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Photo: Brian M. Powell (user Bitmapped on en.wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
WV-20 14 miles north of I-77 (exit 14), 304-466-1800. Scenic overlooks of the Bluestone Gorge and an aerial tramway. Two lodges, rental cottages, campgrounds, four restaurants and three gift shops. Two golf courses, guided horseback rides, outdoor amphitheatre, nature center, Olympic-sized outdoor pool, miniature golf, lighted tennis and basketball courts, hunting, fishing, paddle boating, canoeing, 20 miles of hiking trails, bicycling, horseshoes, archery. Cottages $86 - $182 nightly, $542 - $1,024 weekly; camping $15 - $23.
Pipestem Resort State Park is a 4,050-acre (1,640 ha) state park located in southern West Virginia, on the border between Mercer and Summers counties. The park was built with grants provided by the Area Redevelopment Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce under the administration of President John F. Kennedy. It officially opened on Memorial Day 1970. It is located in the gorge of the Bluestone River.
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The, WV-20 near Pipestem. 4,310 acres of parkland along an 11-mile tributary of the New River. Hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding along the Bluestone Turnpike Trail; fishing, hunting and whitewater boating along the river.
Cornbread Ridge Road off I-77 (exit 14), 304-425-0230. Open April through October. 4/10-mile oval clay speedway. Races held on Saturday at 6PM. Admission $10.
5,300 forested acres for hunting, trout fishing, scenic trail hiking, horseback riding, basketball, volleyball and badminton. Three campgrounds available.
An abandoned amusement park (1920s-1966) occupies a desecrated native burial ground which was the site of the 1783 Mitchell Clay settler farm. Three of the Clay children (Bartley, Tabitha, Ezekial) were killed by a band of natives; Mitchell Clay led a group of settlers in bloody retaliation, causing several fatalities. In the 1920s, businessman Conley T. Snidow purchased the site of the Clay farm for development as an amusement park; the park was abandoned in 1966 after two children were killed (a girl on a circling swing was hit by a truck and a boy drowned in the amusement park’s swimming pond). The park structures and rides stand in abandoned and deteriorating condition; tours of the "cursed" site are offered by appointment only, with a "dark carnival" in the days leading up to Hallow'een.
Locally known as "the Pyramids" for its unmistakable triple-pyramidal glass ceiling, the TIC also has a large repository of guides and brochures, as well as an extensive craft and gift shop featuring hand-crafted local souvenirs, including glass, coal sculptures, pottery, books, jewelry and foods. Free Wi-Fi.
Replica depot housing artifacts relating to the Virginian Railroad.