The Official Site of
West Virginia State Parks & Forests

West Virginia State Parks Special places – Past, present & future.
History rolls along! Links on this page connect you with special places that helped form the character of the State of West Virginia. From architecture and design, community spirit, and battle sites that shaped the formation of the 35th state in these United States of America, West Virginia, you’ll find lessons in history, and like they say at Cass Scenic Railroad: "Preserving America's Past for the Future.”
Architecture	About
The Bauhaus movement and its influence is found at three West Virginia state parks: Hawks Nest State Park Pipestem Resort State Park Twin Falls Resort State Park Learn more Architect, Walter Gropius Learn more Modernist Movement – Bauhaus Learn more TAC-The Architects Collaborative Learn more Lodge Architecture – A Trio Learn more Historic Photos Palladian style architecture in the late 1700’s is showcased by a mansion on an island in West Virginia known as: Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park Learn more - Blennerhassett Mansion Learn more - Blennerhassett Museum of Regional History Learn more - The Putnam-Houser House	West Virginia State Parks Ye Famed Warm Springs Berkeley Springs State Park "March 18th, 1748, We this day called to see Ye Fam'd Warm Springs." – George Washington The Glade Creek Grist Mill Babcock State Park Learn more - “How the Mill Runs” Cass Scenic Railroad Nestled in the mountains of West Virginia, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park offers excursions that transport you back in time to relive an era when steam-driven locomotives were an essential part of everyday life. Learn more The history of the town of Cass follows the evolution of the lumber companies that inhabited the valley and operated the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Mill. The mill operation was enormous during its heyday 1908 to 1922. Learn more - History of a logging community “At 3,853 feet, Spruce was one of the highest towns in the eastern United States. At this height it was normal to have frost in the warmest months of the year.” Learn more - The Town of Spruce Invented to do the impossible, the Shay logging locomotive was designed to climb the steepest grades, swing around hairpin curves and negotiate frail temporary tracks. Learn more - The Locomotives of Cass
Civil War Sites – 1860’s	The 18th Century Frontier (1774)
Carnifex Ferry Battlefield September 10, 1861 Location Droop Mountain Battlefield November 6, 1863 Location	Prickett’s Fort State Park Interpreters recreate late 18th century lifestyle through period attire, demonstrations of a variety of colonial crafts, and the fort. Tu-Endie-Wei State Park At the junction of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers in what is now West Virginia, this area commemorates the frontiersmen who fought and died at the Battle of Point Pleasant. Learn more history
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Many of West Virginia’s state parks and forests were conceived and constructed by the labor and skill set of an American work force known and respected as the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933 – 1942. Camp references taken from The C.C.C. Camps in West Virginia A Record of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Mountain State 1933-1942 by Milton Harr, 1992. Civilian Conservation Corps Babcock State Park SP-3, Camp Beaver – 1934, Co. 1522 SP-6, Camp Lee – 1935, Co. 532 Cabwaylingo State Forest S-61, Camp Anthony Wayne – 1935, Co. 3532 S-71, Camp Twelvepole (or Aracoma) – 1935, Co. 3540 Cacapon State Park SP-4, Camp Morgan – 1934, Co. 1523 Coopers Rock State Forest P-73, Camp Preston – 1935, Co. 3527 S-75, Camp Rhododendron – 1937, Co. 3527 Droop Mt. Battlefield State Park P-68, Camp Price – 1935, Co. 2598 Greenbrier State Forest SP-67, Camp White Sulphur – 1935, Co. 549 Hawks Nest State Park See camps under Babcock Kanawha State Forest S-76, Camp Kanawha – 1938, Co. 2599 Kumbrabow State Forest S-62, Camp Bowers – 1935, Co. 2594 S-72, Camp Randolph – 1935, Co. 3520 Lost River State Park SP-2, Camp Hardy – 1934, Co. 1522 Seneca State Forest S-51, Camp Seneca – 1933, Co.1537 Watoga State Park SP-1, Camp Seebert – 1934, Co. 1535 SP-5, Camp Watoga – 1934, co. 1525 SP-7, Camp Will Rogers – 1935, Co. 3537 S-52, Camp Watoga – 1933, Co. 1525 Other work programs of the 1930s – 1940s influencing development of West Virginia state parks. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) Pinnacle Rock State Park Tomlinson Run State Park USDA Farm Security Administration Resettlement Project Holly River State Park
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