Pocahontas County, West Virginia, is known for exhilarating outdoor adventure and comes with a side of Appalachian hospitality, stargazing, and the best maple syrup around.
Driving Distance: 4 hours
STAY HERE: Snowshoe Mountain is a year-round resort community dedicated to the love of the great outdoors. Positioned on top of the eponymous peak at an elevation of 4,848 feet, this alpine village gets dumped with more snow than any other mid-Atlantic resort. While you can try day or night skiing, tubing, and snowmobiling into late March, the warmer months are also an excellent time to visit. Snowshoe offers heart-pounding RZR four-wheeler tours, beginner mountain bike trails, and an inflatable obstacle course on the lake that kids love. Accommodations range from Black Bear Crossing’s affordable townhomes to the Sanctuary’s luxury mountain homes to spacious condominiums at Eagle Lodge to the Corduroy Inn, a new boutique hotel with free breakfast. Staying at a Snowshoe property entitles each guest to a day pass, which means you can try out the recreational activities without spending extra cash. From $150 per night; 10 Snowshoe Dr., Snowshoe
Day 1
MORNING: The drive to Pocahontas County winds through the George Washington National Forest, nicknamed Little Switzerland, along the Highland Scenic Highway. Expect to navigate switchbacks and be rewarded with stunning overlooks. It’s a far-flung destination, consisting of 940 square miles, and sits at the highest average elevation of any county east of the Mississippi. Plus, there’s minimal connectivity. Begin unplugging at Green Bank Observatory, where, along with the fun experiments at the Science Center, you’ll find the largest steerable telescope in the world. Because it’s located within the National Radio Quiet Zone, don’t count on GPS to get you here—download or print out a map ahead of time. Grab a bite at the onsite Starlight Café.
AFTERNOON: Stop by the Green Bank Art Center, where a collection of juried artists from the towns of Cass and Marlinton sell Appalachian crafts. Highlights include whimsical pottery, sheep’s wool, leather bags, and the geometric quilt squares that, if you look around, you’ll notice plastered on barns across the region. Parents can enjoy a cup of free coffee before heading to Snowshoe Mountain.
EVENING: After checking into your accommodations, choose casual fare at Cheat Mountain Pizza, or opt for fine dining at Appalachia Kitchen, where even the kids’ menu (mini filet mignon) is first-rate. After dinner, bundle up for Galactic Tubing on Snowshoe’s slopes, or take a nighttime snowmobile tour on the resort’s backcountry trails.
Day 2
MORNING: If your accommodations don’t include breakfast, pick up supplies at Snowshoe’s Wildcat Grocery. Then pack for a day of outdoor fun, starting with a two-hour ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad. When you arrive at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park—a logging town preserved from the 1900s—you’ll hear the locomotive’s whistle. Time to climb aboard the open-air steam engine for the 8-mile roundtrip from Cass to Whittaker Station. During the journey, interpreters provide historical information while you gape at the magnificent views of Cheat Mountain and Leatherbark Creek.
AFTERNOON: Enjoy lunch at the Last Run Restaurant and Soda Fountain. This old-time tavern is known for country cooking, specifically all-day buckwheat hotcakes with locally harvested maple syrup. Maple is a staple in these parts, and you’ll find it glazing everything from salmon to ham. After lunch, tour Cass Historical Theater and Museum, and shop for train memorabilia at the Company Store.
EVENING: On the way back to Snowshoe, stop at Old Spruce Brewing, where parents can sample craft beers on tap, and kids can order tasty tacos. If everyone is up for it, splash around in Snowshoe’s heated pools. Expect to sleep well after this busy day.
Day 3
MORNING: Before leaving Snowshoe, stop slope-side for a sweet treat at its Waffle Cabin. Drive to the charming town of Marlinton to see the frontier-style architecture, and take a look inside Pocahontas County’s Artisans Co-op. Head to the Dirtbean cafe and bike shop to rent a two-wheeler and pedal the Greenbrier River Trail. This 78-mile rails-to-trails path borders the sparkling-clean Greenbrier River.
AFTERNOON: After your ride, return the bikes to Dirtbean, grab a hearty flatbread pizza, and buy supplies for the long drive home. Up for one last stop? Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is on the way and is the scene of the last major West Virginia battle of the Civil War. Droop Mountain has several easy trails, like the Overlook Trail featuring rocky cliffs, a bear den, and Civil War trenches.
Feature image courtesy Snowshoe Mountain
This story originally ran in our March issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
