Tony and I stopped by this park on our West Virginia Almost Heaven Swing Trip today. This was our…read more2nd stop. Nice area a few tables and a bathroom. Need to see more of the park! This is backside of the dam!

I've biked the rail trail here many times since its opening many many years ago and each time is…read morejust as wonderful as my first time. I recently went with a couple of my childhood friends who had never been and we had an amazing ride. There are several cool tunnels to go through and there is always wildlife to view and enjoy on your ride. The town of Cairo is always one of my favorite parts of biking this trail, but it was also nice to see someone built a nice little park for the kids right off of the rail trail in Ellenboro to which we stopped at to cool off under the shelter and share some snacks on one of their picnic tables. The park itself is absolutely beautiful! The lake is great for boating and fishing, and the lodge and restaurant are great too. I hope you enjoy yourself while here because I know I always do :D

The Muskingum River system of locks and dams is the oldest of its kind in the USA. No wonder. At…read morethe business end of the river is the town of Marietta, the oldest settlement in the Northwest Territory. But during the 1800s and early 1900s, the river flooded terribly in the spring and dried up in the summer. Starting in 1836, Ohio built 11 hand-operated locks and dams that made the Muskingum navigable from Marietta to the Ohio and Erie Canal. But the locks and dams deteriorated to useless until about 1960 when the state took ownership again. Today it's managed by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Thankfully! Today the 11 locks are: #11 Ellis, #10 Zanesville, #9 Duncan Falls/Philo, #8 Eagleport, #7 McConnelsville, #6. Stockport, #5 Luke Chute, #4. Beverly, #3. Lowell, #2. Devol's, and #1 Marietta. You can see the engineering of #2 in this video of the Valley Gem in lock #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F764XLNZaI I have been on the Valley Gem in the lock. The engineering is stunning in its simplicity in controlling the better part of a million gallons of water. On my visit to #2 way back in the fall of 2018, I got to meet the manager of the lock, who showed us around. Free tour. It's one those places where you can sense the awesome power even when it's quiet.

Our family drove here for a quick stop on our way through Parkersburg, WV from Morgantown to…read moreCincinnati. First, it provides a lovely scenic view of the Ohio River. Second, it's a historic Civil War site in which the Union soldiers built a fort in 1863 to protect the railroad (Baltimore & Ohio) from enemy fire or occupation by the Confederate army. Third, it was not overly crowded and parking is easily available within a short walk of the viewpoint. It only takes 15 minutes to admire the lovely views of the Ohio river It also provides a sense of the strategic importance of the fort's strategic location as a sentinel of enemy movements. Enjoy your visit!

Tony Vanoy and I went to Parkersburg on my day off. We went to Fort Boreman Historical Park, which…read moreis high over Parkersburg with beautiful views of the river city including Belpry Ohio and both rivers, the Ohio and Little Kanawha. The park is easy to get to with plenty of signage guiding you there. It is FREE TO ENJOY. Plenty of parking! Pets on Leash friendly! Beautiful Spectacular Scenic Overlook which is perfect as a backdrop for special occasion photos like Weddings, Engagements and Proms. There is a playground for the kiddies. Public restrooms and several picnic tables scattered about with grills. A few shelters with ample tables and grills. There are cannons on display and signage talking about the history of the Fort. There are hiking trails to enjoy as well!!!

This beautiful red bridge was completed in 1887 and it originally spanned the Tug Fork of Big Mill…read moreCreek. It was named after Enoch Staats, whose water-powered mill and store anchored the surrounding community. The Staats family were early settlers, arriving around 1780. Enoch's father, Isaac Staats, built the first mill on the site. H.T. Hartley built it using the Long Truss system, patented by Stephen Long in 1830, featuring distinctive "X"-braced diagonals across 11 panels. In 1971, the bridge was modified with steel girders inside the original trusses to support modern loads and in 1983, it was relocated about three miles to here and converted to pedestrian only use. The park can get quite busy on beautiful summer days so be prepared to be challenged finding a parking space. [Review 571 of 2025 - 156 in West Virginia - 24132 overall]

This lovely piece of history has been a constant in my life growing up. We have many outings at…read moreCedar Lakes Park in Ripley, and this lovely red wooden historical covered bridge has been in the scenery backdrop all those many years. The bridge is well built since 1887. Built in 1887, the Staats Mill Covered Bridge originally crossed the Tug Fork of Big Mill Creek and was named for Enoch Staats' water-powered mill.. The Staats family were early settlers to the area, arriving around 1780. The bridge is a 97-foot-long "long truss" built by Henry Hartley This location is not the original location it was moved here for safe keeping and easy public access. My people use this lovely old bridge as a back drop in photo ops for weddings, prom, graduation, birthday pics, various different ideas. This is a lovely bridge and FREE to enjoy

