Serendipity can lead to the most unexpected travel finds.

I’ve always loved visiting caverns, so during a trip to Central Virginia, I picked up a colorful brochure on Smoke Hole Caverns (West Virginia) and stuck it in my purse. That night, when I dumped out my pile of papers on the motel desk and rooted through them, a picture inside the flyer caught my eye—an inviting room with a jacuzzi! My husband and I had been hoping to find a romantic spot for our next night, and here it was, not listed in any of the travel guides we’d read—the honeymoon cabins at Smoke Hole Caverns. We immediately called and made reservations.

After our next day’s drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway, we looked at the map and realized it would take a few hours to get to our destination. We called ahead, and they agreed to leave the cabin unlocked for us. While the directions seemed straightforward – from I-81, take US 33 up and over the mountains to Seneca Rocks – the road certainly wasn’t! With dusk falling, we drove along a maze of hairpin curves and steep climbs up and over some of the most rugged ridges in the Allegheny Mountains. Two hours later, we found the cabin, tucked with a handful of others along a mountain stream in the Potomac Highlands. It turned out to be even more beautiful than the photos hinted at, with a utensil-laden kitchen, a comfy living room with fireplace, bed with satin sheets, and the relaxing jacuzzi. Perfect.

We changed our plans and spent the next two days enjoying the accomodations. With daylight to show us dramatic scenery, we explored this part of West Virginia new to us, with its steep rocky hillsides, high mountain ridges, and narrow canyons. Of course, I had to see Smoke Hole Caverns. Not more than an crack into the earth, the natural entrance led into dry, dark rock where a stream carved a channel out of the mountain. With few formations, I feared this was going to be an unexciting trek. But after a long walk through this dry passageway, we climbed up through a fault into the upper chambers, where the spotlights suddenly sparkled on thousands of icy stalactites crowding each other on the high ceiling. Further along, a spring bubbled from a large mound of travertine, looking like an escapee from Yellowstone. Dramatic flowstone crept down the walls, including one 25 ton ribbon of stone.

Scenic WV 55 – the only road through the valley – followed one of the many branches of the Potomac, passing farms, small creekside caverns, and large pinnacles of stone. A side road indicated the gateway to the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Had we brought hiking gear on this trip, we would have been tempted to visit these windswept high plateaus, dotted with bogs reminiscent of Maine. Dozens of hiking trails lead through the wilderness, with plenty of opportunities for weekend backpacking trips.

At Seneca, we encountered Seneca Rocks, a mecca for rock climbers. World War II troops once trained here to learn how to scale cliffs. Today, the imposing 900 foot tall wall of quartzite has hundreds of different rock climbing routes mapped across it. Not being climbers, we were content to take the rugged hiking trail to a point near the top, a feat that took nearly two hours. The sweeping view of the valley and nearby lower ridges made it all worthwhile.

Following US 33 east, we took advantage of our four wheel drive vehicle to take the unpaved road to the summit of Spruce Knob, West Virginia’s tallest mountain at 4,861 feet. Lined with wildflowers, the mostly one lane track provided many scenic views. From a tower at the summit, the panorama stretched across the Allegheny Mountains back into Virginia. A short hiking trail lead around the summit, where we feasted on wild blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries under the infrequent shade of red spruce trees.

Seneca Caverns, beneath the valley below, had a wonderland of formations— massive cave popcorn, flowstone, rimstone pools, and delicate soda straws. Unlike many cavern tours, this one went in one entrance and out another, providing more than an hour’s worth of enjoyment of in different parts of the cavern. Dozens of pure white formations, the highlight of Seneca Caverns, sparkle like snow under the spotlights.

IF YOU GO
From Pittsburgh, Smoke Hole and Seneca Rocks are a four hour drive along scenic highways. Take the turnpike to US. 119 south; US 40 east at Uniontown to MD; US 219 south past Deep Creek Lake, MD into West Virginia (with an opportunity for a side trip to the state’s biggest waterfall, Blackwater Falls) to WV 32 east; WV 55 north to Seneca.

ACCOMODATIONS
Smoke Hole Log Cabins & Motel, 1-800-828-8478
Harman’s Cottages, 1-800-436-6254
Yokum’s Vacationland, 1-800-772-8342

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