Pocahontas County, WV: Watoga State Park (Day 1)

Late afternoon hiking around Lake Watoga

Related blogs: Want to read more about our travels in West Virginia? Also, this post is part of a 5-part series. Check out the overview of this four-day West Virginia trip here!

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The drive from our home in Roanoke, Virginia to Watoga State Park in far eastern West Virginia is not very far as the crow flies, but it is quite a drive with roads routed up, over, and through the Blue Ridge Mountains! The 2 and a half hours are a pretty drive though: first, with rolling hills and mountains dominating the distant view, then you are in and among those very mountains on roads that wend their way through the hilly passes. During the last leg of the drive, there were plenty of sharp twists and turns, including at least one that recommended drivers slow to 10 miles per hour and might as well have been a sharp right-hand turn.

From the moment we entered Monongahela National Forest and then Watoga State Park proper, it was clear that we had lucked upon a gorgeous spot.

What made us pick Watoga you might ask? Random chance and a few filters applied to the West Virginia Parks site. After over two and a half years of a travel hiatus due to covid, we decided we were ready to head out in the world . . . in a very low-key safe way. Our in-laws have visited a number of Virginia state parks in the last few years and stayed at cabins, and this option wasn’t really on our radar at all. We took a look at the parks in West Virginia, just over the border from our home, and searched for one with availability that also took dogs (many do not). And voila! Watoga State Park became our destination.

Traveling with three large dogs is no easy task, so the back of our SUV was fully loaded, the back seat filled with our dog hammock (best purchase ever!), a large dog bed, and extra packed bags on the floor of the car. We recently added a hitch to our vehicle and bought a bike rack to fit into it, so we were off to the races packed to the brim, bikes in tow. Because the state park (and most state parks in our experience) is pretty isolated, staying in one is more akin to camping than other travel. We packed all the food we would need for the duration of our stay. Because it’s hard to know what to expect, we also packed basics like paper towels, toilet paper, a sponge, and dish soap. Later on, I’ll describe what the cabin did and didn’t have for others planning a visit.

Gretchen and Sophie double decker napping in the car. Going on a trip is exhausting!

Sophie serving as a pillow for Tara with a smidgen of Gretchen visible in a tight corner.

Check-in at the main building was a breeze, and Dustin emerged with a trail map, brochure on the International Dark Sky Park designation, and our singular cabin key. The drive to our cabin, #4, was just a couple of miles further in to the park down a slim road. It’s funny how things turn out: I’ve long wanted to visit a Dark Sky Park and here we happened upon one through our random trip booking instead of anything particularly well planned.

By the time we had unpacked the car, walked the dogs, and sort of settled in, we ate a very late lunch at almost three and discovered that the deli meat we brought probably wouldn’t last us the entire trip. While the spot is isolated, there is a grocery store within thirty minutes so we wouldn’t go hungry at least.

More for a minute on that isolation: The entire two and a half hours of our trip from Roanoke to Watoga passed by without us passing any food options along the way (unless you count 1-2 gas station marts, which I do not). And other than 1-2 spots, there also were not any gas stations. It is easy when living in the busy, sprawling east coast to forget the large distances between conveniences in most of the country. This is something that often surprises me in our travels, even though I know through experience to expect it.

Our cabin was rustic with modern updates and conveniences and is one of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) cabins built as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal program. For more on the history of the CCC cabins and West Virginia State Park system history, check out this article from the Society of Architecture Historians.

The cabin we stayed in is billed as accommodating four people, which is true, but doesn’t share the full story: it is essentially one room with a couple of alcoves. Other than the bathroom door, there are no interior doors. The main room right contains the kitchen, dining table, full-sized bed, fireplace, and sitting area. There is an alcove to one side with a twin bed behind curtains and then a small hallway straight ahead that has a second alcove with a twin bed and the small bathroom that contains the essentials. While the kitchen and bathroom are not exactly out of Architectural Digest, they are acceptably modern and feel clean, if small.

Cabin #4 at Watoga State Park - main room with the kitchen, dining, double bed, and fireplace with sitting area. One twin bed alcove is visible through the curtains, the other is down the hallway, and the visible hallway door is the bathroom.

The fireplace and sitting area is just across from the bed in the cabin.

