Trip Overview - 4 Days at Watoga State Park in West Virginia

View of the Greenbrier River from the Greenbrier River Trail

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This is the fifth post in a series for this trip. You can view links to the other posts at the bottom of this one.

Planning our Trip to Watoga State Park

how we determined our destination: watoga state park

A couple of years ago we visited Watoga State Park for the first time. Coming of off no travel for 18 months due to the start of Covid, this was also our first foray into staying at a state park. We had a great trip and have since visited a multitude of state parks across the states of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. What we didn’t do much of during that first trip to Watoga is spend time exploring the hiking within the park itself. Instead, we mostly explored the broader Pocahontas County region, which has a lot on offer! You can read about our prior stay in Watoga here.

We loved the area, knew it was likely to be a bit cooler than our home state of Virginia in the hot summer months, and decided to return to actually explore more of the park itself, not to mention getting some more biking miles in on the Greenbrier River Trail, accessible just outside of the park boundary.

where we stayed: cabin accommodations in watoga state park

During our first visit two years prior, we opted to stay in one of the “legacy cabins,” a cabin built by the CCC. Twenty-four cabins in the park are legacy cabins. Another 10, including 2 which are ADA accessible, are more modern “classic cabins”. While we enjoyed the older cabin, it was a bit drafty and small. This trip, we opted for a newer cabin, which is very much on par with many state cabins we have experienced elsewhere. We rented a two bedroom, one bath.

The front door opens into a small, cozy family room with a sofa and two chairs around a fireplace. Just beyond is a 4-person dining room table that is situated next to the small but functional kitchen (oven, stove, microwave, fridge, toaster). Straight ahead from the front door is the bathroom and to the left are two bedrooms, one with a queen-sized bed, the other with two twins. The winning feature of this cabin (#9) is a large front porch. There are also two grassy/mossy yards on either side, one of which has a picnic table and firepit. The porch itself has a camp-style grill, Adirondack chairs for relaxing, and a small outdoor table and chair set.

Watoga also provides a bundle of firewood for each night, so we were provided an ample supply for our five night stay, though we didn’t end up using any of it this trip. The cabin sits along the main (but quiet) road through the park and backs up to a fairly steep incline. One thing we remembered from our prior stay is that this group of cabins in Island Lick Cabin Area are at a lower part of the park and are nestled into a bit of a hollow. This means that sunrise comes a little late and sunset a little early with the mountains blocking the light. We also know that there are some amazing spots higher up to enjoy both sunset and starry nights in this park.

where we ate: dining options near watoga state park

The park itself offers no food options. Most individuals staying in the park (camping or in cabins) bring coolers of their own food, but there are some nearby options that are worth noting.

Jack Horner’s Corner - This shop in Seebert is a couple of minutes from the park. This place is a one-stop-shop and offers dining, basic groceries, souvenirs, soft serve ice cream, bike repair/replacement parts, and bike, kayak, and innertube rentals for Greenbrier River, on whose shores it sits. The restaurant options include sandwiches, pizza, and barbecue. There is no dining room but there are seats on their porch overlooking the river. We grabbed club sandwiches there one night. For convenience and solid food, this place is a great spot to know about!
Hillsboro Public House - Opened in 2023, this is the closest traditional restaurant to Watoga State Park. The pub has relatively limited hours and is opened for lunch and dinner Thursday through Saturday only. They also offer live, local bands on occasion and update this information on their Facebook site. We planned to eat there during our last night, which happened to be 4th of July. Although it was a Thursday, they were closed for the holiday.
The town of Marlinton - this town, which is 30 minutes away from Watoga is the best destination for those looking for additional restaurant options. Many places have limited hours/days of operation so you’ll want to familiarize yourself with that information. We ate at two spots during our trip:
- Rivertown Cafe - located in an old hardware store that literally still has really cool shelves and features from that time period, this spot offers a handful of casual cafe-style fare. They update their menu on a sandwich board in the restaurant. They also offer various coffee beverages, Italian sodas, and a small selection of bakery items. This spot also hosts bands on occasion and updates that information on Facebook. During our lunch visit, we both had chicken salad sandwiches, which were tasty. As a side, they come with seasoned popcorn, a fun variation. We ordered cappuccinos and split an interesting cookie concoction: chocolate chip with melted marshmallows on top. All of it was great!
- Greenbrier Grille & Lodge - located right along the Greenbrier River near the bridge that enters Marlinton, this is the spot that appears to have the most expansive hours in the area. It’s open 7 days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We ended up having dinner here our last night after discovering Hillsboro Public House was closed for the holiday. We got nice patio seats with views of ducks and geese on the river. The service was very slow, and based on reviews online, this is fairly common. As long as diners go in with that awareness and are prepared to wait, I’d recommend it. We split an appetizer of mozzarella sticks, I tried a local lager, and for entrees Dustin had a Philly cheesesteak with onion rings, and I had a black and bleu (blue cheese) burger. It was all tasty.

what were the highlights of our trip to watoga state park

The highlights of our trip were:

The view of the surrounding mountains and Greenbrier River from the Monongaseneka Trail, which we combined with several other trails to make a 5.5 mile loop.
Watching the sunset over the mountains at the parking lot near the Ann Bailey trailhead. This is also a wonderful place to watch the dark sky of this designated International Dark Sky Park.
Biking a new segment of the Greenbrier River Trail, which was absolutely beautiful, and extra cool to bike through the 400+-foot long former train tunnel in Droop Mountain.
Hiking the Honey Bee Trail (4.5 miles) at Brooks Arboretum within the park.
Being pretty much off grid: no cell or internet access at the cabins or throughout most of the area.
Hiking the Falls at Hills Creek, which was a wonderful hike (1.5 miles roundtrip) with beautiful waterfall views.
Checking out the cute town of Marlinton and enjoying meals at a couple of restaurants: Rivertown Cafe and Greenbrier Grille and Lodge.

Would we return to Watoga State Park?

Something about this area speaks to me. The park is a relaxing, calm place to stay, and there are many drop-dead gorgeous country drives nearby, not to mention endless hikes within and outside of the park. Having visited twice, I’m not sure that we will return again any time soon, but I would happily do so!

Trip Do-Over: What would we do differently?

Four days was a great amount of time for this trip and allowed us to do a variety of things. We probably should have had a better back-up plan for the day it rained since we could have seen more in the morning instead of just hanging out in the cabin, but that was also fun, too. For visitors looking to explore the park and the surrounding areas (a combination of what we did on this trip and our last one), you could easily spend a week or more.

Our Driving Route: Roanoke to Watoga

This is the route we took from our home of Roanoke, VA, to the park. On the route there, we went through Clifton Forge. On the return trip, we went through Lewisburg and then the loop on Roaring Run Road.

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