Why Your Next Trip Should Be To West Virginia
I fell in love with West Virginia, and here’s why you will too. On your visit, you should: Take a swim in…
I’ve driven through West Virginia before and crossed it off my list of states to visit. Little did I know it was a completely hidden gem. The only reason I was trekking down to this state is because B found out it was designated a national park. And as someone who hopes to one day visit all 63, this one clearly had to be visited.
I was completely blown away by West Virginia. It’s embarrassing how little I knew about this state prior to visiting. It reminds me so much of New England, but the trafficked crowds are replaced by friendly faces. Everyone we encountered in West Virginia was kind. From the cars that moved an entire lane over while we cycled on the road, to the servers at hole-in-the-wall spots, to a passing car smiling and waving as we ate ice cream on a bench on Fayetteville’s main street.
I fell in love with West Virginia, and here’s why you will too. On your trip, you should:
Summersville Lake from an overlook spot on the drive down to the beach access parking lot.
Take a swim in Summersville Lake.
West Virginia’s largest lake is not only near Fayetteville and America’s newest national park, but it’s absolutely stunning as well. We stumbled upon this dreamy reservoir when B was researching a body of water for us to swim in as we train for our triathlon races coming up.
Parking at the lake is amble and only $5, which felt like a steal for the gem that it was. It’s a popular spot for swimming, relaxing, and boating. There’s a kayak launch as well!
Stroll through historic Fayetteville, WV.
One of my favorite things to do in a new town is walk around the main street. I’m a sucker for a charming small town, and Fayetteville is exactly that. There is a cathedral-turned-café in town, along with local shops. There is an incredible pizza place (Pies and Pints) that exceeds the hype. Parking here is also very accessible.
Learn how grist mills work by visiting the Glade Creek Grist Mill.
This mill may look familiar because it’s one of the most photographed ones around. A quick drive from Fayetteville to Babcock State Park brings you to a large parking lot and epic views of this mill.
Tip: Visiting during operating hours to see this mill in action!
Hike in New River Gorge National Park.
Y’all know I love a good hike and even better views and boy does this park not disappoint. I felt like within a half mile of every hike I went on, there were views, if not sooner, of the New River Gorge. The hikes also all were less than a fifteen minute drive away, most were less than 10 from Fayetteville.
Here are a few of my favorite hikes (I even did a couple of them twice!):
Long Point
An iconic hike that’s viewable from the bridge itself. It’s truly a spectacle to drive across the bridge and peer out to see a tiny, exposed cliff. The hike up is mostly flat and downhill for a little over 1.25 miles. It’s a quick one and ideal for sunsets. We had the summit to ourselves for sunset. Unreal. The last half mile requires some ascent to return, with about 350 ft gain on your way back.
It’s a busy hike during the day, so plan accordingly. There is a good amount of parking here.
Endless Wall
The parking lot for this trailhead fills up swiftly, but because the hike is short, hikers also exit the lot almost as frequently. I did this hike twice and scored a spot both times. If you go out and back, it’s a little under two miles, but I suggest hiking a loop and you’ll end up at another parking lot. This also serves as a great backup parking lot if you don’t want to wait for a spot at Endless Wall.
If you decide to hike the loop, it’s about three miles and almost 400 feet of elevation gain, though you don’t really feel it. This is also a popular climbing spot, so you may get lucky and see a few climbers rocking it on the ledges.
Beauty Mountain
This hidden hike doesn’t have an official parking lot, but it does have a trailhead. As soon as you step onto the trail, you have views. Instantly. It almost doesn’t seem fair! We hiked for about a mile along the trail and were swept away by cliffside views of the New River almost the entire way.
Soak in the beauty of Sandstone Falls.
I initially saw these falls while researching the NRG and didn’t put it on our itinerary. B wanted to go and so off we went to explore another part of the national park. Sandstone Falls is near Hinton, WV, about an hour and a half drive from where we were centrally located in Fayetteville. You drive through the mountains and there isn’t a handy bridge to connect you, so that adds to the driving time. It’s a scenic drive and leads you to a boardwalk hike that’s accessible by all. The falls are striking. I felt like I was exploring newfound land, not West Virginia.
