Watoga State Park, WV - Day 4 — To Make Much of Time

View from Cranberry Mountain Nature Center in West Virginia

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

On our fourth (and final) full day at Watoga State Park, we were confronted with spotty rain and the threat of thunderstorms. So, we ruled out a morning hike and an afternoon bike ride on the Greenbrier River Trail and instead came up with a new itinerary. We hung out in our cabin in the morning reading, headed north 30 minutes to the town of Marlinton for lunch, visited the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center, crammed in a 1.5 mile roundtrip hike to a beautiful series of waterfalls, before returning to Marlinton for dinner right on the Greenbrier River. Not a bad day at all for one that was entirely different than our original plans! Check out the map at the bottom for the driving route for the day’s activities.

If you just want to skip to our adventure, scroll on; if you’re looking for some packing tips, here are our top gear recommendations for this trip. You can view more recommendations on our Ultimate Guide to Hiking Gear.

Comfortable hiking clothes - Our favorite options all come from REI. My favorite pants are prAna Halle and these are my favorite lightweight hiking t-shirts. Dustin has a couple of pairs of pants from prAna and the REI brand.

Light-weight raincoat - if there's a chance of rain, you won't regret bringing a lightweight waterproof jacket with you. My favorite is this GORE-TEX jacket, and it has seen many damp trails!
Hiking boots - Our current favorite brand is Oboz. Dustin has their Sawtooth model, and I have the Sapphire.
Hydration backpack - unless you are going for a very short hike, bringing water is a must. Dustin has a very old Camelbak circa 2000, and I have a new-ish one from Gregory that I have used on multiple hiking trips and love. While the Gregory Sula 16 is not currently available, here are some other options. We each have a 3-liter water bladder.

Day 4: Lunch at Rivertown Cafe in Marlinton, a Visit to the Cranberry Mountain Visitors Center, hiking Falls of Hills Creek, and Dinner at Greenbrier Grille and Lodge in Marlinton

Lunch at rivertown cafe in marlinton

Rivertown Cafe in Marlinton, West Virginia - housed in an old hardware store

With rain in the forecast for the morning and thunderstorms in the forecast for the afternoon, our original plans for a morning hike and afternoon bike on the Greenbrier River Trail were off the table. So, we came up with alternative activities. We had a slow morning in the cabin, hanging out and reading aloud before driving up to the town of Marlinton for lunch.

Marlinton is about 30 minutes north of Watoga, an easy drive on pretty (and very curvy) country roads. The town has a handful of restaurants and so is the best bet for dining in the area. We selected Rivertown Café for a light lunch. The café is in an old hardware store and has maintained much of the allure of the original store: shelves and containers along the walls left over from its prior days. The café serves breakfast, lunch, and (early) dinner and has a stage for music performances that appear to be held perhaps 1-2 times per month at least in the summer months.

The café doesn’t list a menu online but does have it written on sandwich boards in the restaurant, indicating it probably varies. We both opted to order a chicken salad sandwich and instead of chips or fries, their side is seasoned popcorn, which is fun. There are also a number of coffee beverage options and other drinks like Italian sodas. There is a small selection of bakery items available, too. After our chicken sandwiches, which we enjoyed, we got a cookie to share (chocolate chip with marshmallows melted on top), and cappuccinos. All was delicious, and we enjoyed the café’s vibe. Along one wall is a large supply of books and some board games and puzzles and the casual seating includes a sofa area where some other guests decided to play games. Upstairs is a separate art gallery/art studio, which we didn’t check out.

visiting cranberry mountain nature center

After lunch, we decided to drive (about 20 minutes south) to the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center. During our prior visit to the area two years ago, we had enjoyed some hikes in the Cranberry Mountain area but never checked out the center at its entrance. With rain in the area, this was a good indoor activity.

We spent a short time checking out the exhibits in the nature center. It had some information on the local flora and fauna and a number of kid-friendly activities as well as a small gift shop and books on the local area. There were also several tanks with local snakes, including the two poisonous ones in the area – Copperheads and Rattlesnakes. Since the first tank we came across also holds a fake snake, it took me a while to realize the other snakes were entirely real. Honestly, if Dustin hadn’t noticed, I’m not sure I would have. We also enjoyed checking out maps of the area and realized that there was a waterfall hike nearby that looked worth doing while we were enjoying a gap in the rain.

Outside the nature center is a short (approx. 3/5 of a mile) nature trail with placards describing trees common to the area and their common uses.

Nature center hike in West Virginia's Cranberry Mountain Area

hiking the falls of hills creek

We drove a few miles along the Highland Scenic Highway to access the Falls of Hills Creek, a 0.75 mile (1.5 mile roundtrip) hike along Hills Creek with three separate waterfalls along the way. Much of the hike is on a boardwalk, and there are nearly 400 steps. Because the area is densely covered with trees, the boardwalk is very shaded and a bit slick so visitors should be careful. Dustin took a slight spill on a staircase, and we watched another visitor go down, too.

The Falls of Hills Creek hike was beautiful. It mostly followed the creek and had gorgeous views of all three sections of the falls. In two segments, there were significant staircases that included probably 5-6 flights of stairs all at once – similar to what you’d find in a parking garage. The full roundtrip took just under an hour with plenty of stops to enjoy and photograph the scenery.

Just before we got back to the car, a thunderstorm moved in and we started getting a few raindrops. By the time we were in the car, we had a steady rain, so we had lucked out! While we didn’t have time to drive further on the Highland Scenic Highway, we had explored the northern half of it during our prior trip and really enjoyed it so will have to put a pin in driving the southern section of it another time.

dinner at greenbrier grille and lodge in marlinton

We returned home briefly to feed and walk the pups and then headed over to Hillsboro for dinner. Hillsboro is the closest town to Watoga with a restaurant. Hillsboro Public House opened in 2023, has good reviews, occasional bands, and is only 15 minutes away. Upon driving over there, we discovered it was closed for the 4th of July so we drove back to Marlinton for dinner at the Greenbrier Grille and Lodge, situated right on the Greenbrier River. This casual breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot and lodge has deck seating overlooking the water. We were lucky to find a seat outside.

View of the Greenbrier River in front of the Greenbrier Grille and Lodge in Marlinton, WV

From the deck, we could watch cars traveling over the bridge into Marlinton and observe the Mallard ducks and Canada geese meandering around in the shallows. The service at the restaurant was really pretty slow. Our drinks took a bit - 10-15 minutes maybe? - (a beer on draught and a root beer), and our appetizer (mozzarella sticks) didn’t arrive for about 45 minutes. It was probably a full hour before our entrees came out (black and bleu burger and philly cheesesteak with onion rings). We weren’t in a rush but a few other diners were visibly frustrated. From reviews we’d seen online, this is not an uncommon issue. Dustin enjoyed his philly cheesesteak sandwich (it was literally two sandwiches), and the onion rings were good. The burger was solid, and I was pleasantly surprised by the real blue cheese on it. We had a beautiful evening – nice temperatures and just a bit of humidity – with low clouds visible in the distance after the afternoon rain.

One nice advantage of being in Marlinton is that it is the one place with regular speed internet we’ve found nearby and so we were able to spend a little time catching up on all things internet. We used the time to plot a new route home the following day through Lewisburg, WV, a spot I’ve been curious to check out for a while and was essentially equidistant the route we would otherwise have taken. We fell in love with Lewisburg, though we were only able to drive around (dogs in the car and all) and made a mental note to add it to the list for a return trip.

Our route for day 4 - the two hours of driving is the culmination of all the legs of the trip:

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