Valley Falls State Park. Fairmont, WV. My husband and I visited this scenic West Virginia State…read morePark in Sept, 2025. Its highlight is a series of four cascading WATERFALLS on the Tygart Valley River that are easily accessible by a short path from the parking lot. There are large flat rocks right next to the falls, allowing for scenic photographs but no swimming. (Fishing with license and whitewater kayaking are allowed). Fun Fact: this is one of the sites for West Virginia's "Almost Heaven" swings, installed by the state's Department of Tourism across the state for photo opps. This particular swing has the falls in the background. (As of late 2025, there are 51 swings in the state). We had a unique experience at the park in that we were approached by a park volunteer in an ATV offering us a ride down to the falls, and then continuing along some park paths with his commentary about the history of the site as a 19th-century mill town, and pointing out some gristmills. Both park admission and the ATV ride were free although we did give the volunteer a tip. There are 18 miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking, ranging from easy to difficult. We didn't do any hiking on this visit, but did eat our picnic lunch at one of the conveniently located picnic table. There is a gift shop on-site, as well as clean restrooms. It's also a site on WV's Waterfalls Trail, wherein you can earn prizes for checking it at specific WV waterfalls. Note that this is a day-use park, so no camping is allowed. Wi-Fi connectivity is low to non-existent. We approached the park from the south, near Pruntytown, WV, and while the distance was short (about 12 miles), it took us about 25 minutes to reach because of curvy roads. On our return, we went to Tygart Lake State Park, via Grafton, where we camped for the night.

Tony and I went for a nice hike today at Valley Falls State Park in Fairmont WV…read more The Park is lovely and the Park is free to enjoy with plenty of picnic tables, restrooms, grills, playground, and the gorgeous waterfalls

The USDA Forest Service website is really confusing for this recreational area, which apparently…read moreconsists of several unlinked areas across southeastern Ohio. The address for this listing is for the Marietta Unit, which was the closest official address I could find. I'm still not totally sure where the trailhead was (obviously, I was not the one who drove up), but the trail we took was the "Scenic River Trail." There wasn't much of a view due to all of the trees still being leafy, but it was a good challenging hike. We actually did not make it to the end of the trail, and I'm not really sure how far we went since the trail did not seem to have mile markers. There were the yellow diamond trail markers and some posts in the ground, but neither were labeled. It would be lovely to take the trail again when the leaves start to change, and again when the leaves are down and you can actually see the "Scenic River."

Great experience, staff was very friendly and fun. I would definitely come back ! It was spooky and…read moreeducational.

Easily one of the best tours I've ever taken…read more I knew this would need to be part of our WV itinerary as soon as this place's existence became known to me while I was planning a possible trip. Just the name is enough to grab you but it certainly delivers. The thought of doing a paranormal tour intrigued me but I was also interested in the history. We arrived at 2:20 and were informed the paranormal tour wasn't starting until 4. Did we really want to wait until 4?! The very nice man provided descriptions of all of the tours and the paranormal one just sounded so interesting that it didn't seem like a real debate. We bought tickets and were considering how we would kill time but it turns out, they have a very interesting museum about the place's history on the first floor that someone entertained my ADHD ass until 3:55. It was incredible. As if that couldn't get any better, the tour was absolutely fascinating. We were taken throughout the museum and our guide, Brad, was impressively knowledgeable about the place, answered every question in exquisite detail. The only disappointment was that instead of experiencing anything paranormal, we were just told stories about things other people have experienced. Don't get me wrong, this was captivating but I was hoping to experience something for myself which I did not. An absolute must visit if you are interested in this kind of shit and are anywhere remotely in the vicinity.

Very peaceful!!! It's always very clean and well maintained. Never a bunch of people. Plenty of…read morehiking trails

It's not far at all from town but once you're there you would never know that. It's so peaceful and…read moreusually shady with lots of trails and little streams nearby. Yes, your animals are required to be on leash. There was hardly anyone there that day and no one was near the spot we were at. And my dogs wouldn't run off.

I grew up camping here with my family. Last weekend I camped here with my grandson and it was as…read moregood as I remember. The campground is clean and very well maintained. Most sites offer some shade and concrete pads. The bathhouses are clean and kept in great condition. The site offered electric and water hookups and 2 holding tank dumping stations are located at the office.

Really nice place to visit.. a few tables for a picnic... a really nice large pond for anyone…read morewanting to fish. They also have a campground available. It is a nice quiet little place.