These falls should make it on your list of places to explore. There were plenty of people fishing here, as well as sitting among the rocks and enjoying the views under the summer sun.
Sandstone Falls Boardwalk
The wide, accessible trail leads you to several viewpoints of the falls. It’s also dog-friendly!
What are you most excited to experience in West Virginia?
A Guide to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
My 32nd national park!
I knew the least about Big Island prior to visiting. All I knew was that Volcanoes National Park resided there, and so I needed to visit. That’s the beauty of wanting to achieve a list. Sometimes, in order to cross a place off, you find unexpected beauty. We stayed in this beautiful Airbnb off the grid right outside the park immersed in the rainforest. I highly recommend it if you’re planning to spend time at Volcanoes!
We headed into the park our first night, headlamps in tow. I usually try to limit my night explorations in unknown places, but seeing this park at nighttime is an absolute must.
The lava glow at Volcanoes National Park.
We drove into the park near the Kīlauea Visitor Center to explore the Kīlauea Overlook. The parking lot was nearly empty on this mid-April evening, and we walked the minute up to the overlook. We weren’t entirely prepared for what we were about to see, or in this instance, not see.
When researching this park, I knew an eruption occurred a few months earlier in December, and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of lava up close. I wanted the feel the radiating warmth of the lava against my skin, but instead I only felt the cool air bringing my body to a chill. If you make it out to this park at night, bring a jacket. Or two.
When we walked up to the Kīlauea Overlook, a hazy reddish hue like a gentle brushstroke of acrylic paint just touching the canvas for the first time caught our eye. “That’s it?” My friend remarked.
Instead of lava flow, we were met with lava glow. The glow appeared a deep orange and red blend on camera. A rarity for the picture to be more astounding than the image in reality. Below is the daytime view.
We explored the park in more depth the following day. We discovered another viewpoint at Volcano House that would be neat to see under a starry sky. We walked along the crater rim. Truthfully, I thought there would be hiking in this area, but all the sidewalks are very accessible and were all .2 or .3 miles of walking. Once we felt we had seen the crater enough, we drove onward to the Thurston lava tube. Another short traverse led us through a scenic rainforest and into a lit cave. At night, the lights are off if you want the full cave experience.
Across the street from the lava tube is a beautiful short trail as well with vistas of a crater floor you can actually hike down into and on!
If I come back to Volcanoes one day, I would love to walk across the crater floor at the Kīlauea Iki Crater Overlook. It’s a 400 foot descent and a little over 3 miles of hiking down. The birds-eye-view is above.
We hopped back in the car and headed down the Chain of Craters Road – a road lined with lava rock. The final destination on this road would lead us to the ocean. I love variety in a national park and like Olympic in Washington, Volcanoes provided us with desolate, dark lands contrasted a few miles away with the glimmering ocean.
A .6 mile out-and-back along a road led us to Cliffs of Moher, Ireland views. Also known as the Hōlei Sea Arch on the Big Island. The arch formed from waves slowly eroding it, which is neat to consider it is constantly changing. This little ocean visit was a highlight of the park for me particularly because of the road to get down to it, and eventually, back up.
Hōlei Sea Arch at Volcanoes National Park
Our final adventure led us to the summit of Mauna Kea, one of Hawaii’s largest volcanoes. From its base underwater to the peak, it’s over 33,500 feet, meaning it’s taller than Mt. Everest (if you count what is submerged in water). Pretty neat, right?
There is an observatory 13,803′ feet up to watch the sunset from. We made it up 9,000 feet where we were met with this worrisome sign (the eerie fog didn’t help) and a guard along the road.
And to think, we were just by the coast with the ocean breeze.
We drove from sea level to this point in about an hour and a half, so the sign makes sense. The remainder of the road can only be traveled with AWD, and most rental car companies won’t cover the damage from this road specifically.
The ominous road that leads to the guard checking if you have AWD or not.
So here’s the sunset from our little spot 9,000 feet up in the sky.
Our sunset above the clouds, but still a few thousand feet below the summit.
