West Virginia Border Touring

Completing the 4-day motorcycle touring loop

In my first and second posts in this series, I covered the first two days of my epic fall 4-day motorcycle touring + camping trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway, “America’s Favorite Drive.” I covered the northern / Ridge region and into the Plateau region of the Parkway ending my journey at Milepost 115. Although, with the mileage from DC and a few worthwhile side trips, my total mileage after the first two days was actually around 350. I highly recommend reviewing these previous posts, if you haven’t already, for many recommendations on where to camp, eat, refuel, hike, and explore.

This final post in the series will cover my last two days, turning off the Parkway and heading into the taller, wilder, and very-little-cellphone-service mountains of West Virginia and then completing the loop back to DC.

I should say that, over the last 10 years, I’ve spent more time exploring the outdoors in West Virginia than any other state — and I’ve barely scratched the surface. There are endless outdoor adventures in any season as well as breweries and small towns to explore. A couple previous Hackman Guided Adventures posts have captured some of these trips — “Seneca Creek Backcountry” and “Wolf Gap Recreation Area” which describe the beauties one can find in Monongahela National Forest and GW & Jefferson National Forest. Future posts will continue to showcase WV as the outdoor playground that it is! Don’t limit yourself to just Shenandoah, DMV people!

On this trip, I saw some things I’d never seen before, camped in new places, and took a whole different approach to the road system given my motorcycle touring setup — which I also highly recommend.

Five Things You’ll Learn From This Post:

1. How to explore the mountainous backroads of West Virginia through George Washington and Jefferson National Forests and Monongahela National Forest — with no cell service! — and why taking your time on backroads is the absolute best way to see the state.
2. How to take stunning photos of Falling Springs Falls.
3. Where to find the ultimate mountain resort experience if you need a day of pampering and treating yourself — including natural hot springs.
4. How to camp in the shadows of Seneca Rocks — a fin of jagged rocks that tower 1,000 feet above the surrounding valley and is a premier East Coast rock climbing destination.
5. Essential stops making your way back to DC, including: Yokum’s store, Lost River Trading Post, Kac-Ka-Pon restaurant, the many rental cabins and lodging options along the South Branch of the Potomac River, and more.

Stop 1: Leaving the Parkway and Heading into WV

After two full days on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I had to make a decision on how I was getting home. I could A) retrace my route back up the Parkway, B) head east into the low regions and farmlands of central Virginia, or C) head west into the mountains of West Virginia. All three options would have presented great routes for different reasons. But I wasn’t done with the mountains yet, so I picked option C and turned toward WV.

Here’s a Google Map re-creation of most of what my route wound up being (minus the side trips which brought the total mileage to around 620).

I left my campground at Explore Park and headed into Roanoke, VA for a hearty breakfast sandwich, coffee, and cinnamon roll at Little Green Hive. Feeling energized, I routed my next stop — Falling Water Falls.

*NOTE: GPS tracking with no cell service — essential for adventuring in WV. Big PSA here. In the mountainous regions of WV, cell service can be limited or nonexistent. Thankfully Google Maps and other services now allow their apps to be used just on GPS when no service is available. The trick though, is to begin the navigation to your destination WHILE you still have service in town. Once navigation is started, you can turn your phone on Airplane Mode the rest of the time to conserve battery and navigation will still work fine.

While I was still in Roanoke, I began navigation on my phone to “Seneca Shadows Campground” where I was hoping to get to that night and then added a stop to Falling Springs Falls. I then turned my phone on Airplane Mode. It worked like a charm all day as I cruised through the backroads and up and over mountain passes.

This trick is also one of the only ways to not get completely lost on the backroads of WV. As I was doing this trip on my motorcycle, I set my Google Maps settings to “avoid highways”. This took me the long-way-round certain areas but it was absolutely worth it to avoid trucks and impatient motorists and to be able to cruise slowly on some really incredibly beautiful roads

This picture here is of “Snowy Hill Road” — some random, middle-of-nowhere windy road on the VA/WV border that had more cows than people for miles. But it was absolutely stunning and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it.

Stop 2: Falling Springs Falls

Falling Springs Falls is conveniently right on Rt 220 about 1.5 hours north from Roanoke. There’s no hike required. Just park your car and walk to the viewing platform.

According to the VA tourism website, Thomas Jefferson described the Falling Spring Falls as a “remarkable cascade…falling over a rock about 200 feet to the valley below.”

The waterfall is actually only 80 ft high, but it is definitely worth seeing and the view provides an excellent photo framing of the Alleghany Mountains in the background and fall colors in the foreground.

