On some trails, depending on the season, you may not pass another hiker the entire day. The park is so remote that visitors can gaze across vast swaths of trees and boulders from any canyon overlook without spotting a single building. “The beautiful scenery along Route 48 made the drive seem really short, and once we got there, I couldn’t believe how calm and peaceful it was.” “Blackwater Falls is a hidden treasure and a great day trip from Loudoun County,” Grivetti said. It was his first road trip since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. Grivetti said he learned about Blackwater Falls from a friend’s social media post, so he decided to beat the heat and check it out. Todd Grivetti, who teaches music at Horizon Elementary School in Sterling and until recently lived near Bles Park in Ashburn, visited the park in August. Downhill skiing, tubing and ice skating are minutes away at the Canaan Valley and Timberline Mountain resorts.īlackwater Falls State Park is about 150 miles from Ashburn, or less than a three-hour drive, and it offers visitors plenty to do - not just in winter, but all year long. A tip - reserve your sledding tickets online in advance, because they do sell out.Ĭross-country skiing and snowshoeing are also popular, with equipment rentals and extensive trails available within the park. There aren’t many places to get experiences like that,” Baker said. “I’ve seen three generations - kids, parents, grandparents - sledding, laughing and throwing snowballs at each other. “We added snow-making equipment in 2015, giving us a guaranteed sledding season, even in years with less snow,” Baker said.Ī motorized carpet lift combined with outdoor lighting makes sledding fun both day and night.
Most winter visitors head directly to the park’s famous quarter-mile sledding hill - the longest and fastest sled run on the East Coast.
“Amounts vary,” Baker said, “but Tucker County gets a lot of snow - on average, 150 inches of snow per year.” He oversees everything from guest services and administrative matters to law enforcement.īaker said autumn and summer bring the most visitors to the park, but winter is when Blackwater Falls really shows off. Superintendent Matthew Baker has worked at Blackwater Falls for six years, and he and his wife live onsite in a park cabin year-round. That’s where the Blackwater River crashes spectacularly 62 feet into the rugged eight-mile gorge known as Blackwater Canyon, and it all runs directly behind the park’s main lodge. This is all in addition to the park’s main attraction - the thunderous Blackwater Falls. Perhaps it’s the evergreen trees, the laughter from the sledding hill, the warm glow from cabin windows, the cross-country skiers gliding through the forest or the scent of wood smoke drifting from stone fireplaces, but this Tucker County gem seems to shout Christmas all season long. Visiting West Virginia’s Blackwater Falls State Park in the winter is a bit like stepping into a Currier and Ives holiday card - or maybe one of those ornamental snow globes.
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