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Monongahela National Forest

4.8 (12 reviews)

Monongahela National Forest Hiking Photos

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Night Sky on the edge of Monongahela National Forest

This forest is one of the best places to camp in the northeast US. Due to WV's historically limited settlements, the overwhelming majority of the natural habitat -- including the forest -- remains untapped by explorers. There are free camping sites nearby such as the Gandy Creek Dispersed Camping Area which you can take on a first come first serve basis. On the other hand, prepare to have little to no cellphone service. If you've got loved ones worrying about you or an employer who may call you in on a moment's notice, let them know in advance that you're headed here. It is by far the best place for stargazing in the east coast. There are no cities nearby, which means no light pollution. I've attached an image to show what the night sky looks like, but the picture is nothing compared to seeing it for yourself: hundreds of thousands of stars visible nowhere else. In summary, this forest is probably the eastern US's most underrated treasure. There are few people who are willing to camp overnight in the middle of nowhere with little cell service and wild animals in the vicinity, but in a place like this, you will never regret it once you muster the courage.

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Wild and wonderful. Great camping, fishing and hiking! Do yourself a favor and get outside!

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Review Highlights - Monongahela National Forest

We camped at Seneca Rocks, which was pretty plush for a campground, with a beautiful view of the rock formations.

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Beach Tygart Lake

Beach Tygart Lake

3.0(2 reviews)
53.5 mi

I love this placemy fiancé and I along with our daughter enjoyed this beach thoroughly. We started…read moreoff with a kayak where you actually pull off from the beach area in you in at the beach. It's a little steep from the top to the bottom but otherwise great location really nice if you just want to come sit out get some sun and watch her kids play in water that it's very shallow To front desk people are very helpful and explained that the beach is completely free and it's swim at your own risk they also tell you the rules of what you canning cannot take down there the only complaint I have is that everything where you can eat and grill is at the top of the heel you have a lot of stairs to walk down so you have to be extremely careful if carrying a cooler chairs and things like that so just be aware of that when you have a chair or chairs or cooler maybe put everything in a backpack or give everyone in your party one thing to carry. The area to swim is very shallow and roped off so you really do not have to worry about your child going to far out as they really can't!Great place for the summer we will definitely be back

not very disability accessible. wasn't aware that there was no ramp until we already got our…read morewristbands. had to take our wagon down the MANY many steps and walk my autistic sister down with it while making sure she didn't breakdown. the rest was fine though! would've appreciated a heads up on that though LOL

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Beach Tygart Lake
Beach Tygart Lake
Beach Tygart Lake

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Cass Scenic Railroad - Beautiful

Cass Scenic Railroad

4.1(43 reviews)
9.6 mi

Here for three train rides with my train loving husband…read more All employees were friendly, from the trains themselves to the stores. Company store had a plethora of items for all ages; hubby had a field day!! Beautiful area and very remote . Bus tours came daily, but not excessive as seating on the trains is limited, so good crowd control lol These trips book up months in advance; my husband booked it a year ago so don't drive up thinking you can get a seat. Three trips: ( different Shay locomotives too, but I am not the expert with this). 1. Bald Knob : a 4.5 hour train ride up the mountain. It was an open car, and it was pretty cold, even for those prepared. The scenery was pretty but I saw zero wildlife. We were going to have a hot cocoa, but after waiting on line for over 10 minutes, they ran out. There was a guy reading over the P.A., giving some history. They give you a " hobo lunch" : bun, turkey and ham, pasta salad, applesauce, chips, water bottle, 2 cookies and mustard and mayo. Bring additional snacks/ drinks as it's a long trip...and gloves and hats if during fall trips. 2. Greenbriar River: a more pleasant ride, 2.5-3 hours, enclosed car with table seating. Narrated as well at parts, but P.A. was terrible. Lunch was at a restaurant ( make your own sandwiches) in Durbin, our stop, and there were three choices which they determined. Saw 2 turtles and one bird. Highlight was meeting the people who Sartre across from us. 3. Whittaker Station: about a 2.5 hour trip, also on an open car. This trip had the most informative and interesting narration of the three. Got my hot cocoa lol and some pretty photos. Interesting town history. A cool experience for train buffs and company houses are available to stay in. Beautiful area.

In full disclosure, I privately messaged them this experience when I was sent an email after our…read moretrip and no one responded so I've decided to write this review to warn others so that they will be prepared in case this happens to them. Honestly our ride was awful. What was supposed to be a 4.5 hour trip ended up being 6 hours. When we were stopped with what I assume was some breakdown, no one said anything or told us what was going on. Instead we sit there looking at woods for what seemed like forever. Then on the way back we stopped at the Whitaker overlook, why I have no idea. No one told us we were stopping, we had no idea how long we were stopping for. The only reason I can gather is so you all could make more money at your concessions and most of us were cold and wanted to get back and instead we're left waiting for idiots too selfish for their nachos or hot chocolate and wouldn't come back to the train when the whistle was blown. They should've left without them. We had reservations at a bed and breakfast and were charged extra because we weren't able to get back before check in hours. It was honestly a miserable trip. I hope that they improve the way they conduct trips in the future as this could've been such an enjoyable trip. Also, we visited the general store the next day (had to make the 45 minute trip back to Cass since there was no time to visit the shops after getting in so late the day before) and made a significantly large purchase after being told that yes they give military discounts but after the clerk processed our sale she said "oops, I forgot to give you your discount", with no suggestion that she rering the sale to include the discount. Just the cherry on the top of a disappointing visit to Cass. The only good thing about the whole trip was a nice man named Danny who let us see the informative video in the theater earlier than the official next showing which wasn't for another hour.

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Cass Scenic Railroad - Cabooooooose

Cabooooooose

Cass Scenic Railroad - A long exposure of the town at night.

A long exposure of the town at night.

Cass Scenic Railroad

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Valley Falls State Park

Valley Falls State Park

5.0(18 reviews)
59.8 mi

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

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Valley Falls State Park
Valley Falls State Park
Valley Falls State Park

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Spruce Knob

Spruce Knob

4.8(12 reviews)
22.9 mi

I stopped by recently for a little adventure :)…read more I've been here more times than I can count and at all times of the day and the night, but I never get tired of this place. The peace and tranquility here is off the charts. It was a beautiful day, the temperature was about 68, and the sky was perfect. Every time I leave here I go a different way out to try and get lost, but after about two hours of exploring and finding some cool new roads and places, I made it back onto US-33 off of Glady Fork Rd by The Lodge in Alpena. What a great place to relax and unwind and learn news roads in and out. I have always loved this whole area and I always will. I'll be seeing you again very soon Spruce Knob :D

Road was super curving and some was gravel . We stopped at a overlook and even though the light…read morewas going away it was a great view. I def wish we had more time and better light to appreciate it. We saw so many deer which i loved seeing. in the end light was going too fast we made it to the lake but didn't make it to the top because sun was going down. driving those roads in low light was a bit scary. I know my husband really had wanted to be heading home much earlier and not be driving those roads in the dark. But once he realized I was wanting more exploring he went with it. I really would like to return. I wish we had spent more time in WV and skipped skyline drive. I have fell in love with WV. He kept wanting to move on to SKyline drive and down to Gatlinburg. I was wanting all WV.

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Spruce Knob
Spruce Knob
Spruce Knob

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Monongahela National Forest - hiking - Updated May 2026

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