Wolf Gap Recreation Area — Attraction in West Virginia

My boyfriend and I last minute tripped out to camp on a Tuesday in August just for one night. Showing up around midday we had no problem getting a camping spot, but there were a hanfdul of other campers at the site. We enjoyed privacy, however if the spot next to us would have been filled it may have been different. Considering it being in the woods, the bathroom was fine (definitely bring hand sanitizer and a lantern for night trips). The Big Schloss trail was easy to find and stayed true to other reviews. BUT we encountered two snakes, ONE of which was a rattle snake...that separated us on the trail and forced me to go off trail to avoid it. We weren't in major danger but it is worth it to stay vigilant with the grassy sides of the trail. The view is beautiful, yet it sort of is what you paid for with only a 4 mile hike. We got back to the site in a little over 2 hours and set off again after a snack on the Tibbet Knob trail (also easy to find- directly across from the camp entrance on the road). The majority of that climb was uphill & steep, although not extensively harder. The 2 scrambles were easy and short and we made it to the 1.6 mile up lookout. It was still a great panoramic view but there was really only one good lookout spot. We got lucky enough to spot two bald eagles! We headed down and finished the hike not much after an hour. Definitely bring your own dry firewood and lighting materials, although each site had a good fire pit-some more equipped for cooking than others (ours had a grate). The space for the tent was fine, not ideal for stakes, and pretty low on bugs. There was a picnic bench at each site and a group of them by the larger parking lot (each site has one spot right at it for your car) but I wouldn't use it for more than setting things on. All in all it was a good experience for one night, but I would not plan on being entertained...

For a free campground this is a nice place. It's quiet, kind of secluded, and has challenging hiking trails. It was a little buggy. Bring an index card to mark your spot on the board. It also seems popular, so get there early.

The campsites have good amount of space between the sites. Each site looks like it has a little bit of a driveway to park your car. Since you are on the side of a mountain, some of the driveways are a few steps above/below the campsite. They also have a fire pit, picnic table, and what looks to be about a 20x20 foot square fine gravel flat area for your tent. The tent areas are like what you find at most of the Federal campgrounds nearby. The campground also has a single building with two rooms. Each containing a pit toilet. One room for male and one for female. Both sides look like they have a dead bolt to keep the door closed.

The road going past the campground is one of those back country roads. It's paved, but near the campground it gets steep and curvy. Plus there is no center lines since it is a little on the narrow side at that point. On the plus side there is very little traffic going by. On the negative side you have a little bit of a ride if you want to get to any sort of town.

I took the hiking trail to the top of the mountain, which had some beautiful views. It's a regular type of hiking trail, but since it is going up a mountain there is a decent angle to it. I'm not a hiker, so I had to pace myself because I was breathing heavy going up. But the views were worth it. I didn't go past the top, because again, I'm not a hiker. By that point I was tired, so I went back to the...

Wolf Gap Recreation Area is situated on the Virginia and West Virginia line and has access to excellent trails and camp grounds. The location has adequate parking (though extra spillover can park along the driveway not the main road turning into the red area), well marked and maintained trails, and a coveted place to use the bathroom (it is not a wash area).

There are a small number of first come, first serve tent pads w parking space and fire pit. There is an index card and post system to claim a spot.

Dogs are allowed on the trails. The trails are rated moderate. Some parks are definitely harder than others but we managed without hiking boots. Kids do well on these hiking trails. You cannot get cell reception up there so download your maps offline if needed.

All in all, a great hiking location for the family! We intend to come back and...