Will Reedy
Spring turkey hunters harvested 11,539 gobblers in 2017, an increase of more than 11 percent over the 2016 harvest, according to preliminary numbers provided by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The harvest is the largest since 2006 when 11,735 birds were harvested and is more than 18 percent above the 10-year average. “Weather … Read more
Hikers up for a challenge are invited to join in a free 9.5-mile trek at Pipestem Resort State Park on May 27, part of the state park system’s 100-mile hiking challenge. Led by the volunteer team of Mark and Donna Barton of Princeton, West Virginia, the hike will be steady-paced and not an interpretive walk, according … Read more
Summer officially starts June 21, but Canaan Valley Resort marks the season Memorial Day with an eventful long weekend that includes hikes, wagon rides, dinner theater, and a golf tournament. General manager Steve Drumheller said the staff has designed the weekend to introduce or re-familiarize visitors with the resort and Canaan Valley Resort State Park … Read more
Adventures on the Gorge has been named one of the top five Mother’s Day destinations in the U.S. by national travel and realty magazine World Property Journal. Noting the resort’s recent ranking by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top adventure resorts in the country, author Steve Winston suggests active moms “might … Read more
The Avian Conservation Center of Appalachia will celebrate Morgantown Migratory Bird Day on May 13 at Coopers Rock State Forest, according to forest officials. The celebration begins at 7:30 a.m. with a guided bird walk on the Raven Rock Trail. Afterward, participants may gather in the pavilion near the Cheat canyon overlook to enjoy coffee, a … Read more
For more than a year after this iconic photograph of the New River Gorge hit social media, West Virginia Explorer editor David Sibray spent countless hours attempting to find its then-unnamed source, Wendy Parks Scott. Scott had published the popular image without a watermark, and the image went viral, so it appeared the editor might never get … Read more
The popular “Birding Around the Sun” nature hikes will return to Kanawha State Forest this May, and, for the third year, the hikes will be led by Sara Miller, a seasonal naturalist for two years who’s returning as a volunteer naturalist this year. Miller has recorded many species seen and heard in the forest since the beginning … Read more
Spring gobbler season in West Virginia opens Monday, April 17, and state officials are predicting a good season boosted by the 2016 cicada emergence. Hunters may kill only one bearded turkey per day and two during the season, which runs through Saturday, May 13, according to Gary Foster of the W.Va. Division of Natural Resources. Youth … Read more
Wildlife biologists are asking the public to become involved in a research project aimed at determining the current distribution of timber rattlesnakes in West Virginia. Although many people fear rattlesnakes and may want to kill them, the reptiles are a critical part of healthy forest ecosystems, says Kevin Oxenrider, a biologist with the W.Va. Division … Read more
High in the Alleghenies of northeastern West Virginia, Canaan Valley Resort State Park is welcoming the arrival of warm weather by releasing its calendar of events for spring, summer, and autumn 2017. Though perhaps best known for its ski area in winter, this centerpiece of the high-elevation Canaan Valley grows busy in the warm months … Read more
