North Bend State Park

The hill country of the Hughes River was, for thousands of years, part of the ancestral homeland and hunting ground of the Shawnee, the Lenape, and other nations whose descendants continue elsewhere today. Later it drew settlers who farmed the narrow bottoms and worked the timber and, near Cairo, the fine sand that fed a marble-making industry.

The park's defining feature is the horseshoe bend of the North Fork of the Hughes River, where the water loops so tightly that it nearly meets itself. The forested ridges rising from the river give the park its trails and overlooks, and a small lake tucked into the hills adds fishing and paddling to the mix.

The North Bend Rail Trail follows the roadbed of the old Baltimore and Ohio railroad line, converted after the tracks were pulled up into a long path for bikes, walkers, and horses. It runs for many miles across the region, linking small towns and crossing the countryside on the gentle grade that the trains once used, which makes for easy, scenic travel.

What sets the trail apart is its tunnels. As the railroad pushed through the hills, engineers bored a series of tunnels straight through the ridges, and today the trail carries you through them, out of the daylight into cool, echoing dark and back again. Several tunnels have their own names and their own ghost stories, and passing through them is the highlight of the trail for most riders.

Beyond the rail-trail, North Bend offers a full state-park experience. A lodge and cabins overlook the river country, a campground sits near the water, and a small lake draws anglers after bass and bluegill. Foot trails climb the wooded ridges and follow the river, giving hikers views down onto the great bend below.

Because the park sits away from any city, it stays quiet and dark, a good place to watch the stars or simply listen to the river and the whippoorwills. It suits families, cyclists staging a rail-trail ride, and anyone looking for an unhurried few days in the West Virginia hills.

The tiny nearby town of Cairo is a charmer, a former railroad and marble-making village with an old-fashioned main street, an antique store or two, and a well-known nearby winery. It sits right on the rail-trail, making it an easy and rewarding stop for cyclists.

Spring and fall are the finest seasons here, with mild air and, in autumn, brilliant color spilling down the ridges into the river. Summer is warm and green and busiest with campers and paddlers, while winter is quiet and stark, the bare trees opening up long views across the bend and the hills.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.