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Daniel Boone lived in West Virginia for years; this document survives in his own hand

A hiker follows the boardwalk beneath the Alum Cave rock overhang along the Middle Fork River at Audra State Park. The photograph won the outdoor recreation category. (Photo by Stasha Ray)

State Parks, Forests

Family gives 47 acres to expand scenic West Virginia state park

David Sibray September 11, 2026

Pipestem Resort State Park’s aerial tramway descends into the Bluestone River Gorge amid autumn color. The park will host its first Oktoberfest Oct. 16–18, when fall foliage in the gorge typically approaches its seasonal peak. (Photo courtesy Perry Bennett Photography)

Festivals / Events

First Oktoberfest coming to West Virginia gorge as fall color peaks

Arts

39 Appalachian films coming to West Virginia festival, and admission is free

The mountain farm in north-central West Virginia where Adam’s Fire was filmed became an important part of the feature film’s setting. The movie opens Oct. 9, including at AMC Morgantown 12.

Arts

Filmmaker got lost looking for Virginia location and found his movie in West Virginia

Latest West Virginia News

Mountain bikers ride a wooded trail in Beckley, West Virginia, where an expanding trail network is part of an effort to develop the city as an outdoor recreation destination.

Hiking

West Virginia city eyes 40-mile trail network near New River Gorge

September 10, 2026

Hunting

West Virginia eliminates minimum age for youth hunting seasons

September 10, 2026

Hunting

Long a West Virginia rite of passage, squirrel hunting returns Saturday

September 10, 2026

Kanawha Valley historian Forrest Hull illustrated the old association between autumn, “Indian summer” and frontier stories in this drawing preserved with his writings. The terminology reflects the period in which Hull wrote and is reproduced here as part of the historical record.

Lore and Legend

Where are the autumns of yesterday? A West Virginia writer remembered a different fall

September 9, 2026

Units 1 and 2 of the John E. Amos Power Plant in Putnam County, West Virginia. State utility regulators are considering proposed rules governing generating capacity, plant operations and fuel supplies. (Photo by Tikilucas/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Economic Development

West Virginia power plant rules headed for public hearing

September 8, 2026

The 80-foot Red Oak Fire Lookout in the Monongahela National Forest is now available for overnight stays in Webster County, West Virginia. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

Lodging and Real Estate

You can now spend the night 80 feet up in a West Virginia fire tower

September 8, 2026

Communities

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announces the first awards from West Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation Program at Chesapeake Healthcare Center. Spotted Owl Healthcare Organization received $1.17 million through the program in partnership with the center. (Courtesy photo)

Small West Virginia nonprofit lands $1.17 million to expand workplace healthcare

Clyde Craig September 5, 2026

CHESAPEAKE, W.Va. — A West Virginia nonprofit that provides community exercise, nutrition, and recovery programs has been awarded $1.17 million to bring healthcare services closer to workers as the state begins distributing nearly $200 million in federal rural-health

Two properties proposed for inclusion in an expanded historic district stand along a residential street in Richwood, West Virginia. The proposed expansion would extend the existing downtown district into nearby residential areas.

Richwood could double historic district at gateway to Monongahela National Forest

David Sibray September 2, 2026

RICHWOOD, W.Va. — A historic district in this Nicholas County mountain town could roughly double in size, encompassing distinctive homes, churches, and other landmarks as preservationists work to protect the character of a community at the western gateway

Two unbanded peregrine falcons have been confirmed at the New River Gorge Bridge, continuing a conservation story that began decades ago. The inset shows one of the peregrines recently observed at the bridge. (Inset photo by Larry Massey)

Two unbanded peregrine falcons confirmed at New River Gorge Bridge

August 31, 2026

A model walks the runway during a fashion show. A West Virginia University researcher says the rise of weight-loss medications is coinciding with a retreat from size inclusivity in the fashion industry. (Photo by Yogendra Singh/Unsplash)

Weight-loss drugs are changing American bodies; Fashion may be changing with them

August 31, 2026

A bull elk stands in the southern West Virginia coalfields, where the state's restored elk population is beginning to roam farther from its established range. (Photo: W.Va. Dept. of Commerce)

West Virginia elk are roaming farther as restored herd grows

August 30, 2026

Injured athletes can face increased body-image pressures and potentially harmful eating and exercise behaviors during recovery, according to a West Virginia University researcher. (WVU Photo/Davidson Chan)

Injured athletes may be hurting their recovery by trying too hard, WVU researcher says

August 30, 2026

Attractions

Historic buildings line the railroad at Thurmond, a former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway boomtown now largely preserved within New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The town is challenging National Park Service plans to demolish several historic structures.

