The 11,772-acre Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area (WMA) protects hardwood forests with gently rolling hills and moderately steep slopes in the upland between the Ohio and Kanawha rivers.
Game traditionally taken in the management area includes deer, grouse, fox, mink, squirrel, turkey, muskrat, and raccoon. A five-acre lake accommodates fishing for trout, bluegill, largemouth bass, and channel catfish.
From January to March, the lake is stocked with trout. Fifteen primitive camping sites with vault toilets and a 200-yard shooting range have been developed and are open in season.
The management area is also a popular designation for bird watching and wildlife observation. It's also a dark-sky area, popular with star-watchers. Though Shawnee chief Cornstalk, for whom the management area is named, is not known to have visited the area, local lore claims his ghost and the ghosts of other Shawnee walk the ridge on Cornstalk Road near the area's center. Cornstalk is buried nearby in Point Pleasant.
Directions to Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area
Directions: Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area is in western Mason County, south of Point Pleasant, WV. It is accessible by traveling Nine Mile Road west from highway US-35 near Southside, WV, or Crab Creek Road east from highway WV-2 five miles south of Gallipolis Ferry, WV.
Chief Cornstalk WMA is managed by the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources. It was formerly known as the Chief Cornstalk Public Hunting & Fishing Area. The area was so-named in honor of Cornstalk, who led several tribes of warriors in the Battle of Point Pleasant, fought nearby in 1774.
Hotels near Chief Cornstalk WMA
Regional Information
Further information on lodging, dining, and recreation near Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area may be found in our guide to travel in the Mid-Ohio Valley Region of western West Virginia, in which the management area is located.