The kitchen has a full-sized refrigerator and stove, a microwave, and a small number of cabinets. There are 4-6 each of bowls, plates, and glasses, plus a small number of other basic kitchen containers, utensils, knives, and pots and pans. The counterspace is so minimal that making a sandwich was a trick, but hey bonus points for the toaster and coffee maker! All that to say: for a rustic cabin in a state park, this is a wholly appropriate set-up. There were plenty of towels, and the cabin includes linens plus one bundle of firewood per night (all delivered prior to our stay). Off the back is a screened walkway that leads to a screened room with a picnic table, and next to the cabin is a fire pit for a camp fire, a fire grate for cooking outside, and a second picnic table. The fireplace appears to be in working order, and the cabin has a musty-fire smell, which fits the mood perfectly.

With the slightly damp cabin and the AC unit on, it became clear that the evenings and time spent indoors might be a tad chilly for someone (*ahem* me) who forgot to pack warm clothes in spite of being cold in perpetuity.

Once we were settled, we headed out with a few goals in mind: to find the nearby access point to the Greenbrier River Trail, to hopefully obtain a sweatshirt, to hike the short (1.5 mile) Lake Trail around Watoga Lake, and to scope out some vistas for sunset- and star-gazing.

There were many benches for hikers to sit and rest and enjoy the views

The paddle boat paint had glitter mixed in for extra vibrant colors.

The access point to the Greenbrier River Trail was only a couple of easy miles away, and we had no difficulty finding the parking lot access point so we would know where to go when we were ready to take our bikes for a spin. We then headed back to the main building where we had checked in. It also has a small gift store and a small museum with the history of the CCC work in the park. I was excited to see that they had sweatshirts and had a brief, awkward interaction with the person who worked there where I expressed how much colder it was then I was expecting (it was a solid 80 degrees at that moment). She asked where I was from (probably assuming I was from somewhere further away and much warmer). In any case, knowing that warmth was in my future was an important comfort! In addition to the gift shop, they have a few groceries and basics for visitors who forgot such things as toothbrushes, though I'm naming no names.

A bit of a rainbow effect in the water gave off interesting underwater hues

The late afternoon hike provided difficult-to-photograph contrasts between very bright light and dark shadows. In the right spots, this looks really cool!

The 1.5 mile hike around Lake Watoga was a gorgeous introduction to the park’s hiking trails. This lake also has paddle boats available to rent, and based on an overheard conversation, they appear to be rentable at a rate of $10 per half hour. One couple that arrived when we did rented a paddle boat and climbed on board with their German Shepherd. Seeing the dog standing on the back of the vessel was hilarious and impressive, as this fella was clearly much better trained than our pups. And then, we lost sight of them for a few minutes and then noticed that their dog was sopping wet, just before he shook his fur, spraying lake water all over them. Maybe he only plays at being better trained after all. In the late afternoon sun, the colors and dappled light created interesting scenes, and I was excited to have a chance to really use my ‘real’ camera for the first time in way too long. We only met two other hikers, though there were several people on the water in paddle boats or kayaks and a number fishing along the shore near the dam end of the lake.

Wild thistles are some of my favorite plants on hikes

At the terminus of the lake, the bridge covers the small amount of water

We embarked on the Lake Trail in a counter-clockwise manner, which meant for the first half of the hike, we were near the shore’s edge for the majority of the time. The lake was longer than we originally realized and after making the bend at the end and staying near the water, the trail veered up into the trees with views out over the lake. We saw a number of tiny and small fish in the shallows, and some really cool mushrooms – including bright orange and red ones – in the woods. Between our many, many stops for photos, we spent nearly an hour on this trail in spite of its relatively short distance.

One of the many brightly colored mushrooms. We think this is Russula emetica, which is toxic unless prepared correctly.

The earthen dam near the end of the trail is a sudden convergence of nature and engineering.

The streaks of water and dry spots made for interesting colors on the dam’s concrete.

The trail ended beneath the earthen dam, where we crossed a bridge before scaling the green hill, which is pretty steep.

The picnic table atop the earthen dam appeared to float in the clouds.

A view of Lake Watoga from the dam. A few paddle boaters got their time in at the end of the day.

On our way to scope out open areas for sunset and star-gazing, we spotted a black bear ambling across the road and then, a short ways on, a turkey. Both T.M. Cheek Memorial Overlook and the parking lot at the Ann Bailey Trailhead have sweeping views of mountain vistas and so after returning to our cabin for dinner, we headed back up to watch the sun set at the Ann Bailey Trailhead. One thing we noticed immediately about Watoga is that they have not been stingy with park benches in any spot where visitors might want to linger. Both of these overlook areas have multiple park benches, and there must have been over ten benches along the shore of Watoga Lake during that hike.