I just completed a road trip through West Virginia. It’s a great place to go. My goal is to avoid driving more than 2 hours between activities because my kids don’t love long car rides. We had to make some last minute changes because my son was in a boot. We stayed with family in Baltimore and kicked off our trip from there. Here is our final version:
Sunday:
Washington Nationals Stadium Tour
Drive to Shenandoah – we did the Stony Man Summit Trail, an easy hike with great views. Driving through Shenandoah is beautiful itself and the views are everywhere. Warning: if you get motion sickness, it’s very curvy.
Sleep in Staunton, Virginia at a good Fairfield Inn. If you want connecting rooms, it needs to be a king suite with two doubles.
Monday:
Frontier Culture Museum – my kids loved this place way more than I expected. It has a whole setup of buildings from different eras. We rented a golf cart because my son was in a boot and my kids loved that too.
Cyrus Mcormick Museum – really quick stop off the highway showing farming equipment and a mill. It’s a great snack/lunch stop and really picturesque.
Lost World Caverns – beautiful underground cavern. This tour is self-guided which we liked a lot. They have an extreme tour that I would love to do but I travel with young kids.
Sleep at Holiday Inn Beckley – we stayed in two connecting rooms (you can get two doubles connecting). The hotel was clean and located conveniently off the highway. We based our next few days out of Beckley.
Tuesday:
Sandstone Falls - We stopped in at the Sandstone Falls Visitors center to get maps. They have a cute little exhibit, clean bathrooms and beautiful wildflowers. Then we went to the falls. There’s a boardwalk trail that gives you beautiful views. We stopped in a rocky beach area and walked in the water. The water is fairly fast moving so we stayed close to the shore.
Beckley Coal Mine – this is a cute museum that gives you a train ride into a coal mine. They also have houses that show how coal miners live, how the superintendent lived, a school house etc. There’s a small childrens museum and old log cabins on site as well. This is quintessential West Virginia tourism.
Wednesday:
New River Gorge Rafting – we went with Adventures on the Gorge and did the Upper New River trip. It’s family friendly class I, II and 2 III rapids.
Thursday:
Thurmond Ghost Town – this was a railroad boom town that was abandoned. It’s a quick stop (45 minutes or so) and worth the trip.
Horse back riding with Equestrian Adventures. We did a 2.5 hour trail ride.
New River Gorge Visitors Center – it was a quick stop with nice views of the bridge and the river.
We had considered a stop at Summerville Lake to swim but it was too late in the day. We drove to Elkins and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. We asked for two queens and a rollaway so they gave us a large suite with two doubles, a sofa and the rollaway.
Friday:
Seneca Rocks – we did the visitors center, homestead site and a short walk through the woods. We did not hike to the top.
Blackwater Falls – we did the boardwalk that takes you down to a great view of the falls.
Drove to Berkeley Springs to stay at a VRBO for shabbos. If you want to stay near a minyan, Deep Creek, MD is nearby.
Sunday: Hershey Park, drove back to NJ