Canaan Valley and the Forks of Cheat Trip Report – Beers, Views, Canyons, Climbs, Changing Leaves, Swimming Holes, Long Rolling Gravel Roads, Ice Cream, Pizza, Rail Trails, and more

Trying this again since I’m bad at Reddit and wanted to share the photos farther and wider since this route deserves it:

Here’s the route: [https://bikepacking.com/routes/canaan-valley-forks-of-cheat/](https://bikepacking.com/routes/canaan-valley-forks-of-cheat/)

A friend and I shoved off into the wilds of West Virginia last September on the Canaan Valley and the Forks of Cheat route for a truly wonderful weekend of bikepacking. I wanted to get a trip report in for anyone nearby who is considering a trip this year. I can’t imagine a more fun and beautiful weekend one could have than the time we spent in West Virginia. If you’re anywhere within four or five hours of Davis, I highly recommend this route, it’s an absolute dream.

Day 1 – Davis through Blackwater Falls ~6 miles

We got into Davis at about 5 and went to Hellbender Burritos to have a dinner in camp. It was also the perfect time to drop by Stumptown Ales before we got on route. One of the first people we met is the town’s just retired physician who is now a long distance bikepacker himself. We swapped some stories and had a few drinks before leaving our car at Blackwater Bikes and heading through Blackwater Falls State Park, catching the sunset along the way.

We were a little stressed about how our camping would turn out since we were just going “somewhere along Canaan Loop road”, but it couldn’t have gone better. We took the first campsite on our right after getting onto gravel and out of the state park. The first mile or so of road to the campsite were rough and we despaired a little bit for our long day tomorrow, but it got smoother. But first, the campsite was incredible! The first vista in the photos is from that campsite, thousands of feet above the Black Fork and overlooking the rail trail we’d be on in a couple of days.