Bright Morning Inn and Restaurant

Rhododendron in bloom near Blackwater Falls WV

Masses of blooming rhododendron are just one reason to visit the WV highlands near Davis and Canaan Valley. Summers are cool here, which means rhodies bloom late, in fact you can usually count on peak bloom near the fourth of July.

This photo, with its unidentified bug, is courtesy of Kurt Manwiller, our friend, guest and sometime innsitter. It was taken near Blackwater Falls, where rhododendron thickets blanket the forest.

The rhodies are fading now but you can still find many blossoms in the higher elevations near Canaan Loop Road, a remarkable 21-mile gravel road offering miles of secluded hiking and mountain biking trails. The Loop Road starts three miles out of town at Canaan Heights, a tiny scattering of homes on the high western ridge of Canaan Valley. It ends at Blackwater Falls State Park, nearLindy Point, one of our most cherished vistas.

The trail network encompassed by the Loop Road is mostly what remains of old fire service roads cut to fight the forest fires that once plagued our area. The entire length of the road is no longer passable, but there’s still plenty of access by car to secluded primitive campsites, a catch-and-release fly fishing site at Red Run and numerous spongy bogs offering cranberry and blueberry picking.

Guests at the Bright Morning Inn are surprised to discover so many wild and secluded trails within a stone’s throw of town. The terrain looks and smells like Alaska…and yet it’s so much closer to home!