West Virginia
This Is the Perfect Small Mountain Town—And Few Know About It
There isn’t much to Davis, West Virginia (population 581). Its downtown is only a few blocks long. There’s no movie theater, no Starbucks. The entire county has one stoplight. You could feasibly drive through Davis and miss it entirely if you were engrossed in a good podcast.
Davis sits on the northern rim of Canaan Valley, a broad, high-elevation basin roughly 2.5 hours west of Washington, D.C. It’s surrounded by 4,000-foot peaks, most managed as public land, and hubs for hiking, biking, and skiing. But Davis’s best attribute? It’s full of people stoked to be here.
Why I Love Visiting Davis, West Virginia, Year-Round
Some might be deterred by Davis’s lack of sushi or nightlife or community theater or even a Target. But I’ve been going there for 20 years, and every time I visit I’m mesmerized by the town’s bounty. The few restaurants are great for such a small town, there’s a proud beer scene, and access to outdoor adventure is off the charts.
Just ask Ian Beckner, a Davis native who moved away for college, then bounced around to other mountain towns before settling back in Davis to open a ski shop.
“There’s just so much here—so many trails, such good skiing,” he says. “People usually have to work two jobs to make ends meet”—there are no large employers or industries in the area—“but they don’t care too much about money. They just want to be here. Once you’re here, you don’t leave. I can’t tell you the last time I drove more than an hour away.”
The adventure portfolio is exceptionally diverse, considering Davis’s location in the southern Appalachians, a region not renowned for robust winter-sports opportunities. But this particular nook of West Virginia has four distinct seasons. Mountain biking rules the warm months and skiing takes center stage in the winter, thanks to a hefty average snowfall and a trio of ski resorts. And West Virginia gets powder: Lake Effect snow from the Great Lakes on one side, and storms from the Northeast coast on the other. On average, it enjoys more than 150 inches of snow annually. Compare that to the 30 to 40 inches of snow that typically fall on ski resorts in neighboring Virginia.
I can’t decide if I like Davis more when it’s warm or has powder on the ground. I’ve logged countless miles on the valley’s notoriously rocky and rooty singletrack and celebrated epic rides with friends by passing around jars of moonshine. I’ve also floated through knee-deep powder in both lift-served and backcountry glades. Ditto with sharing the moonshine then, too.
The Great Mountain-Biking-Versus-Skiing Debate
So which is better? The mountain biking or the skiing? This is something debated by locals.
On the one hand, hundreds of miles of singletrack wind through adjacent state-park, national-forest, and national-wildlife-refuge land. Remember the hardcore 24-hour mountain-bike races that were so popular in the ’90s and early 2000s? They began here, with the 24 Hours of Canaan.
On the other hand, you can be at either of the downhill ski resorts, the 95-acre Canaan Valley and 100-acre Timberline, in about 10 minutes. Each offers more than 1,000 vertical feet of skiing, as well as a touring center that pulls in hundreds of cross-country junkies daily when there’s fresh snow.
“The skiing is what attracted me first,” says Todd Romero, who moved to Davis in 2011, switching jobs from the tech industry to the public-school system and taking a huge pay cut in the process. “When there’s a solid base of snow, and you can ski the trees. It’s amazing. But the mountain biking is like nowhere else. I’ve been to other bike towns, but you have to drive to the trailhead. Here in town you’re at the trailhead.”
The More Some Things Change…
As a Davis outsider, I’d say the town hasn’t changed much in two decades. The mountains surrounding town keep it relatively isolated, as do the serpentine roads between it and larger burgs. Locals say housing prices have skyrocketed and those in the service industry say they have a hard time making rent. It’s tough to find rental data on a town of this size, but housing prices in general have climbed almost 4 percent each year since the pandemic. And it’s only getting pricier; according to Zillow, home prices in Davis jumped 10 percent in the last year alone, with the average home value sitting at just under $330K. Davis is suffering from the second-home crunch that has impacted just about every mountain town I know of in the past decade. The same thing is happening in my hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.
