Potomac Highlands Fall Color Tour
Colour starts on the ridges in late September and runs downhill through October. This route follows it, mostly by car with short walks at each stop.
Day by day
The high country
- 9:00 amSpruce Knob. Drive to the summit, then the half-mile Whispering Spruce Trail past the observation tower.
- 1:00 pmSeneca Rocks. The 1.3-mile trail to the observation platform needs no gear.
- 5:00 pmOvernight in Elkins or near Seneca Rocks.
North Fork and the Sods
- 8:30 amNorth Fork Mountain overlooks and Germany Valley, one of the best views in the state.
- 12:00 pmDrive to Dolly Sods. Forest Road 75 is rough gravel; allow real time.
- 2:00 pmBear Rocks and the plateau edge. Blueberry heath turns scarlet in October.
- 6:00 pmOvernight in Davis or Thomas.
Blackwater and out
- 8:30 amBlackwater Falls, then Lindy Point and Pendleton Point Overlook.
- 11:30 amBlackwater Canyon Trail on foot or by bike, downhill from Thomas.
- 2:00 pmDrive out over the Highland Scenic Highway, which tops 4,500 feet with four major overlooks.
Before you go
Book ahead
- Lodging well ahead. October is the busiest month of the year in the Highlands
- Cass Scenic Railroad if you want the Bald Knob run, which is 4.5 hrs round trip
What to bring
- Warm layers for the summits, which run far colder than the valleys
- Fuel up before Pocahontas and Pendleton counties, where services are thin
- Offline maps. There is no cell coverage across much of this route
Peak colour tracks elevation rather than the calendar. If the ridges have already turned, drop to the Greenbrier Valley, which peaks one to two weeks later.
Outfitters and lodging on this route
Itinerary pages carry the highest booking intent on the site. Placement is sold per route.
List your business hereWhere you'll be
Spruce Knob
At 4,863 feet, the highest point in West Virginia and the high point of the entire Allegheny range.
Seneca Rocks
A 900-foot fin of near-vertical Tuscarora quartzite standing above the North Fork of the South Branch — the most recognizable rock formation in the eastern United States and the only true summit in the East that can only be reached by technical climbing.
North Fork Mountain Trail
A 24-mile ridge trail along one of the driest mountains in the eastern United States, running through pine and oak with repeated Tuscarora quartzite outcrops looking down into Germany Valley and across at Seneca Rocks.
Dolly Sods Wilderness
A 17,371-acre federally designated wilderness on a plateau largely above 4,000 feet, containing wind-flagged red spruce, heath barrens, sphagnum bog and exposed rock.
Bear Rocks Preserve
The northern edge of the Dolly Sods plateau, owned by The Nature Conservancy: bare Pottsville sandstone slabs, one-sided spruce sculpted by prevailing wind, and blueberry heath dropping east into the Allegheny Front with a 3,000-foot view over the Potomac Highlands.
Blackwater Falls State Park
A 57-foot falls where the Blackwater River drops into an eight-mile canyon, its water stained amber by hemlock and spruce tannins.
Highland Scenic Highway
A 43-mile National Scenic Byway climbing over 4,500 feet across the Allegheny plateau between Richwood and US 219, with four major overlooks and access to Cranberry Glades, the Falls of Hills Creek and the Cranberry Wilderness.