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

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.

Nice paths, old-growth trees, waterfalls, slow waters, wild birds, dragonflies!…read more Swallow Falls State Park near Deep Creek Lake, MD, is a nice park with well-marked paths and plenty of parking. We hiked half-a-day (Jun 2026) from the parking lot to scenic waterfalls in forests where Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone camped-in 1921. We saw some of the 37-acres of 360-year-old eastern hemlock and white pine trees, the largest of the few areas in Maryland that have never been logged, bypassed during the eastern-US logging boom of the the late 1800s and early 1900s. They tended to look a little scraggly around the base, i suppose from living an un-trimmed life in the un-tamed weather and climate. We were thrilled to read that, on June 16, 2026, the removal of old-growth forests that were threatened by bridge construction on Swallow Falls Road was blocked by the courts. Thank-you to the folks of Garrett County and the Chesapeake Legal Alliance!!! We love these old trees :-) We heard twittering birds, possibly blackburnian warblers, chickadees, nuthatches, and kinglets. We followed a rising rumbling sound, and found ourselves at a tall waterfall that roars and mists. We were careful to avoid rushing waters, and found that wading and crossing were pleasantly refreshing and not too slippery. We saw kayakers, and one paused to explain they liked these calmer waters for beginners and for staying in condition in less challenging settings. We loved the gold and black "black-shouldered spinylegs" dragonflies, we and may have glimpsed a rare all-black "sable clubtail" dragonfly, who flitted about but didnt wait for a photo or an entomology app. Let's say we saw one :-). It was a lovely cooler half-day deep in nature in a not-too-challenging environment in rare-these-days old-growth forests.

This is an easy hike with a lot of great water views. The trail is in good shape and easy to…read morenavigate. The area had over 2 inches of rain so the water was flowing quickly during our hike. If you take kids on this hike you will need to keep a close eye on them.

I attended the soft opening of the aquatics center today. It's a beautiful facility and the event…read morewas well attended. This will be the go to place for swimming, diving, indoor and outdoor water park, a place for fabulous birthday parties, training and wellness. Lots of activities are planned. What great community and university collaboration!

Loved this campground! I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because they need some trees on the tent…read moresites. They get full sun and there's no shade. Other than that this place was perfect. The camp store was really neat too! They had just about everything you could need and more. I'd definitely stay here again.

We booked a shelter here for our family meeting point. We had never been here before and none of us…read morelive in this area. Since we had little kids we wanted near a playground. This park did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, there is a swimming pool here as well. I will say that every shelter was rented and it was a Saturday so I'd recommend booking ahead. Well kept, clean, with restrooms nearby. We were very satisfied!

We're in the area to visit Ohiopyle and were looking for some places close by to take our golden…read moreretriever swimming and while eating breakfast this morning at Yum Yums one of the owners recommended this place. After hubby and I toured Kentuck Knob we stopped by our hotel to get our golden and headed straight here. I was worried that being Father's Day that the place would be insanely crowded but there weren't many people there and since there are so many areas to park everyone that was there was pretty well spaced out. We stopped at the boat ramp area so our golden could jump off the 2 floating docks and he absolutely loved it. The water is really clean and hubby even saw a huge fish jump out of the water while our dog was retrieving his ball. This area has benches and a walkway around the lake and there are also bathrooms, pavilions and picnic tables and seems to be quite popular with the local fisherman plus it was so clean and pristine, my only regret is that we didn't find this place sooner because we would have been bringing our pup here every morning and evening. Great place for fishing, family get togethers or for a nice walk around the lake, we're actually getting ready to head back up there now.

On the way back from Morgantown yesterday Tony and I decided to stop at pricket's fort State Park…read morein Fairmont we had never been here before this was going to be a nice little afternoon adventure. The weather was lovely it was a very mild low 80° sun was Shining, flowers blooming , bees a buzzing....feels like summer finally! You found the park rather easily even though they don't have a lot of signage once you get off the interstate. The park is free to enjoy and walk around there's a couple of hiking trails and a very old cemetery. There is a really nice bathroom area near the museum and the museum is free to enjoy. There is also a gift shop. Now if you want to tour the actual fort which is a reconstructive for it which also includes the family job pricket brick house or Mansion whatever you want to call it there's a fee of $8. And seniors are six I believe. They also offer bike rental which I found to be very nice even though we were not riding bikes this day. The fort is a self-guided tour and they have people in costume to talk to show you around and answer any questions you may have. But they do not currently have a blacksmith. The job house is scheduled with a scheduled tour three times a day 11, 1 and 2:30. Since we missed the tour for the house we decided not to purchase the ticket for the fort, because the fee covers both. So our plans are to go back soon and plan our day so that way we can enjoy both the fort and the house. The staff that is working there is very friendly and will answer any questions you may have. The museum has quite a few artifacts in it and a 20 minute film talking about the fort, how it was used, and how it was very important to the frontier home life in that area at the time. I definitely highly recommend you going if you're in the area. I know Tony and I are definitely going back again. There's a lot of great things to see there, a lot of family historical information for the area, and some really neat things in the gift shop. Hope you go and hope you enjoy your day at the fort and the park.

One of my favorite parks in West Virginia, but they could do a little better at keeping their…read morebathrooms clean and make sure the soap and hand sanitizer is always full. I've been here a lot over the years to ride the rail trail from here to Morgantown and back and it's beautiful. I've did the tours and they are great and very insightful. It has beautiful grounds in general plus a nice gift shop. I really enjoy riding the rail trail towards Fairmont too even though it's short it's paved and the tunnel is nice and cool on a warm day. It's a great place with tons of history. Check it out and make sure to bring your bike to enjoy the rail trail and a cooler to have a nice picnic. Enjoy :D

Nice first visit to quiet neighborhood park . Nice native trees, bird song. Uncrowded. Many benches…read moreand picnic tables. Glad I stopped here! The road in has big pot holes (only issue I saw).

Gorgeous State Park and one of my favorites since I was a kid. My parents used to take us camping…read moreand fishing here. My brothers and I used to love to swim in the streams and ride our bikes. I love to go here and hike with my own kids. The area is so quiet and so lovely, extremely peaceful. I always leave feeling refreshed and alive. I love to walk calmly through the forest and think. When I was a kid, I would pretend to be an indian or a pioneer, sometimes an escaping captive fleeing through the woods. I have always had an overwhelming creative imagination. The park is lovely to camp in and great locations for fishing. No huge waterfalls but still nice small ones. If you are like me, you just enjoy being outside!!!

Yesterday after Joshua and I had a great lunch, we decided to check out the Edith B. Barill…read moreRiverfront Park & Trail in Star City area of Morgantown. The park is free to enjoy. There is plenty of parking. Some decking style docks along river to stroll, a gazebo, a few shelters & picnic tables (no grills) there is a very nice bathroom facility near the oversized Children's fabulous playground with swings. Plenty of signage depicting the history with photos along with name plaques for the trees. Some beautiful wildflowers and wildlife including plenty of ducks with babies. Definitely a great little place to enjoy some fresh air. There is also a shaved ice truck and you can rent paddle bikes for the river. Several nice memorials including one of President JFK

Dilapidated and dangerous playground facilities. This playground needs to be torn down. The…read morebathrooms along the rail trail are nice.