Beckner says there are now more restaurants to accommodate increasing numbers of visitors (the amount of money the county collects via hotel tax has almost doubled in the last decade, according to the Tucker County CVB), and the downhill resorts are more crowded on weekends. But the Davis of today still feels like the Davis from his childhood, he says.
“We’re still a small town. It’s not commercialized,” Beckner says. “We have all these miles of trail, but still only one bike shop. We might have more of an influx of people trying to enjoy the vibe that we all live with, that’s true, but the core value is still what it was when I was a kid. People are here to get outdoors.”
Beckner tells me that his favorite weekly event is the weekly mountain-bike group ride, the epicenter of Davis’s social scene.
“If it’s Thursday night, you know where everyone will be. It feels like the whole town rides together, and then we all go get burritos together, and then we all go to the brewery together,” he says. “You’re mingling with your doctor and your accountant and your kid’s teacher. It’s loud, and it’s always a party. It doesn’t matter what you wear, what bike you’re on, everyone is out enjoying what we have.”
Without further ado, here’s the best of Davis and the surrounding Canaan Valley.
What’s Cool About the Winter in Davis, West Virginia
Skiing and Snowboarding
Two downhill resorts are minutes apart from each other. Canaan Valley, part of Canaan Valley State Park, has loads of blue and green terrain, perfect for families and beginners. More advanced skiers can head for the fun, mellow glades off the black-diamond Dark Side of the Moon, from the top.
Timberline Resort has steeper terrain and better tree skiing. It also has a high-speed six chair that gets you to the summit in under five minutes, so you can knock out laps until your quads quake. Pearly Glades, closer to the base area, offers steep pitches with comfortable space between trees, but mainly you’ll find tight tree runs all over this mountain, so you’ll need to focus. Driftland Ski and Sport, downtown, has all the gear you need.
As great as the downhill skiing is, to me, the Whitegrass Ski Touring Center is what makes winter in Davis truly special. It offers more than 25 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails and more than 60 kilometers of ungroomed trails that climb and descend some 1,200 vertical feet. This isn’t flat-road skiing but backcountry fun). A dozen warming huts are scattered throughout the system, most stocked with pieces of chocolate. The Whitegrass café and gear shop welcomes skiers with a warm après scene that includes multiple firepits, and Chip Chase, the center’s owner and a local legend, often mills around, sharing stories and his personal stash of whiskey.
Biking
Cyclists don’t have to give up riding just because it’s winter. A local trail builder, Zach Adams, has started grooming more than eight miles of fat-bike trails at Canaan Valley State Park. The place is even a stop on an annual fat-bike race series that hits the valley and a few other spots in West Virginia and Maryland.
Ultimate Sledding
If you have kids, hit up the sled run at Blackwater Falls State Park, which has a magic carpet and a hot-chocolate hut.
How to Maximize the Warm Months in Davis
Hike, Fish, and (Much) More
Dolly Sods Wilderness, a small but spectacular 17,000-acre roadless area known for its high-elevation bogs and rocky outcroppings, is the destination for hiking and backpacking. Hit Red Creek Trailhead for fly-fishing, creek stomping (wading and exploring), and hiking on paths that range from easy three-mile out-and-backs to multiday 20-mile loops.
I have never yet played the golf course at Canaan Valley State Park, but I would love to.
Biking
But if you’re coming to Davis, you’re bringing mountain bikes. The singletrack is notoriously difficult and, at least in my opinion, all uphill. That’s part of the charm.
If you agree that rocks are fun, start with Plantation Trail, which forms the backbone of the singletrack within Canaan Valley. Many offshoots and well-worn social trails branch off this eight-mile point-to-point route, and I guarantee you’ll get off your bike at least once during particularly spicy sections, so give it twice as much time as you think you’ll need.
Plantation Trail
Don’t fret if that sounds like more torture than fun; some new, machine-groomed flow trails have been built for us mere mortals. Hit Promised Land, a six-mile swoopy loop in Canaan Valley State Park. Blackwater Bikes has beta, rentals, and gear.
