Last updated on June 9th, 2024 at 12:24 pm

If you really want an offbeat vacation this autumn then let us share our secret – take a long weekend getaway in West Virginia (WV) to see the best of fall foliage on the East Coast. While most people in the US usually head to New England during the Autumn season, West Virginia’s fall foliage will give you a fresh break.

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West Virginia Fall Foliage

The state of West Virginia is an untapped land waiting to be explored. We took an impromptu weekend getaway in WV from Washington DC last October and were pleasantly surprised with the diversity in things to do here. Do check the fall foliage map on the West Virginia tourism official website to make sure you plan your trip near peak foliage.

Musician John Denver fondly called his home in West Virginia (WV) Almost Heaven in his famous song. After this trip, we could tell why! If you don’t know the song, then better give ‘Country Roads’ a listen.

There is a quiet magnetism when the dense forest revealing 50 shades of orange embraces the serpentine roads. By quiet, we also mean literally no cellular coverage. West Virginia will extract that undivided attention and we’ll tell you why in a bit.

Although a little less road aggression on the narrow curvy mountain highways would have been appreciated 🙂

Related: Explore the Blue Ridge Park in peak fall foliage

How to Get to West Virginia

By Car:

For our West Virginia weekend vacation, we started driving from Washington DC making our way down South. If you are coming from Southern USA then head your way up in the reverse order.

By Flight:

Charleston Yeager Airport – CRW is the regional airport you want to fly into. Or else you can fly into a nearby biggest city such as Washington DC, Richmond, or Raleigh. Either way, you will need to rent a car to move around this rural state. 

TIP: Cellular coverage will not work in a majority of the area in West Virginia. Having offline maps downloaded or printed for directions is very important.

Click on the map below to get Google map directions. If this is your first time visiting the US, you must read these travel tips that will save you time, money, and hassle.

Related: The ultimate road trip you need to take in California.

Things to Do in West Virginia 

You can easily cover all of the things below in 3-4 days so taking a long weekend road trip is ideal for this WV getaway. If you are taking a trip with your family, do check out these road trip activities for kids. 

Here are some of the things to see and do on a weekend getaway in West Virginia – 

1. Blackwater Falls State Park

Blackwater Falls State Park is one of the most-visited parts of West Virginia. There are tons of other outlooks and activities to do here besides the waterfall. There are campgrounds in the park to stay overnight that can be booked in advance. TIP: Head to Lindy Point Observation Deck for a panoramic view of the valley.

2. Dolly Sods Wilderness 

Although we did not make it to Dolly Sods Wilderness, it is located very close to Blackwater Falls State Park. If you are looking for easy hikes then, Dolly Sods should be on your list. 

3. Greenbank Observatory

Earlier we talked about limited cellular coverage in the majority of WV and here is the reason why –

United State’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is located in Greenbank, WV. NRAO has several telescopes on-site receiving radio signals from the space. You can visit the Greenbank Observatory during their operating hours, where they run bus tours to all of their telescopes in the facility. FUN FACT: Greenbank has the world’s largest steerable radio telescope. 

The observatory is funded for many amazing projects, one of them is to study the existence of extraterrestrial life, no kidding! This large telescope pictured above is being used for that project.  In order to do that, the engineers need to receive the weakest of the radio signals from space on their telescopes. Having a bunch of cellulars or any other radio tower in the region would defeat this purpose and hence NRAO has created a quiet radio frequency zone around it aka no cellphone coverage in this region.

Hence expect no wi-fi, no cell phone, and no GPS coverage. Be prepared for this digital detox adventure. Definitely, a great place for kids to learn more about astronomy and space. Or if you are engineers like us you will be geeked out too.

Related – Day trip ideas from Washington DC

4. Cass Scenic Railway and Snowshoe

Cass was once a heavily populated industrial town occupied by the employees of the Pulp & Paper industry. This railroad was used to bring logs down from the mountains. When the mills shut down back in the ’60s, the State of West Virginia bought the railroad to promote tourism.

Today the Cass railway is one of the top attraction in West Virginia, especially in fall. We did not ride this scenic train as the tickets were sold out given our last minute plans. Tip: Make sure to purchase your Cass train tickets in advance. 

The town of Snowshoe, near Cass, is another popular getaway in West Virginia, famous for its ski resorts. Well, Cass could be a weekend trip in itself then!

5. Highland Scenic Highway

Highland Scenic Highway, also known as State Route 150 is an American scenic byway passing through the National forest stretching 23 miles in distance. While most of any drive in WV might seem scenic because of the setting of this State, Highway scenic drive actually has a few vista points to pull up to.

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6. New River White Water Rafting

Driving further South will take you to the New River Gorge area which is famous for its white water rafting and the iconic West Virginia Bridge. We went river rafting here on another summer excursion. 

We highly recommend you to stop by New Gorge if you have more than just a weekend to explore. TIP: New River or the Gauley River in West Virginia offers one of the best rapids for whitewater rafting. In fact, fall is the best season for extreme whitewater rafting since the dam is opened into Gauley River. Compare & book your whitewater rafting experience here.

7. New River Gorge Bridge

The most photographed bridge in West Virginia, New River Gorge Bridge, reduced the travel time between the mountains from 40 minutes to a minute. Tip: Every 3rd Saturday in October, West Virginia celebrates it’s the largest one-day festival called Bridge Day. This year Bridge Day is October 19th, 2019.

The bridge is open to pedestrians and several adventure activities such as base jumping, rappelling, and Highline takes place on the bridge. You can compare the pricing for some of these adventure activities here. There is a campground within a few minutes drive from the bridge if you want to camp here overnight.

Where to Stay in West Virginia – Mountain Quest Inn

This BnB, called the Mountain Quest Inn, is a gem located in the middle of the Monongahela Forest. We were super lucky to have gotten a room at the very last min in one of the best BnB’s in West Virginia. All the rooms in this BnB have a unique different theme and we got the Universe room.

Must have been a sign as we saw the magnificent Milkyway and some meteor showers in the dark skies of WV that night. 

The library in this house is another reason we fell in love with this place. Two floors and almost forty-six thousand books, I personally can spend all my time in this library. They also have a beautiful farm with horses, sheep, and Llamas. What is not to love about this place!

The sunrise next day was cherry on the top and to Gaurav’s surprise, I’ve never gotten out of bed so quickly. 

Directions to Mountain Quest Inn

TIP: The directions to this BnB can be tricky as it is not exactly located in Marlinton which is where Google will take you. Instead search for “Inn At Mountain Quest, West Virginia 92” on google for the correct address. Again, you won’t have cellular data while you are out there, so definitely get the directions beforehand. We ended up in Marlinton using offline google maps. Luckily there was some cell service in Marlinton so we could reach the property for directions.

This Inn has wi-fi in the common area so we finally had some connectivity with the world.

West Virginia deserves to get its fair share of the limelight in the US tourism. From amazing white water rafting to gorgeous fall colors to skiing in winter, there is always something for everyone to do here.

Hope that with this post we were able to inspire you to visit this a unique destination in the US for your next vacation.  

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Happy Traveling!