Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Whitmer, WV

Greenbrier River Trail Milepost 63.8 Primitive Campsite, Located between Clover Lick and Clawson, WV (south of Sharp's Tunnel)

The Greenbrier River Trail is one of the most beautiful and often most remote trail I have had the privilege of bikepacking. If you aren't familiar with camping in West Virginia, you are in for a treat. The WV State Park system is fantastic and the State Park employees take incredible pride in keeping all their parks beautifully maintained despite poor budgets to work with. 

GRT MP 63.8 Primitive Campsite is close to 17 miles south of the Cass Railroad Station. Trail conditions were wonderful, typical Railroad ballast, crushed gravel...at times it was wide like they recently removed the track, and other sections grass has grown down the middle to make it two track. All flat with a gentle one percent downhill grade from Stumptown to North Caldwell. Frankly, it wasn't discernible...but I'll take it.

Wildlife and songbirds were abundant and as shocked to see you as you were them. Oftentimes, the deer would run the trail ahead of you for 200 yards before cutting off onto their sidetrail.

The trail itself is recorded at differing lengths depending on what you read, but we started at MP 80…at Cass Railroad Station...traveling south to North Caldwell.

PROS:

• Free camping(First come, first served) 
• Newer Adirondock Style Shelter 
• Newer Large/Clean/Stocked Pit Latrine 
• Raised Tent pad(pea gravel) 
• Cold well water- Hand pump 
• Metal Fire Ring 
• No Cell Service 

CONS: 

• No Cell Service 

NEARBY HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Cass Railroad Station 
• Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort 
• Seneca Forest (**Thorny Mountain Fire Tower)
• Seneca Rocks
•  Spruce Knob(WV Highest Elevation) 
• Green Bank Observatory 
• The Greenbrier Resort

*Note in the video, I initially thought the steel containers were bear proof storage, but I was incorrect and they are bear proof trash receptacles. 

This is bear country, so we kept all our food items and toiletries in a bear cannister during our trip. We did not experience any encounters or sightings, but fellow cyclists traveling in the same direction, observed a juvenile bear during the day along the trail.

In fact, WV has an abundant wildlife population and it is evident along the Greenbrier River Trail, which set this trail apart from other bikepacking trails I've traveled.

You will see in a couple photos that a certain slithering resident was unwilling to give up his claim on this Adirondack Shelter, we attempted to dissuade him, we even gently relocated him, but he was neither afraid of our presence nor was he about to pass up a roof over his head. So we acquiesced and moved to the raised tent pad 100' down the trail. He was a very curious character.

In June, you can anticipate random, short afternoon or evening cloudbursts...but they can be gully-washers. Nights were cool and most mornings I wore a long-sleeve Merino shirt.

Riding and camping along the picture-perfect Greenbrier River offers fantastic views and opportunities to cool off...bring your swimwear.

If you’re looking for a place to camp in West Virginia, don’t even bother with this campground, head over to Audra State park instead.

We generally love most camping experiences and make it work, but this one was so bad we left 3 days early. When I kindly called to cancel, the nice Park ranger said he completely understood and would actually refund us for our entire trip (which we didn’t even mention or ask for).

The only good things about this campground were the friendly staff and the updated bathrooms.

Almost all sites are walk-ups, which is NOT noted on their site. Also, almost all sites are on a hill. The pictures do not accurately show this. We had site 33 (probably the worst site). The entire site was on a slant and covered in rocks, I tried to capture it in a picture, but it just doesn’t look as slanted as it feels when you are standing there. There was no flat spot for our 10 x 20 tent, so we had to sleep on an angle. (I felt like I was falling out of bed the whole night!) 33 should NOT be a site.

There is a HUGE raccoon problem here, even during the day. I wish we were warned ahead of time. Many people bring an extra tent to keep their food in. Our dog barked the entire night as the racoons kept coming up to our site and even our tent. At one point they even put holes in the outside of our $300 tent!! The next day we tried to make the best of our trip and decided to check out the lake. We had left our cooler and a couple small Rubbermaid bins of food on the table while we headed down for an hour. The car was far and incredibly hot during the day, and we didn’t want to give them any incentive to go after our tent again, so we had no other option. While we were gone the raccoons tore open our cooler, ate some of our food, and scattered the rest of our food and water in the woods. (This is probably why there is so much food that can been seen scattered near the campsites).

The lake was pretty but there was a ton trash all around it, such a shame. I had to pick up a bunch of pieces of glass on the shore of the campground so my dog wouldn’t get hurt. You technically aren’t allowed to swim in the non-beach/swimming area unless you are jumping off a boat, but people were doing it anyway. You cannot bring dogs in the designated swimming area.

While the bathrooms were nice they are a very far walk from any of the shaded/non-electric sites, and you are not permitted to drive up to them. There are only 2 showers. Both were kept clean but had 100’s of little green bugs and a ton of months and mosquitos on the. To get to the bathrooms you must park at the top of the hill and walk down (not a big deal for us, but may be for some).

The electric sites have no shade or privacy, and they are all on top of each other.