Promised Land
Where to Eat and Drink in Davis, West Virginia
Davis and the Canaan Valley only have a few restaurants, but those have everything I crave when I’m there.
Hellbender Burritos and Sirianni’s, serving pizza, are staples. But my favorite place to eat is at Whitegrass, whose café caters to a more elevated palate; its great vegetarian chili hits just right on a cold afternoon. Sometimes there’s live music, and the specials change daily, but there’s always a crowd of rosy-nosed cross-country skiers, fresh off the trails and hungry, clustered in a handful of tables in the middle of the gear and rental shop. The place is cozy, loud on a busy afternoon, and really fun. When it’s time for a beer, head to Stumptown Ales, the locals’ favorite drinking hole.
Where To Stay in Davis
You’ll find Airbnbs throughout the valley, including a two-bedroom option attached to the bike shop. The lovely Canaan Valley State Park has lodge rooms and cabins fresh off a renovation (from $178.50), as well as campsites with electricity. I’ve camped in my 4Runner here in the winter, running a space heater from the outlet. Searching for something a bit more sophisticated? Book a night at the ten-room Billy Motel and Bar, and enjoy its mid-century vibe (from $100).
Find Airbnbs in Davis
Book flights to Elkins, West Virginia
Graham Averill of Asheville, North Carolina, is Outside Online’s national-parks columnist. He’s hoping to bring his wife and kids to Davis this winter to ski at White Grass and sled on the hill in Blackwater Falls State Park. He recently wrote about the most beautiful towns in the Southeast and the best ways to get outside in West Virginia, as well as an on-the-ground account of what it was like to survive Hurricane Helene in Asheville, and why he rues not visiting Capitol Reef National Park sooner.
During the Gold-Blue spring game on Saturday, the West Virginia coaching staff named wide receiver Cyrus Traught the recipient of the 2026 Tommy Nikolich Award.
The award, which is always given out at the end of spring ball, recognizes a walk-on team member who has distinguished himself through his attitude and work ethic. The award is presented in memory of Tommy Nickolich, a former WVU player (1980-82) who passed away from cancer in 1983.
Traugh is a Parkersburg native and graduate of Parkersburg South High School. He began his career at Youngstown State before transferring back home to play for the Mountaineers last season. In his final year with the Penguins, he logged 36 receptions, 409 yards, and a team-leading five touchdowns, two of which came against Pitt.
During the 2025 campaign with the Mountaineers, he saw action against Robert Morris and Kansas, playing 10 snaps against the Jayhawks, but did not record any stats.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez has mentioned him twice this spring as someone who has been doing some good things and making progress. Wide receivers coach Ryan Garrett also showed him some love during his press conference last week.
The Mountaineers completely revamped the wide receiver room this offseason, upping the level of talent at both inside and outside receiver spots, but perhaps Traugh can work his way into the mix if he puts together a strong summer and fall camp. If he’s not a regular in the rotation, he’ll serve as a quality depth piece who can play special teams.
Past Nickolich Award winners:
2025: Clay Ash, RB
2024: Avery Wilcox, S
2023: C.J. Cole, WR
2022: Nick Malone, OL
2021: Graeson Malashevich, WR/H
2020: Osman Kamara, S
2019: Jake Abbott, LB
2018: Evan Staley, K
2017: Nick Meadows, LS
2016: Jon Lewis, DL
2015: Justin Arndt, LB
2014: Michael Calicchio, OL
2013: Connor Arlia, WR
2012: Tyler Anderson, DE
2011: Ryan Nehlen, WR
2010: Matt Lindamood, FB
2009: Josh Taylor, DL
2008: Adam Hughes, LS
2007: Andy Emery, LB
2006: Tim Lindsey, LS
2005: George Shehl, H/DB
2004: Jeff Noechel, LB
2003: John Pennington, WR
2002: Moe Fofana, RB
2001: Jeremy Knapp, TE
2000: Ben Collins, LB
1999: Bryan Lorenz, LB
1998: Mark Corman, TE
1997: David Lightcap, DB
1996: Matt Ceresa, OL
1995: Rob Keys, DB
1994: Randy Fulmore, DB
1993: Matt McCulty, WR
1992: Brett Parise, WR, Ray Wilcox, LB
1991: Keith Taparausky, RB
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West Virginia offers deep river gorges, Appalachian mountain trails, and museums covering several layers of regional history. Day trips can lead to quirky stops like the legends at the Mothman Museum or haunting tours through a historic asylum. Other stops highlight art and science, with hands-on exhibits at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences and wide-ranging collections at the West Virginia State Museum. Places like Beech Fork State Park and Babcock State Park show off the landscapes that make West Virginia a rewarding place to drive through. Below are 12 day trips worth the drive, starting from Charleston and Huntington.
