West Virginia Mountains

As I-64 negotiates Appalachian ridges, the palette of forest greens blurs to a smoky blue in the distance. For almost its entire length to Elkins, US 219 is a scenic byway running through the Monongahela National Forest. The road tunnels through trees that are alive with new growth in spring, lush and green in summer, and resplendently colorful in fall.

US 250 parallels the Tygart Valley River most of the way; it crosses the river and joins US 119 in the town of Philippi and then continues through rolling countryside to US 50. Clarksburg, the birthplace of Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, has a downtown historic district that’s ripe for exploration.

I-79 is a particularly pretty route in the fall, when the mountains of central West Virginia are ablaze with color. On the segment of US 19 between I-79 and SR 55, the mountainsides are blanketed with trees, and when the highway ascends a ridge the view below is a sea of deep green, perhaps punctuated by a lone white farmhouse or red silo.

En route to Beckley, US 19 passes by Summersville Lake. The largest in the state, this lake has more than 60 miles of shoreline and more than 28,000 acres of water offering all sorts of recreational opportunities. SR 16 is part of the 187-mile Coal Heritage Trail through southern West Virginia’s smokeless coal region.