Biking, Hiking and Waterfalls in Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina

cindybabington
9 hours ago
6 min read

The month of June was a wonderful time to spend in the mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina. While Indiana was experiencing a 90 plus degree heat dome, we were enjoying sleeping with the windows open. Our trip began in Hocking Hills, OH. What an amazing place and only 240 miles from our home in Indianapolis.

Hocking Hills Holiday KOA, Logan, Ohio

This campground was pretty great. The sites were very large and well spaced. We have a very nice patio with a table and chairs and a glider. We also had a propane grill. The campground had very nice shower and bathroom facilities, laundry, pool, store, jumping pillow and a 1-mile nature trail.

Hockhocking-Adena Bikeway - Ohio

We traveled to Nelsonville to start the trail and cycled to Athens and back, covering approximately 37 miles in total. The Bikeway is paved, stretching 24 miles from Nelsonville to just east of Athens. The trail was in excellent condition, with much of it winding through dense woods that offered pleasant shade. The shade was greatly appreciated on a day when the temperature was 87 degrees, feels like 92! There were restrooms along the trail and a few places to grab a drink or a bite to eat.

We stopped at the Eclipse Company Store for a late lunch on the way back. The building was built to be the general store for the Eclipse Coal Mining Community. Very cool place with a nice outdoor seating area.

Hocking Hills State Park

We had never visited this State Park before and were pleasantly surprised by our experience. We explored many of the trails in the Park, most of which were relatively short, about a mile each. We were somewhat confused about whether or how the trails were interconnected, so we ended up driving between trailheads. We likely hiked less than 6 miles, but each stop was truly spectacular. We encountered caves, waterfalls, and fascinating rock formations. It was very peaceful, with few people around - we visited on a Tuesday - and incredibly scenic.

Marlinton RV Campground, Marlinton, WV

This was a no frills campground with ten sites and just a short ride to the Greenbrier River Trail. There are no facilities, but the sites are all full-hookup. All campers must be fully self contained. The sites were fairly spacious. We did have to level a bit, but we almost always do unless the site is paved. The campground was peaceful and so convenient to both the bike trail and the town. It was a great base camp for hiking and biking in the area.

Marlinton has a very nice IGA, a couple good restaurants, bike shops and a few other small stores. The people are friendly and the town is very walkable.

Greenbrier River Trail

On this trip we covered the north half (35 miles) of the Greenbrier Trail. There were a few closures for bridge reconstruction projects which prevented us from going further south than Seibert from the campground. The Greenbrier Trail is 77 miles long and in the past we have biked the southern half of the trail. It is a lovely trail winding through deep forests and small towns along the longest undammed river in the eastern United States. The trail runs from Cass which is just outside the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park to Caldwell. Very near Caldwell is Lewisburg, which has a variety of stores, restaurants and places to stay. We highly recommend the Humble Tomato.

Monongahela National Forest

Our neighbor at the campground, Stanley, who spends the summer in Marlinton, told us about the forest roads in the Monongahela National Forest. The Forest is nearly one-million-acres and is in a protected area in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia.The first day we went to the Forest, we started at the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center. The Nature Center was informative and very well done. We hiked to several waterfalls, the honeycomb rocks, and completed the Cranberry Bog hike. We also stopped at a few amazing overlooks within the Forest.

During our next two visits to the Forest, we took the gravel forest road that follows the Cranberry River. This road starts at the Cranberry Bog Trail and ends at the Cranberry Campground. The ride was so enjoyable that we did it on two separate days! The route is a 33-mile roundtrip, and we encountered fewer than five people each time we rode. Our first ride was perfect—one of those days when the temperature is neither hot nor cold, the sky is blue with fluffy clouds, and the air is humid and sweet-smelling. Forest bathing at its best! I highly recommend this ride. A gravel or mountain bike is essential, but the gravel was easy to navigate. The path gently declines to the campground, which means a slight incline on the way back, but it wasn't challenging.

Meadow River Campground, Wallen, WV

Meadow River was another no frills, must be self contained campground. There are no facilities on the property although there is a yurt and a camper trailer that people can rent. There are only 10 sites and all of them are right on the Meadow River and on the Meadow River Bike Trail. The campground has no WIFI and barely a cell (AT&T) phone signal. The lack of WIFI and cell coverage makes for a very peaceful stay. We went into Fayetteville, WV a couple mornings to the Wooden Iron Eatery. Fayetteville was only about a 15 minute drive from the campground. The Wooden Iron has excellent breakfasts and highly functioning WIFI. It was a very welcoming place to have a flat white, eat breakfast and get caught up on e-mails, news and NYT games. The Campground is also very close to the New River Gorge National Park. We spent a day there, but it was raining so we mostly did a driving tour.

Meadow River Bike Trail

The trail follows the Meadow River for 18 miles between Nallen and Rainelle. The newest part of the trail opened just days before we arrived. The campground to Rainelle is 33 miles roundtrip. The newest part is very nice with crushed gravel surface and many benches along the route. The older segment is also very lovely - just a bit rough in places where the gravel has eroded. The trail is a gradual uphill climb going towards Rainelle which made for a nice return trip to our campground. The trail was mostly wooded with really nice views of the river along the way.

Land of the Waterfalls Campground, Brevard, NC

Our theme for this trip was low-key campgrounds with no facilities. Land of the Waterfalls had maybe 20 sites. The sites were very nice with dense shrubbery and foliage separating the sties. No facilities at the campground, but the sites were all full hook-up. They felt very private. There was a little bit of highway noise but not too bad. Only downside for us is there isn't anywhere to run, walk or bike at the campground or leaving from the campground. But other than that it is very nicely laid out and convenient to everything in Brevard and the surrounding area.

Biking in the area

We gravel biked on the forest roads in the Dupont State Forest two different days. The biking was fun, but a little difficult. On the section entering into the park the gravel was very large and it was very hilly. The other roads we went on had crushed gravel and/or dirt so were easier to navigate. The park is really great with lots of waterfalls. We parked our bikes and hiked to High Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Grassy Creek Falls, Hooker Falls and Triple Falls. Several of the falls areas were very popular with families who brought towels and lunches and made a day of it.

We also rode at Black Mountain, NC on the Point Lookout Trail. The paved trail was only 3.5 miles long but it was a pretty steep downhill to Old Fort and then uphill all the way back. Beautiful views along the way.

Hiking in the area

Besides the hiking we did in Dupont, we also hiked in Pisgah. One of the recommended trails was John Rock Trail. We thought the ranger told us it was a 3-mile hike, but roundtrip it was more like 5 miles. Nice views. We also went to Gorges State Park and hiked a bit there. Very pretty park and huge but there are many areas that inaccessible.

Eating and Drinking in the Area

Ecusta Brewery was among our initial stops in the area. The beer was excellent, and the upscale Mexican cuisine was so good. The setting was also beautiful. We visited Oskar Blues, known for Dale's Pale Ale, one evening. The food from the food truck outside was delicious. I enjoyed a salmon sandwich, and Pat had chicken tenders with fries. We listened to live music while there, which seems to be a regular feature most days. The atmosphere was friendly, and the setting was peaceful. The Pisgah Bakehouse offered wonderful food. We stopped by for a late breakfast/early lunch one day. We also had an outstanding lunch at Cuban Cousins in Black Mountain, featuring Rubens and black beans with rice, all of which were delicious!