Starting City: Charleston
Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences (Within the City)
This 240,000-square-foot facility opened in 2003 and combines art exhibits with STEM experiences across multiple museums and theaters. The Avampato Discovery Museum is the child-facing centerpiece, with climbing sculptures, a music studio, a Space Lab for designing rockets, and a Wild Kratts Ocean Adventure covering various ocean ecosystems. The Caperton Planetarium & Theater handles night-sky programming. The other two anchors are the Juliet Art Museum with its Interactive Art Space and the Maier Performance Hall, which hosts performances from the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and visiting jazz ensembles.
West Virginia State Museum (Within the City)
The state museum dates to 1890 and was previously known as the West Virginia Science and Culture Center. It covers history, art, culture, paleontology, and archaeology across its galleries. The Discovery Rooms walk visitors through the prehistory of West Virginia, life on the Appalachian frontier, and John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, which helped ignite the American Civil War. Additional rooms cover West Virginia’s 1863 statehood (the state was carved from Virginia during the war) and its long heritage as a coal-mining state. Interpretive reconstructions throughout the museum recreate West Virginia landmarks including a classic soda shop, Harpers Ferry, and a coal mine.
Capitol Market (Within the City)
The Capitol Market in the heart of Charleston has been widely recognized as one of the best local shopping centers in the state. Set in a historic train depot, it houses produce merchants both indoors and outdoors. Inside, Johnnie’s Fresh Meat Market handles meat, Mea Cuppa Coffeebar pours coffee, and Bogey’s serves BBQ, fire-roasted corn, and homemade coleslaw. The outdoor section is where shoppers find flowers and greens from greenhouses like Bostic and Evans, along with fresh fruit and vegetables from Robbie’s Produce out of Sissonville, West Virginia.
Kanawha State Forest (15 Minutes)
West Virginia is one of the most heavily forested states in the country, with forest covering roughly 79% of its total land area. That reality is easy to experience 15 minutes south of Charleston at Kanawha State Forest. At 9,300 acres, the forest was once a logging and mining site before the West Virginia Conservation Commission purchased it and converted it to public land. There are more than 60 miles of hiking and biking trails, with strong wildflower viewing in spring and reliable bird sightings, including 19 species of wood warblers during migration. Davis Creek offers fishing opportunities with wheelchair-accessible piers.
Mothman Museum (1 Hour)
West Virginia has its share of cryptid legends, and the state’s most famous is Mothman, first sighted around Point Pleasant in November 1966 and described as a winged figure with glowing red eyes. The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant calls itself the world’s only museum dedicated to Mothman, with collected newspaper clippings, eyewitness accounts, and props from the 2002 film The Mothman Prophecies. Visitors can take pictures next to the nearby Mothman Statue or pick up Mothman-inspired shirts and souvenirs. The museum also runs the Mothman ’66 Escape Room and a Mothman Blacklight Mini-Golf course, both fit for families willing to lean into the spookier side of the legend.
Hawks Nest State Park (1 Hour)
Hawks Nest State Park covers 270 acres along the cliffs above the New River. The water below produces fast rapids popular with experienced whitewater rafters. Away from the rapids, the park offers a scenic overlook down to the New River Gorge Bridge and 8 miles of hiking trails climbing up into the mountains. Hawks Nest Lake holds bass for anglers, though swimming is not allowed in the lake (the park has a separate pool and splash pad). Like many West Virginia parks, it was initially developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and the Hawks Nest Park Museum covers that history.
