When to Go: A Month by Month Guide

March–April: high water

Snowmelt and spring rain put the Cheat, the Blackwater, the Meadow and every creek in the Highlands at their best. This is the private boater's season. Trout stocking ramps up. Trails are muddy and high-elevation trailheads may still be snowed in. Wildflowers start in the coves in late April.

May–June: peak green

The best month for birding — Cerulean, Golden-winged and Blackburnian warblers are on territory in the spruce and the hardwood by mid-May, and Cranberry Glades and Dolly Sods are at their peak. Rhododendron blooms at Grandview in late May. Rivers are still up but warming. Climbing is open and friction is decent before the humidity arrives.

July–August: heat and low water

Humid and hot below 2,500 feet. This is the season to go high, go underground or get wet — Canaan Valley and Snowshoe stay cool, caves hold at about 52°F year-round, and swimming holes and the warm rivers are at their best. Smallmouth fishing peaks. Whitewater is limited to the New and dam-fed sections. Trails are green, buggy and quiet.

September–October: peak season

Gauley Season release weekends begin the Friday after Labor Day. Humidity drops and rock friction reaches its annual peak, which is why most climbers plan trips for October. Fall color begins on the highest ridges in late September and moves downhill through late October, reaching the Ohio Valley last. Nights are cold and days are clear. This is the busiest period of the year and lodging in Fayetteville, Davis and Marlinton books months ahead.

November–December: bare and quiet

Leaves are down, views open up, and rock stays cold and grippy. Hunting seasons dominate public land — wear orange. Trails empty out completely. First reliable snow reaches the Canaan Valley snow belt in December, and the ski areas open.

January–February: the snow belt

Canaan Valley, Timberline, White Grass and Snowshoe are running. Upslope snowfall in Tucker and Pocahontas counties regularly produces conditions nothing else in the mid-Atlantic can match, while the valleys forty miles west stay bare. Blackwater Falls in ice is one of the great sights in the state. Ice climbing exists but is unreliable and access-sensitive.

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