Review of Blackwater Falls State Park: A must see attraction in West Virginia

 

Blackwater Falls, WV

During the month of October (2021), we stayed a month in West Virginia, in a ski resort called Snowshoe Mountain Resort.  It was during this time that we learned of Blackwater Falls State Park from a travel brochure we had picked up at Seneca Rocks Discovery Center.

On one of the county travel brochures, Blackwater Falls State Park was featured on the cover.  It was such a mesmerizing and a beautiful photo of the falls and boardwalk, that we needed to plan a day trip to check it out.

The drive from Snowshoe Mountain Resort to Blackwater Falls State Park is around 90 miles, and it would take us over 2 hours, driving up and over many mountains, and traversing over hairpin turns.  As I’ve mentioned multiple times previously, I fell in love with West Virginia roads, with its incredible scenery and never ending excitement of turning left, only to turn a quick right the instant the previous turn is completed.

Our Pomeranian Toby, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy the roads like I did.  Because there are so many turns, my wife had to hold him in the front seat, as he was visibly shaking at times, the hairier the turns got.

Toby usually doesn’t enjoy car rides, but he does enjoy the destination once we get there.  Oh, well.  You can’t have everything…

Blackwater Falls State Park is located in the Allegheny Mountains of Tucker County, West Virginia.  It is named after Blackwater Falls, which is a 57 foot cascade, and is one of the most photographed places in all of West Virginia.  The park has over 20 miles of hiking trails and is home to the longest sledding magic carpet on the East Coast during the winter months.

We arrived at the park and we briefly stopped our car to figure out where we should visit first.  We took a left turn from Route 29 (Blackwater Falls Road) to check out the Smokehouse at Blackwater Falls.  We figured it would have a visitor center/restroom.

We had guessed right.  Even though the Smokehouse, which is a lodge/restaurant, was closed for renovations, the visitor center was in operation and so were the restrooms.

We parked then let Toby out for a quick walk.  We also stopped by the visitor center for a map of the park and for a pit stop.

After finishing our prepared lunches, we decided to check out the Elakala Falls.  We didn’t see a sign to get to the fall, so we asked a friendly ranger who was passing by for some directions.  She pointed the trail leading to the Elakala Falls is just next to the Smokehouse.

We thanked her, then headed towards the trail.  The weather was a crisp and a nippy kind of day in the mountains, and we were glad we brought our light jackets.  Toby, on the other hand, didn’t mind the chilly air, as he has double coat.  He sniffed the air, then looked at us for confirmation as to where the pack was heading.

We got on the Elakala Trail, which starts out at a boulder field, interspersed with plenty of trees.  Air was incredibly fragrant from all the oxygen they were spewing out.  We took deep breaths savoring the crisp air, and just enjoying the moment.

We navigated the short trail leading up to the Elakala Falls, and stopped to enjoy the bridge that sits over the top of the falls.  The trail got noticeably rougher once we crossed the bridge.  All of a sudden, the trail disappeared.

We were briefly halted by the lack of a visible trail marker, so we asked some of the hikers who were coming up from the falls how they got there.  They answered they just took whichever path was least dangerous.

The drop was fairly steep to get down to the falls, but we managed to find what we considered the easiest path down to the falls.  I picked up Toby as we made our way down the trail.  Trail was bit slippery around the tree roots, so we took our time.

The hike was certainly worth it!  We arrived at the Elakala Falls and took our time taking in the surroundings.  The day trip was going real well!

Elakala Falls
Visitors enjoying the falls
Other side of the falls

After several minutes, we headed back up to continue our journey.  We went back the same Blackwater Lodge Road/Blackwater Falls Road which we had came in from, then followed the signs to the Blackwater Falls.  

The drive was than 5 minutes to get to the parking lot for Blackwater Falls.  We sawed the parking lot was almost full by that time of the day, but we found a spot near the top of the trailhead.

The gravel trail immediately descends until the beginning of the boardwalk area.  We stopped there for some photos.

View from the first stop near the boardwalk 
Big old rock!

We headed towards the boardwalk and made several stops along different observation decks for varying vantage points of the falls.  We met several people visiting from different states and we briefly chatted while taking short breaks.

Blackwater Falls did not disappoint!  It looked just like the cover photo used in the travel brochure.  

Blackwater Falls 

Closer view of the falls
One last view of the falls

We saw several photographers and people taking videos of the falls.  I don’t blame them!  I did the same thing, thanks to the amazing scenery.

There were people quickly filling up the observation deck and we knew we had to move out of there to accommodate others. We started to head back up the boardwalk and noticed the boardwalk also got real busy and crowded by that time of the day. 

Slightly winded by the time we had reached the top of the boardwalk where we had started with Toby in my arms, we decided to take a break by the bench near the big boulder that was in the middle of the road.  

We saw kids giddily climbing the boulder and we saw large dogs doing the same.  We watched the scene unfold with merriment.  It was one of those moments that stay with you when traveling…

We walked back up the trail, back to the parking lot to make our way back home.  We enjoyed our drive back home to Snowshoe, already reminiscing about our day spent at Blackwater Falls State Park.  It was a great day filled with great scenery, beautiful waterfalls, and epic drives.  

Thank you all for reading!


Jake

Wandering Money Pig 


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