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (1 Hour, 15 Minutes)
A few more minutes’ drive from Charleston takes you down into the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The gorge was carved by the New River, which, despite its name, is actually one of the oldest rivers in North America at roughly 260 million years old. The gorge is the deepest in the Appalachian Mountains, with 1,000 feet of exposed sandstone and shale cliffs. Those cliffs support more than 1,600 established climbing routes, drawing climbers year-round. Hikers have nearly 100 miles of trails to choose from, along with scenic drives, whitewater rafting, and fishing access.
Babcock State Park (1 Hour, 30 Minutes)
Babcock State Park’s signature landmark is the Glade Creek Grist Mill, a working mill built in 1976 from parts of three historic West Virginia mills, most notably Cooper’s Mill, which had been destroyed by fire decades earlier. The mill is one of the most-photographed spots in the state. Beyond the mill, the park has more than 20 miles of hiking trails winding up into the Appalachian hills, and Boley Lake offers paddle boat, rowboat, and canoe rentals at the marina. Geocachers have left trinkets throughout the park, especially near Glade Creek Waterfall.
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (1 Hour, 45 Minutes)
Construction on the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum began in 1858, and it opened in 1864 during the Civil War to house psychiatric patients. At 1,300 feet long, it remains one of the largest hand-cut stone masonry buildings in the United States. Originally designed to hold up to 250 patients under the 19th-century Kirkbride Plan, which emphasized natural light, air, and space, the asylum eventually housed as many as 2,400 patients at a time, with the crowding leading to documented abuses. It also housed Union and Confederate troops during various Civil War raids. The asylum closed in 1994 and now offers historical tours Tuesday through Sunday, with separate ghost tours available in the evening.
Starting City: Huntington
Huntington Museum of Art (Within the City)
At nearly 60,000 square feet, the Huntington Museum of Art is the largest art museum in West Virginia. The collection is eclectic, spanning fine paintings alongside decorative crafts. The Touma Gallery displays Middle Eastern pottery, metalwork, and woodwork including pieces from Damascus, Syria. The Herman P. Deans Firearms Collection covers early firearms and crossbows as examples of historic craftsmanship. On the grounds, West Virginia’s only plant conservatory showcases tropical and subtropical species, and 6 miles of hiking trails run through forested hills.
Heritage Farm Museum & Village (Within the City)
The Heritage Farm Museum & Village was the first Smithsonian Affiliate in West Virginia, recognized for its hands-on approach to Appalachian pioneer history. A former farmhouse converted into a multi-museum pioneer village, it covers specific aspects of Appalachian life across several buildings. The Progress Museum focuses on 1850s Appalachian settler life, while the Transportation Museum covers the railroad and frontier wagons. The Country Store Museum recreates a 19th-century general store, and the Children’s Hands-On Activity Center lets kids try 19th-century chores. A Treehouse Trek trail on canopy bridges rises 60 feet above the forest and ends at a large treehouse.
Beech Fork State Park (30 Minutes)
Less than half an hour from Huntington, the 3,000-acre Beech Fork State Park sits on Beech Fork Lake, a reservoir built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control on Twelvepole Creek. The park’s 31 miles of shoreline support canoes, kayaks, johnboats, and paddle boards, rentable at the dock. Fishing includes largemouth bass, hybrid striped bass, catfish, and bluegill, with a valid West Virginia fishing license required. Hiking trails wind around the lake and up to overlooks.
There’s A Lot To See On These Country Roads
John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is still the most familiar song about West Virginia’s winding mountain roads, and along those roads are picturesque stops ranging from the Clay Center in Charleston to the Heritage Farm Village near Huntington. For travelers drawn to darker history, the Mothman Museum and the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum preserve the stranger and more haunting side of the state. All of these sites sit within an easy day-trip radius of Charleston or Huntington, so the drive itself becomes part of the experience.
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