Hiking near Snowshoe

1.6 mi loop · About 30 minutes

A flat, well-used loop around the shoreline of Shavers Lake, with a couple of short bridges and small punchy climbs but nothing that counts as a real hill. It is the trail we send first-timers, grandparents, and anyone breaking in new boots.

Dogs are welcome on leash. Pair it with an hour on the Boathouse deck and call it a morning.

Drive

At the resort

Trailhead

Ride Ballhooter down from the Village, or walk the road from the Shavers Lake base area

1.5 mi one way to the tower and back the same way, or 6.9 mi for the full loop with the Cheat Mountain Ridge Trail · About 500 ft to the tower; about 1,007 ft for the full loop gain · 45 minutes to an hour up and back to the tower; 3 to 3.5 hours for the full loop

A steady, switchbacked climb from the Soaring Eagle Express up to the historic fire tower on Cheat Mountain, with the best 360-degree view on the property from the top. For the fuller half-day version, come down by the Cheat Mountain Ridge Trail instead of retracing your steps: 3.6 miles along the ridge with east-facing views and a stop at the Sunrise Backcountry Hut, down through Bail Out or back along 6,000 Steps to the Ballhooter lift.

Pick up a trail map at the Depot or the Mountain Adventure Center before you start. The backcountry trails braid together up there, and the map is what keeps you on the named route.

Drive

At the resort

Trailhead

Starts near the base of the Soaring Eagle Express on South Mountain

1.4 mi round trip · About 290 ft gain · 45 minutes to an hour

Three waterfalls on one short out-and-back: the upper falls (25 ft) from a paved, accessible overlook a few hundred feet in, the middle falls (45 ft), and the lower falls (63 ft), West Virginia's second-highest waterfall, at the bottom of 382 stairs. The stairs back up are the real workout here, not the distance.

Combine it with Cranberry Glades Botanical Area next door, a flat boardwalk through a boreal bog that takes twenty minutes and looks nothing like the rest of West Virginia.

Drive

About 50 to 55 minutes

Trailhead

Falls of Hills Creek Trailhead, off WV-39/55, about 5 miles west of the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center

2.6 mi round trip · About 700 ft gain · 1.5 to 2 hours

Steps and switchbacks climb steadily to an observation platform below the summit, with a view down the Germany Valley that opens up the whole way. It is steep enough to feel like a real hike and graded well enough, with benches along the way, that most fitness levels can do it.

Stop at the platform. The scramble beyond it to the true summit is technical rock climbing, not hiking; book a guided climb with Seneca Rocks Mountain Guides or the Seneca Rocks Climbing School, both based at the Discovery Center, if that is the trip you want.

Drive

About 60 to 75 minutes

Trailhead

Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, 13 Roy Gap Rd