If you’re a better photographer than me, you can setup a tripod, select a slow shutter speed, and capture that milky blur of water photo people love. I arrived in the afternoon when the light was starting to fade in some parts of the mountainside but was still hitting the waterfall just right. But I would also assume sunrise photos, foggy / mist photos, and sunset photos would be pretty incredible for the aspiring photographer!

Stop 3: The Omni Homestead Resort and Hot Springs

Not far from the falls, is the Omni Resort. Is is impossible to miss as it surrounds both sides of the road with multiple buildings and golf courses that seem to stretch on forever.

I didn’t stop here but it did seem like an excellent place to pamper and treat yourself if you’d like a more elegant Virginia/West Virginia border travel experience. And, as I’ve shown in this blog series, the resort is in excellent location surrounded by mountains and outdoor activities. So even if you don’t like camping, the resort would be a great option to get you out to the area.

The one other thing to note is that there are natural geothermal pools within the Omni Resort, which is pretty unique for the East Coast. The towns in the area are all named things like “Healing Springs,” “Hot Springs,” and “Warm Springs,” and are all within “Bath County”. Clearly this was a major draw for Thomas Jefferson and other notable figures of the day as when the public bathhouses were created they were named “Jefferson Pools”.

The Gentlemen’s Pool House, at Jefferson Pools, is the oldest spa structure in the United States — built in 1761 — and is naturally fed by 98 °F constantly flowing mineral springs.

Today, the Omni Homestead owns the original bathhouse location (which they are remodeling and hope to reopen soon) as well as additional modern spa geothermal pools in their hotel complex.

Stop 4: Seneca Shadows Campground

My final campsite was at Seneca Shadows, a campground and RV park managed by the US Forest Service in Monongahela National Forest. It’s “in the shadows” of Seneca Rocks — a fin of jagged rocks that tower 1,000 feet above the surrounding valley and is a premier East Coast rock climbing destination.

Seneca Shadows campground is very well maintained and has excellent, large campsites with picnic tables, fire pits (with firewood to purchase), and hooks to hang your food bags (to keep bears from wandering into your site). If it’s after hours and there’s no one at the booth when you drive in, head toward the signs for the campground manager who will greet you and get you registered. You can also register online via Recreation.gov but I had no trouble with a walk in day of.

The campground is in the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area with many hiking trails nearby. Check out my previous post here for a full description of the area and ideas of where to find the best adventures.

There is also the very popular 1.3 mile (2.6 miles round-trip) Seneca Rocks Hiking Trail that begins at the Seneca Rocks Discovery Center (across the road from the campground). The trail is steep with switchbacks but is good for all ages and climbs to an observation platform which offers expansive views from the top.

Finally, there is a small trail that heads up a ridge from the campground itself and offers very nice views looking across the valley toward Seneca Rocks. You can find a map for this small trail at the campground.

Stop 5-??: Making Your Way Back Home

For food and fuel in the morning (or for a 6 pack the night before), Yokum’s store has everything you need and is right next to the campground — there’s actually a little walking trail that heads right to the store from the back of the campground. Yokum’s also has rooms to rent if you’d prefer not to camp.

On that note (not wanting to camp) there are many cabin rental options in the area. The Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area is very popular. If you’re coming from the DC / NOVA / MD region, you will pass many options along highway 28. The highway meanders along the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River as well as the South Branch of the Potomac (two different offshoots of the larger Potomac but which offer some great fishing and paddling options in the summer months). You’ll pass towns like “Cabins” which, you guessed it, offer cabins to rent! You’ll also pass Smoke Hole Caverns & Log Cabin Resort. Heading home, you’ll also pass by these options on your way back to the DC region — don’t forget the GPS trick I showed you earlier!

There are a few places I’d highly recommend stopping including Lost River Trading Post (for WV beer, fun mementos, and antique shopping) and Kac-Ka-Pon restaurant (for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or dinner). There are also farm-markets and other country stores and I think a new brewery opening up in Wardensville (fingers crossed)!

As I always recommend in these adventures, take your time getting home. There’s a lot to see and a lot you’ll miss if you pedal-to-the-metal just so you can get home in time to “do laundry,” “cook for the week,” or whatever gives you the Sunday Scaries.

And if you can help it, stay off 66 and keep routing through the country roads. You’ll pass even more beautiful little towns in Virginia like Middleburg and Upperville along Rt 50 (great dinner options).

This whole trip of mine was, of course, about taking my time and exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway and the backroads of the WV / VA border region in the fall season, with lots of time for side trips and stops built in. When you consider doing a similar trip of your own, I hope you take my advice and hold onto that feeling all the way home. You’ll have the whole work week to get caught up on your “to do” list!

Will Hackman, Hackman Guided Adventures

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