Dolly Sods Wilderness
No admission feeHike a high, windswept plateau of heath barrens, sphagnum bogs and flagged red spruce in the Monongahela National Forest.

Photo: Saeriebearie&gregory, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Take a guided tour of under an hour past stalactites, helictites and a long ribbon stalactite in a West Virginia show cave, then pan for gems.
8290 N Fork Highway, Cabins, WV 26955 · Cabins, WV
Smoke Hole Caverns is a show cave on WV 28 west of Petersburg that opened to visitors in 1940. The name comes from the Seneca, who used the front of the cave to smoke game, and settlers later made corn whiskey inside. Guided tours take a little under an hour and pass stalactites, columns, draperies, helictites and a long ribbon stalactite. The cave stays near 56 degrees all year, so bring a jacket and sturdy shoes. Gemstone mining is offered outside.
The closest stops to Smoke Hole Caverns, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Hike a high, windswept plateau of heath barrens, sphagnum bogs and flagged red spruce in the Monongahela National Forest.
5.5 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Ski or snow-tube in winter and golf, hike or ride the scenic chairlift in summer at a state-run mountain resort in the highest valley east of the Mississippi.
11 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Watch climbers on the sheer quartzite walls of Seneca Rocks, rising nearly 900 feet above the creek, from the Discovery Center below.
12 mi awaySwitch it up: Sports & Outdoors
Ride an elevator down into a lit show cave and follow a guide through 17 chambers of formations, including the 'bacon' stones once shown in National Geographic.
37 mi awayMore like this
Take a 75-minute guided walk through limestone chambers, flowstone and stalactites in a cave system discovered by two boys chasing a rabbit in 1879.
42 mi awayMore like this
Walk a mile through the oldest show cave in the country, open since 1806, past rare shield formations and Civil War soldiers' signatures.
55 mi awayMore like this