Historic town inside national park prepares legal fight to stop demolitions

Clyde Craig September 5, 2026

THURMOND, W.Va. — A nearly abandoned railroad town preserved within New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is preparing for a legal fight with the federal agency that owns much of it as the National Park Service moves

The Big Moses gas well erupts along Indian Creek in Tyler County, West Virginia, during the region’s oil and gas boom of the 1890s. Drilled in search of oil in 1894, the well instead struck an enormous flow of natural gas that repeatedly resisted efforts to bring it under control.

In 1895, lightning struck a massive West Virginia gas well, which then blew out its own fire

David Sibray September 4, 2026

ALMA, W.Va. — When lightning struck one of the world’s most powerful gas wells in 1895, flames reportedly leaped 200 feet into the air, illuminating the rural countryside as crowds traveled to see what a Parkersburg newspaper described

A young forager gathers wild berries. Foraging for edible plants is the focus of Nature Wonder Weekend, a West Virginia tradition held at North Bend State Park since 1968. (Getty image)

For nearly 60 years, West Virginians have gathered in this park to eat from the wild

September 2, 2026

The former Fort Gay High School in Fort Gay, W.Va., closed in 2013 and is now being redeveloped with eight affordable apartments and space for community, municipal and commercial uses.

West Virginia high school closed for 13 years is becoming apartments

September 1, 2026

The night sky stretches above the observation tower at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park in Pocahontas County. The photograph won the summer beauty category in the West Virginia State Parks Foundation's spring and summer photo contest. (Photo by Leslie Carpenter)

Five stunning photos capture summer in West Virginia’s state parks

August 31, 2026

The Gothic Revival facade of the West Virginia Penitentiary dominates Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville. The prison operated from 1866 until 1995 and is now open to visitors as a historic attraction.

Behind the walls of West Virginia’s massive Gothic prison, now a tourist attraction

August 29, 2026

Recreation

Tyler Harmon holds the 72.75-pound blue catfish he caught in the Ohio River in Jackson County as a West Virginia Division of Natural Resources official assists with the record certification. The fish set a new state weight record and was released alive. (WVDNR photo)

West Virginia brought back a giant native fish that now keeps breaking records

Will Reedy September 4, 2026

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — When Tyler Harmon decided on the spur of the moment to take his son fishing on the Ohio River, he called his father on the way to the boat ramp and invited him along. Within

A bicycle rests beside the Meadow River along the Meadow River Rail Trail, an 18-mile route between Rainelle and Nallen in southern West Virginia. (Photo courtesy Meadow River Rail Trail)

New 18-mile trail is revealing a hidden West Virginia river valley

David Sibray September 4, 2026

RAINELLE, W.Va. — Several weeks after the Meadow River Rail Trail completed its 18-mile route through southern West Virginia, bicycles are appearing outside businesses, cars carrying bikes are arriving from other states, and visitors to the nearby New River

Rafters charge through whitewater on the Gauley River during Gauley Season in West Virginia. The six-week fall season draws thousands of whitewater enthusiasts to the river each year. (NPS photo)

Six weeks of legendary whitewater are about to begin on the Gauley in West Virginia

David Sibray August 26, 2026

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — For six weekends beginning in September, controlled releases from Summersville Dam will turn the Gauley River in West Virginia into one of the world’s premier whitewater destinations. Veteran river guides say this year’s unusually wet

A couple walks a wooded trail at Pipestem Resort State Park, where the West Virginia Trails Conference will be held Nov. 8–10, 2026.

West Virginia trails conference looks to turn outdoor recreation into community growth

August 24, 2026

Morgantown angler Robert Glover holds the 9.76-inch pumpkinseed sunfish he caught at Cheat Lake, setting the West Virginia record for a category that has now been broken three times in little more than a month. (Photo courtesy W.Va. DNR)

West Virginia fishing record broken for third time in little more than a month

August 21, 2026

Participants learn outdoor skills during a Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop in West Virginia. The nationally recognized program introduces women to hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities in a supportive setting.

More women are taking up hunting and fishing; these West Virginia workshops may be helping

August 18, 2026

Visitors descend into Organ Cave in Greenbrier County, one of the many West Virginia caverns around which generations of history, tradition and folklore have accumulated. Photographer to be determined.

West Virginia cave lore—strange stories from beneath the Mountain State

August 17, 2026

Filmmaker Emma Crow-Willard pauses beside a mountain stream while hiking West Virginia's 320-mile Allegheny Trail. Her month-long journey combines backpacking with interviews exploring the changing economies of communities along the route.

