There are few states that can match West Virginia in terms of beauty. Going back to childhood visits with my grandparents in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania, I have made many trips to and through West Virginia, and every time, I leave thinking that it is a special place.
That same feeling remained after making a visit to Spruce Knob, the first highpoint of 2016 for Ben and me.
The trip to Spruce Knob took a while to develop this summer. A week before heading that direction, we were riding around Key West on a moped going to see the southern most publicly accessible point (or so they say) on the mainland of the United States. After a quick trip back home, a few days in Atlanta, and a visit with family in Charlotte, we began the trip to West Virginia.
Let me warn anyone who suffers from motion sickness. You will either need to take medicine, sleep, or drive when going through the mountain roads to this highpoint.
While there are a few trails in the area along with Seneca Rocks Recreation Area, we only had the time to hit the highpoint and begin the long trip back home. After taking a couple of forest roads, we reached the parking lot near the highpoint. The walk from the parking lot is quite short, about five minutes. Once you reach the highpoint, you can climb up an observation tower for a better view of the surrounding area. I suggest that you take advantage of this. Also, the highpoint marker sits near one of the pillars of the observation tower.
Even more, I suggest you take the walk along the Whispering Spruce Trail. This short loop is less than a mile, but it provides quite a few beautiful overlooks on a clear day. If you have younger children, they will love this trail as it lets them feel close to the edge of the mountain in spots but without any real danger.
While this may not be the most difficult highpoint to reach, the views from Spruce Knob are worth your time. Even the short trail to the summit has a great look to it.
After heading back to the car and driving back down the forest roads, which are not that wide, we stopped in at The Gateway Restaurant in Riverton. The place has great food at a great price, so you won’t be disappointed. If you are hungry, make sure you stop as there are not many stops around here. Speaking of stops, if you get a chance to hit some of the scenic overlooks around the area, take the time to view them. We caught a great sunset in Virginia on our way to Bristol.
From here, I bet the highpointing adventure will get quite interesting. We had been knocking down four or so a year, but now the highpoints are getting further away and some are going to be a bit more difficult. Our next closest stops are in Delaware, West Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois.
With that in mind, it looks like some might make for a great extended weekend trip, while others will have to be part of vacations to an area with more highpoints around it. I started these adventures with Ben when he was three, and so far he has been able to tackle any mountain we have visited in the three years since. Now that he is closing in on seven, I am curious as to what all we can accomplish.
A Blind Shot at Reaching 50 State Highpoints 