Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining in West Virginia. Individual trees exceed 90 feet in height and several centuries in age. Trails are level and the canopy is dense enough that ground-level light stays low through the day. The main loop takes about an hour.
Know before you go
- Hemlock woolly adelgid is a live threat here — do not move firewood
- Trails are short, flat and family-friendly
- Best light for photography is midday, when it reaches the forest floor
What you can do here
Guides, gear and lodging near Cathedral State Park
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereWho looks after it
Nearby in the Mountaineer Country
Coopers Rock State Forest
A 12,747-acre state forest above the Cheat River Canyon.
Cheat Canyon
One of the classic big-water runs of the East: roughly 11 miles of Class IV–V through a remote gorge below Albright, with named rapids including Big Nasty, Coliseum and Pete Morgan.
Mon River Rail-Trail System
About 48 miles of connected crushed-limestone rail-trail through Morgantown: the Caperton Trail along the riverfront downtown, the Mon River Trail running north to the Pennsylvania line and south toward Prickett's Fort, and the Deckers Creek Trail climbing 19 miles east to Reedsville.
Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Area
Purpose-built modern singletrack in Preston County, the anchor project of a regional effort to link northern West Virginia into a single mountain bike destination.
Big Bear Lake Trail Center
A long-established private trail center in Preston County with dozens of miles of cross-country singletrack and doubletrack around a lake, plus camping.
Valley Falls State Park
A series of ledge drops on the Tygart Valley River near Fairmont, popular with photographers, picnickers and — at the right levels — playboaters.