Most hikers have never heard of the Allegheny Trail. One filmmaker set out to discover why

August 3, 2026

West Virginia anglers Ken Neer (left) and Sierra Adamson each caught state-record pumpkinseed sunfish in summer 2026. Adamson's catch surpassed Neer's record just 19 days after it established the species' first official place in the state's record books.

West Virginia’s new state fishing record lasted 19 days before another angler broke it

July 30, 2026

Two cyclists bike the West Fork Rail Trail near Durbin in the Monongahela National Forest.

Expedia will help two West Virginia towns build new trails into the Monongahela National Forest

July 30, 2026

Kayakers paddle around Big Rock on the lower Greenbrier River near Hinton, West Virginia.

Big Rock: A Greenbrier River landmark where the Civil War didn’t end

July 17, 2026

A white-tailed doe pauses in a West Virginia forest. The state's controlled antlerless lottery hunts are designed to manage deer populations while protecting forests and wildlife habitat.

Hunters can apply for rare deer hunts in West Virginia state parks

July 16, 2026

Culture

The Bank of Huntington, at right, appears in this view of Third Avenue circa 1880, only a few years after four armed men robbed the bank in 1875. The identities of two of the robbers remain uncertain.

The James Gang supposedly robbed this West Virginia bank, though records are less certain

David Sibray September 8, 2026

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — One of West Virginia’s most famous outlaw stories holds that members of the James Gang rode into Huntington in 1875, robbed a bank in broad daylight, and fled toward the mountains with thousands of dollars. The

Daniel Boone prepared this survey of ten acres along Crooked Creek in Kanawha County on June 14, 1791. The original manuscript, signed by Boone, is preserved by the West Virginia State Archives. (West Virginia State Archives)

Daniel Boone lived in West Virginia for years; this document survives in his own hand

David Sibray September 7, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Daniel Boone is remembered as a great figure of the Kentucky frontier, but a surviving document in his own hand illuminates a lesser-known chapter of his life. The famed frontiersman spent years in what’s now

The Ohio River curves through Brickyard Bend at New Cumberland, West Virginia, where more than 20 brick plants once produced millions of bricks for markets across the United States. (Photo by David Sibray)

This West Virginia town once made the bricks that paved American cities

David Sibray September 5, 2026

NEW CUMBERLAND, W.Va. — More than 20 brick plants once crowded what’s now a scenic stretch of the Ohio River, producing millions of bricks shipped to Pittsburgh and to cities hundreds of miles away, transforming a small West

The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia identified Marmaduke Van Swearingen as the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket, preserving a long-standing legend that historical research and DNA evidence later disputed.

Lore and Legend

An artist’s interpretation of the legend of Crock Face, an Indigenous warrior said to have disguised himself as a scarecrow while waiting near the home of an early settler in what is now Harrison County, West Virginia.

Real Estate

History and Prehistory

In Thomas Dunn English’s day, the Guyandotte River valley was a pastoral landscape of farms and small settlements tucked between the river and steeply forested mountains, decades before railroads and coal mining transformed southern West Virginia. (WVExplorer.com illustration)

State Parks

Mountain Creek Lodge glows in the evening at the bottom of West Virginia's Bluestone Gorge, where the new Mountain Creek Appalachian Cuisine restaurant welcomes diners arriving by Pipestem Resort State Park's iconic aerial tram.

Hunting

An American woodcock pauses on the forest floor during its annual migration through Appalachia. The secretive bird depends on young forests and moist woodlands that provide shelter and abundant earthworms as it travels between its northern breeding grounds and southern wintering habitat.

Fishing

West Virginia has stocked more than 50 lakes and ponds with channel catfish for the summer, giving visitors and residents fresh opportunities to fish at state parks and public waters across the Mountain State. (Photo courtesy W.Va. Dept. of Commerce)

Hiking

Hikers enjoy panoramic views from North Fork Mountain Trail, where miles of exposed ridgeline overlook the South Branch Valley in eastern West Virginia.

Skiing

White Grass has long been a magnet for visitors from Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mountain River Media)

National Parks

The New River winds through a landscape where railroads, communities, industrial history and outdoor recreation remain intertwined inside New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

Kayaking

Motorboats with engines larger than 10 horsepower are now permitted to operate at no-wake speed on Elk Fork, North Bend, O’Brien, Stonecoal, and Woodrum lakes.

Whitewater Rafting

Biking

One of the largest networks on the East Coast, the routes activate thousands of miles of gravel roads across the Mon Forest for visitors and communities. (Photo: Getty Images)

More West Virginia News

State Parks, Forests