are available whenever the host site is open.
- Sites on state park land follow park hours. Swings hosted by farms, breweries or private attractions follow that business's hours, which may be seasonal.
- The roster changes. Swings are added, and occasionally relocated or removed, so confirm a specific location on the official Department of Tourism map before making a long drive for it.
- Most are a short walk from parking, but a few require a modest hike. Check the individual listing if mobility is a consideration.
- They are heavily photographed, so expect a short wait at the best-known overlooks on autumn weekends.
Swing locations are not listed individually on this site because the roster is maintained by the Department of Tourism and changes through the year. The official interactive map is the authoritative source.
Parks and forests by region
Audra State Park
A compact park on the Middle Fork River built around a boulder-strewn swimming area and the Alum Cave boardwalk, which runs beneath an overhanging rock shelter above the river.
Babcock State Park
Home of the Glade Creek Grist Mill, the most photographed building in West Virginia — a working reconstruction assembled from parts of three historic mills, sitting on a boulder-strewn creek.
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.
Beech Fork State Park
A 3,981-acre park around a 720-acre Corps reservoir near Huntington, with one of the largest campgrounds in the state park system, good bass fishing and easy trails.
Berkeley Springs State Park
The oldest spa in the country — warm mineral springs flowing at a constant 74°F that George Washington visited as a young surveyor.
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.
Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park
An island in the Ohio River reached by sternwheeler from Parkersburg, holding a reconstructed 1800 Palladian mansion, horse-drawn wagon tours and quiet riverbank walking.
Bluestone State Park
On the shore of Bluestone Lake, the third-largest body of water in West Virginia, at the point where the Bluestone River meets the New.
Cabwaylingo State Forest
A large, quiet forest in Wayne County named for the four counties it borders, with CCC-built cabins, a campground and a fire tower.
Cacapon Resort State Park
6,000 acres on Cacapon Mountain near Berkeley Springs, with a lodge, a Robert Trent Jones golf course, a lake beach and a trail system climbing to the 2,300-foot ridge.
Calvin Price State Forest
An undeveloped forest adjoining Watoga State Park to the south, with no facilities and minimal trail marking.
Camp Creek State Park & Forest
An unusual pairing of a small developed park inside a much larger state forest in Mercer County, with two waterfalls on Camp Creek, mountain bike and equestrian trails, and camping.
Canaan Valley
The highest large valley east of the Mississippi, at about 3,200 feet — a 14-mile-long bowl of wetland, bog, beaver meadow and northern hardwood that behaves climatically like central Canada.
Canaan Valley Resort State Park
The state's only resort park with lift-served downhill skiing, plus a lodge, cabins, a golf course, snow tubing and cross-country trails, sitting on the floor of Canaan Valley beside the national wildlife refuge.
Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park
A Civil War battlefield on a bluff above the Gauley River with overlooks into the canyon and trails dropping toward the water.
Cass Scenic Railroad State Park
A preserved company logging town and a working fleet of Shay geared steam locomotives that climb the original grades to Whittaker Station and on to Bald Knob — at 4,842 feet the second-highest point in West Virginia, reachable by train.
Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining in West Virginia.
Cedar Creek State Park
A 2,483-acre park in Gilmer County with three small fishing lakes, a campground and a network of easy trails.
Chief Logan State Park
A 4,000-acre park in Logan County with a wildlife exhibit, trails through reclaimed coal country and an outdoor amphitheatre.
Coopers Rock State Forest
A 12,747-acre state forest above the Cheat River Canyon.
Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park
The site of the largest Civil War battle fought in West Virginia and the state's oldest state park, with a lookout tower over the Greenbrier Valley, short trails and a museum.
Greenbrier State Forest
Just outside White Sulphur Springs, adjoining the Monongahela National Forest, with cabins, a campground, a swimming pool and trails climbing Kate's Mountain.
Hawks Nest State Park
A rim-top lodge above the Mill Creek arm of the New River Gorge with an aerial tram to a marina on the water.
Holly River State Park
West Virginia's second-largest state park at 8,101 acres, in a narrow valley of hemlock and hardwood with waterfalls, cabins and a rugged trail network.
Kanawha State Forest
9,300 acres of steep, wooded hollow just fifteen minutes from downtown Charleston, with more than 25 miles of trails, a well-known mountain bike network, a swimming pool, campground and some of the best spring warbler birding in the state.
Kumbrabow State Forest
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.
Little Beaver State Park
A park just off I-64 near Beckley with an 18-acre lake, a seasonal campground, an extensive trail network used for running and mountain biking, and easy access from the interstate.
Lost River State Park
A 3,712-acre CCC-era park in Hardy County with cabins, stables and the Cranny Crow Overlook — a rock outcrop at 3,200 feet with a view said to reach into four states.
Moncove Lake State Park
A small park in Monroe County built around a 144-acre lake with warm-water fishing for largemouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish, plus a swimming pool.
North Bend State Park
A 1,405-acre park on a horseshoe bend of the North Fork of the Hughes River, with a lodge, cabins, campgrounds, a 305-acre lake nearby and direct access to the North Bend Rail Trail.
Panther State Forest
Deep in McDowell County, one of the most remote units in the system, with a small campground, a swimming pool and trails through steep hardwood in the heart of the southern coalfields.
Pinnacle Rock State Park
A small day-use park in Mercer County built around a jagged sandstone fin standing above the highway, with a stairway to the top and a view over the southern coalfields.
Pipestem Resort State Park
A full resort park perched above the Bluestone Canyon, with an aerial tram descending 1,100 feet to a lodge on the river — the only state park tram in West Virginia.
Prickett's Fort State Park
A reconstructed 1774 frontier refuge fort at the confluence of Prickett's Creek and the Monongahela River, with living-history interpretation, a boat launch and a trailhead on the Mon River Rail-Trail system.
Seneca State Forest
West Virginia's oldest state forest, 11,684 acres along the Greenbrier River with rustic CCC cabins that have no electricity, a fire tower rentable as lodging, and a quiet trail network.
Stonewall Jackson Lake State Park
A 2,650-acre lake with the most developed resort facilities of any West Virginia lake park — a lodge, marina, Arnold Palmer golf course and the state's largest open-water fetch for small-boat sailing.
Tomlinson Run State Park
The northernmost park in the system, in Hancock County at the tip of the Northern Panhandle.
Tu-Endie-Wei State Park
The smallest park in the system, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio rivers in Point Pleasant, marking the 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant.
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.
Tygart Lake State Park
A 1,750-acre reservoir behind a 1930s Corps of Engineers dam near Grafton, with a lodge, marina, scuba diving and steep wooded shoreline.
Valley Falls State Park
A series of ledge drops on the Tygart Valley River near Fairmont, popular with photographers, picnickers and — at the right levels — playboaters.
Watoga State Park
West Virginia's largest state park at over 10,100 acres, built largely by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Watters Smith Memorial State Park
A preserved nineteenth-century homestead in Harrison County with a museum, farm buildings, a swimming pool and quiet woodland trails.
Cabins, campgrounds and lodges near the parks
Placement for operators serving park visitors, sold by region.
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