Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia

Harpers Ferry from Maryland Heights

The Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia includes eight of the easternmost counties in West Virginia — Grant, Hardy, Morgan, Hampshire, Mineral, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Pendleton counties in eastern West Virginia. It spans a landscape of broad valleys drained by the Potomac River and its branches, including the Cacapon, and Shenandoah rivers.

The nation’s first public baths were established here at Bath, or Berkeley Springs. Horse racing, near Charles Town, and heritage tourism are principal attractions in the panhandle. The national historical park at Harpers Ferry, and the Antietam National Battlefield, near Shepherdstown, attract thousands of visitors annually. The region is often called a bedroom community of the Washington, D.C., area. Tourism and agriculture are primary industries

Interstate 81 travels north to south through the panhandle region, passing through Martinsburg in its route between Hagerstown, Maryland, and Winchester, Virginia. Highways US-522 and US-340 course through the western and eastern reaches of the panhandle region, respectively.

READ ALSO: Here’s how West Virginia’s unique eastern panhandle came to be