Did you have Volcanoes National Park on your list of places to visit? What part of the park can you not wait to explore one day?
How to Plan Your Trip to Yellowstone National Park
Driving east through Wyoming would never give you the impression that it is home to one of the U.S.’s most fascinating and largest national parks: Yellowstone. It’s where Montana’s forest green meets Wyoming’s Wild West. Western Wyoming, on the other hand, looks much like the Wild West in your head, solely missing the tumbleweed rolling slowly across the one-lane “highway.”
Needless to say, western Wyoming was one of those long stretches of road where you aren’t sure if your car will make it on your current tank of gas before you see another gas station (or any sign of life, really). If I haven’t convinced you yet to visit Wyoming, just wait. When you reach the little pocket of northwestern Wyoming, you’ll feel transported to another world. Seriously, Yellowstone felt otherworldly.
We spent a couple days in the park absorbing as many geysers, hot springs, and wildlife viewing as possible. We spent a great amount of time driving from destination to destination. It felt like navigating through an IKEA with all of the stops on the map that we wanted to explore.
Check out the map below from the National Park Service and you’ll see what I mean. There are miles upon miles between each destination region– almost like the kingdoms at Disney World, except it’s more like nature’s amusement park. Summer in Yellowstone feels similarly to a summer trip to Disney World – crazy crowds (and cars) everywhere.
We split up the park into sections to take on to get the most out of our days. With summer travel plans coming into fruition and you find adding the northwestern pocket of Wyoming on your list, here’s how to make the most of Wyoming’s Wild West.
Divide the park into these three sections to see all the fascinating beauty Yellowstone has to offer:
1. Canyon Village
Canyon Village contains the Grand Canyon. Not to be confused with the Grand Canyon down in Arizona. Also for East Coasters, this is not to be confused with the Grand Canyon of the East in Letchworth State Park in New York.
Mt. Washburn was on our list to hike in the Canyon Village area, but its location put it right in the middle of a road construction project. If that’s the case for you, it’s still worth exploring this section of the park. Places to see: The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Artist Point, and the accompanying Falls (Lower and Upper).
These scenic viewpoints are all very short, well-marked trails that work for all types of hikers. A bonus if you’re heading back south is Hayden Valley.
Bring your binoculars because wildlife love the vastness of this valley, especially when dusk starts to set in. If you forget about this tip, you’ll see loads of cars parked alongside the road to remind you to keep your eyes peeled.
2. Old Faithful and West Thumb/Grant Village
With our map in hand, we embarked on a self-guided geyser tour through the heart of Yellowstone National Park. We spent a day going from geyser to geyser. We made our way first to Old Faithful — given that it’s the most popular (and named appropriately). The park gets the timing of this geyser narrowed down to a small window, so you won’t need to waste time waiting for it to erupt. It’s quite the spectacle.
After Old Faithful, we explored the Upper Geyser Basin, Lower Geyser Basin, Black Sand Basin, Biscuit Basin, and West Thumb Geyser Basin (pictured below. I told you – a great deal of geysers. Turns out, Yellowstone is home to over 10,000 geysers, hot springs, mud spots, and the sort. Each of these geyser basins takes about a half hour or less to walk around and explore.
The Grand Prismatic Spring was well worth the view. We gave this one a little more exploration time. Parking here was also limited, but spots opened up quickly as the walking loop to view the spring isn’t long.
3. Mammoth Hot Springs
This northern part of the park was way quieter, which might be why it was my absolute favorite. Like I said earlier, I’m a tourist, but I’m not a fan of hoards of tourists. I love the local feel (hard to come by in the heat of summer in America’s first national park).
The Mammoth Hot Springs Terraces are a small point on the large map. In a matter of steps, you are viewing jagged, salt-like walls with Montana in the north. I felt transported back to Peru’s salt mines in Maras with the coloring of the limestone in a desert-like landscape. This part of the park is also “near” Lamar Valley, another massive valley ideal for spotting wildlife. We ran into multiple bison jams here.
Is Yellowstone National Park on your list yet? What spot do you want to see the most?