This campground is the highest in West Virginia, it has a total of 65 campsites 30 of which are electric and 35 are non-electric. Each site has a picnic table and fire pit, most of the campsites are open and have little privacy from neighbors. No tent pads, but no more than two tents permitted (but may be charged for the second tent). It has a bath house with hot showers, flush toilets, and coin laundry. There is a dumping station. Reservations can be made by phone or at campground registration but is otherwise first come-first serve. Pets are permitted. The sites are $25 a night.

The park has tons of hiking trails to choose from and two viewable waterfalls. There is a lake that is open to swimming, volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts are in the vicinity as well. Fishing is a large draw as well to this area, both catch and release and catch and keep permitted on the Blackwater River.

Campground Review: Canaan Valley State Park and Resort, Davis, West Virginia

The Canaan Valley State Park and Resort is situated in a very popular outdoor activity area...for every season. Winter brings copious snowfall and the skiing here draws thousands...downhill and XC. The summer sees backpackers, hikers, mountain bikers, gravel grinders, car-campers and RVers. Not only do you have hiking trails here on the State Park location...you can drive up to the nearby Dolly Sods Wilderness Area for camping, day-hikes or multi-day backcountry trips; Blackwater Falls (10 miles north) offers memorable falls, great hikes with long gorge views (Lindy Point a favorite). Even Seneca Rocks and Spruce Knob are only 30 minutes or so away. Possibilities are endless in this neck of the woods. This very weekend was to be the Mountainbike Festival, but due to Covid-19, well you know the rest of that story. The Abe Run Trail was a pleasant trail leaving from the campground.

The campground portion is not expansive but 34 sites are situated in three small loops (see photo of campground map). Primitive tent sites don't have water or electric and parking is roadside but you are within 100 yards of the "Comfort Station." The three "tent only" sites have only been around for a couple years...but sites 1 and 2 are in a nice grassy area away from the RV loop 2. Always verify current rates, but June 18, 2020...mid $30's nightly for nonresidents (WV residents get 30% off). Primitive tent sites were $17 a night.

The Resort Lodge, Golf course, swimming pool and a covered ice skating rink (obviously the last three mentioned being seasonal) were further up the windy park roadway. (See rates on park website).

The campground "Comfort Station," is a restroom/shower/laundry and soda machine building. The gender specific restroom/shower rooms each have two wooden stalled modern facility stools, two shower stalls (men's are separated by a shower curtain, women's by a wall); a separate unisex ADA restroom/shower sits adjacent to the men's and appears newer.

The grounds are well-maintained and manicured as are all WV State Parks. Trails are scattered throughout the park. some are foot traffic only, others permit bicycles. The Back Hollow Trail was predominantly a mown grass trail but occasional wooded sections were rocky two-track. This is Wet Virginia, so expect to experience rain and bring foul weather gear in the summer months. I have mastered the fine art of campsite tarping due to West Virginia camping. It also still gets chilly in these mountains during the early summer months.

Deer meander through the primitive tent sites with their fawns each morning and evening. A kid's playground is situated beside (separated by a field) primitive tent sites 1 & 2.

We spent three days in June and experienced afternoon rain showers daily, but arranged our hikes and bikes around them.

I stayed here for a single night while I was exploring West Virginia, but I wish I had stayed longer. This is one of the most beautiful campgrounds I've ever seen.

The front section of Seneca Shadows isn't all that interesting. There are standard sites here with gravel pads, water, and electricity, good for trailers and RVs. The sites are of an average size and have plenty of shade and privacy.

There is also a large tent-only section at the back of the campground. This is where I stayed, and this is what made Seneca Shadows memorable. The tent section is a giant meadow with picnic tables and tent pads arranged around the edges. There is also a picnic shelter here. Parking is adjacent; expect to carry your gear a few hundred feet. Many of the sites have shade trees, and a few have shrubs for privacy, but nearly all have an incredible view of Seneca Rocks, a magnificent geological feature.

There are vault toilets located close to the tent section, but these didn't smell great so I avoided them. There are real bathrooms with flushing toilets, running water, and showers located just up the road. These were nice and clean when I visited.

I intend to return someday for a closer look at Seneca Rocks. This place is a destination, not just a stopover.

The kids had so much fun playing in the water we didn’t have time to hike and see all of it. We spent time in Swallow Falls as well as neighboring Herrington Manor state park where they have a “beach” for swimming and boat and SUP rentals. The prices for rentals were very reasonable and the concession stand was cheap!!! 2.50 for large fries, $1 snow cones, it was nice to splurge on snacks and not drop a small fortune.

We stayed at the camp ground in swallow falls in a pop up camper. The camp ground was quiet and well maintained though it is more suitable for tents and not trailers or RV’s. The bathrooms were decent for public bathhouses, they were cleaned daily but the were outdated. I would definitely come back but maybe with a tent next time and not the trailer. The camp store had the necessities at fair prices. Firewood is sold for $4 a bundle.

We did have a pet friendly site reserved but found out after we arrived that dogs are not allowed out of the campground. In order to hike with our dog we had to access the trail just outside the state park. This would have been nice information to have before arriving with our pet. Pets are allowed within the park Labor Day through Memorial Day.