WV VIPP: Kumbrabow State Forest, Cass Scenic Railroad State Park & Seneca State Forest, WV

This 386 mile West Virginia Very Importatnt Parks Person Road Trip took place on August 5-6, 2025. It was just me on this one.

The way that the West Virginia Very Important Parks Person program works is that you contact them, they send you a card, you go to the required number of parks listed, get your card stamped as proof that you were, there, send the card in when done and they send you a gift card for $25 and an additional reward of some sort. If you are interested, the contact page is

Here.

08/05/2025– I left Manassas, VA at 6:00AM. The goal was to visit 2 West Virginia State Forests and 1 West Virginia State Park as part of my goal to visit 25 WV State Forests/Parks. I did a roughly 386 mile loop on this trip. I traveled I66->I81->US48->WV32->US250->US219 to get to my first park. This was Kumbrabow State Forest, located south of Elkins, WV. It took me 6 hours to get to my first destnation of the day. But the drive was wonderful!

The turnoff for this state forest came up on me suddenly. I expected to drive another 8 miles. So I turned around and turned into the entrance for this state forest. It was right around 12 noon. It turns out the road leading to the park headquarters was that additional 8 miles along a curvey mountain road with no guardrails. This park is basically on top of a mountain. It took me a half hour just to drive from the entrance off of US219 to the park HQ. But I made it. I opened the VIPP box next to the HQ entrance, stamped my card, said hello to the person inside the office, then drove the 8 miles back to US219, turned south and headed to my next destination.

Next up was Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. It was a bit over an hour southeast of Kumbrabow S.F. I took US219->WV66 to get there. I had been to this park numerous times in the past and with various people. The main attractions here are the scenic train rides, the refurbished workmans houses that one can stay in, the Allegheny Trail comes through here, the Greenbrier River Trail starts just south of here, Showshoe Ski Resort is just west of here and they are almost finished building a brand new 50 site campground here.

At first I could not find the VIPP box to stamp my card here. I asked 3 different people. It turned out that the VIPP box was obscured by a hanging plant. So I got my card stamped here and took off. I did not see the new campground but I assume that it is farther north along the railroad tracks. Maybe someday I’ll get to camp here.

To get to my next stop, Seneca State Forest, I drove east on WV66->WV92->WV39. Again, it took me close to an hour to get here. This time , the park office was right on the road. So I again got my card stamped, went into the gift shop and said hello to the person running it. That one was easy.

Now, I was debating until right before I left where I was going to spend the night on this trip. Initially, I was going to spend the night at a campsite within Seneca State Forest for around $30. However, with the cooler weather lately I was concerned about the cold, camping by myself and bears. Don’t forget that West Virginia has a lot of forested mountain areas and a lot of bears. So, as an alternative, I called nearby Marlinton Motor Inn near Marlinton, WV to see how much their rooms were. They were only $59 for the night. Let’s see: air conditioning/heat, hot showers, cable TV and a comfy bad to sleep in. The motel won hands down.

So I drove about a half hour and made it to the Marlinton Motor In by around 3:30 PM. It was an older motel, about 50 rooms. And it was northwest of Marlinton, WV and in the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly suprised. Though the rooms looked like they were from the 1950’s, the decor, fixtures and general appearance appear to have been recently renovated. The air conditioner worked well, though it was not too hot outside. The shower worked well and had hot water. The Wi-Fi was very fast, the bed was comfortable and the room was clean. The cable was so-so but I didn’t care. So I was glad that I picked a hotel over a campsite. I must be getting old.

08/06/2025– I got up at my usual time of 5:55 AM and was on the road by 7:00 AM. I took US219->I64->US29->VA28 to get home. It took me about 5.5 hours. The Subie ran well. I got 3 parks checked off my list and have only 2 more to complete my second round in this program and get a $25 gift card.

People tell me that I am crazy to do this. Perhaps they are correct. But driving through the backwoods of West Virginia is a beautiful thing to experience. I have seen state parks and forests that I probably would never have gotten to. I have met some wonderful people. I have learned alot about the region and am refreshed mentally when I come back from these trips.

The only sad aspects of these trips are that the small towns that I have driven through mostly look like they have seen better days. And the dwellings that some people live in are not that great. Hopefully, when and if they ever complete the remaining sections of corridor H/US48/future I66, that the fortunes of the locals will improve. More and more people from surrounding states flock to West Virginia for outdoor persuits. This is their greatest industry: Tourism. If you haven’t been to West Virginia lately, go. It truly is “Almost Heaven”.

Mike C

I did an experiment this time. I tried to include myself in some of the images that I took so I didn’t place one below my name this time. But the experiment didn’t work that well. Live & learn.

Map of where I drove