Trails, geocaches and river routes allow visitors to retrace American history
BERKELEY COUNTY & JEFFERSON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA–MAY 2025–Just an hour’s drive northwest of Washington, D.C., West Virginia’s Eastern panhandle offers a quiet respite in an amazing landscape. Berkeley County and Jefferson County, West Virginia, in the heart of the eastern panhandle, are located between Interstates 81 and 70 and are easily accessible by car via U.S. 340 and West Virginian Route 9 or by rail from Washington or Baltimore. From the center of the Appalachian Trail to the rivers that divided a nation, there are wonderful opportunities to take in significant historic venues while enjoying outdoor excursions.
The Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers converge at Harpers Ferry, home of Harpers Ferry National Historic Park (171 Shoreline Drive, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425; 304-535-6029) and offer some truly spectacular rafting and floating opportunities. Rafting and river tour outfitters like River Riders Family Adventure Resort (408 Alstadts Hill Road, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425; 304-535-2663) have both white water and flat water opportunities for tubing, rafting and kayaking on the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. Additional activities like ziplining and camping are also offered for visitors of all ages. River & Trail Outfitters (99 Cary Lu Circle Unit 108, Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia 25425; 301-834-9950) also offers river trips and camping.
Shepherdstown Pedal & Paddle (115 West German Street, Shepherdstown, West Virginia 25443; 304-876-3000) provides kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals from their location and host paddling trips on the Potomac River. For cyclists, they also have bicycle rentals and cycling trips to Harpers Ferry and along the historic Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The C&O towpath surface is for the most part an even hard-packed dirt trail. Completed in 1831, the canal operated for nearly 100 years as a lifeline for communities along the Potomac River as coal, lumber and agricultural products floated down the waterway to market. Today it endures as a 184.5-mile-long pathway for visitors to enjoy.
Casual cyclists may want to explore Harpers Ferry with a two- or four-hour or full-day e-bike rental from Harpers Ferry Bikes (1312 West Washington Street, Bolivar, West Virginia 25425 304-504-3301). For a longer trek, the 10-mile Route 9 Bike Path connects the towns of Ranson and Martinsburg. The multi-use trail parallels the highway and passes by working farms, woodlands and a historic orchard area. Mountain bikers will prefer Poor House Farm Park (Poor House Road, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25403; 304-264-4842), with its 3.5-mile mountain bike trail and seven miles of hiking trails, along with other options for enjoying the outdoors.
To say the hiking here is spectacular is an understatement. More than 20 trails cross the region and demonstrate both its diversity and its beauty. The Appalachian Trail crosses over the Potomac River into West Virginia at Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac and Shenandoah meet. The highlight of this section of the trail is the view of the historic town of Harpers Ferry. Hikers then follow the ridge for three miles along the Potomac and across a railroad bridge. In town, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy Headquarters (799 Washington Street, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425; 304-535-6331) includes a visitors center with exhibits, activities and a hiker lounge.
Among the most popular hikes in Harpers Ferry NHP is a visit to Jefferson Rock, along the Appalachian Trail. This is a short but steep half-mile trek that rewards hikers with spectacular views of Harpers Ferry, the surrounding mountains and the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. History tells us Thomas Jefferson stood on the outcropping on October 25, 1783, and described the view from the spot as a scene, “worth a voyage across the Atlantic.”
The Maryland Heights Trail is a strenuous 4.5-mile out-and-back hike that is popular for is outstanding cliff view of Harpers Ferry and the Shenandoah Valley. Take breaks on the steep climb to learn about Civil War history. An additional spur along the way takes hikers past Civil War artillery batteries and breastworks, through boulders to the Civil War Stone Fort.
There is an extensive trail network throughout the 22,000-acre Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area (Berkeley Springs, West Virginia 25411; 304-822-3551). The three-mile loop Devil’s Nose Trail is considered one of the most beautiful ways to enjoy Sleepy Creek. More seasoned hikers may want to tackle the 25 miles of the popular Tuscarora Trail that traverse the preserve.
The preserve is one of the most popular fishing spots in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. Sleepy Creek Lake covers 205 acres and is known for catches of largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie and northern pike. There are more lakes and stocked streams to delight anglers throughout Berkeley County.
Sleepy Creek WMA is an excellent birding location, too, as are Yankauer (438 Whitings Neck Road, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25404; 681-252-1387) and Stauffer’s Marsh Nature Preserves (Directly across the road from 4069 Back Creek Valley Road, Hedgesville, West Virginia 25427; 681-252-1387). A variety of warblers as well as red-eyed vireos, great crested flycatchers, scarlet tanagers, ovenbirds, red-shouldered hawks and bald eagles can all be viewed here.
Golfers find challenging play amid the West Virginia landscape, as well. The 18-hole Mountain View Course (109 Clubhouse Ridge, Hedgesville, West Virginia 25427; 304-754-7222), with its exceptional views of Third Hill Mountain, wanders through a wooded plateau. Locust Hill Golf Course (278 St Andrews Drive, Charles Town, West Virginia 25414; 304-728-7300), with its mountain views and undulating greens, is one of the highest ranked courses in the state.
For those looking a different kind of outdoor challenge, Berkeley County is the world’s #1 county for geocaching. There are more than 210 active caches here and, with the help of well-known local cache creator WVTim, two outstanding geotrails, Hidden Treasures GeoTrail and the Berkeley Gadgets GeoTour, have been created. Geocachers are rewarded with a commemorative, trackable coin.
If you go
This diverse West Virginia destination is home to an incomparable list of significant historic sites that are worth a visit during any trip to the region. They include these nationally significant sites:
Harpers Ferry National Historic Park (171 Shoreline Drive, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 25425; 304-535-6029) is the site of John Brown’s Fort, where he and his followers barricaded themselves during the final hours of their ill-fated raid in 1859. The event proved to be a flash point that ignited the Civil War. During the war, Harpers Ferry became a significant battleground that changed hands eight times between Confederate and Union forces. In the largest on the site, Stonewall Jackson captured 12,700 Union troops in the Battle of Harpers Ferry—the biggest surrender of U.S. soldiers during the war. After the war in 1865, Freewill Baptists started a primary school for freed African Americans in what is now known as Lockwood House. Two years later the school became Storer College, founded to train African American teachers, but was open to all. At the dawn of the 20th century, W.E.B. Du Bois, in response to his account of failing separate-but-equal policies and failing civil rights efforts, sent out a call for “organized determination and aggressive action on the part of men who believed in Negro freedom and growth,” and opposition to “present methods of strangling honest criticism.” In August of 1906, what became known as the Niagara Movement held its first public meeting in the United States on the campus of Storer College.
The Martinsburg Roundhouse (100 East Liberty Street, Martinsburg, West Virginia 25404; 304-260-4141) is now a National Historic Landmark and is the sole surviving cast-iron framed roundhouse in the world. It has been named a Civil Engineering Landmark and is an important example of mid-19th-century industrial building design. When the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad arrived in Martinsburg in the 1840s, it not only became a hub of commerce, but the roundhouse they built also became a hub in many chapters of America’s story. Engine and Machine Shops were added in 1848 and Martinsburg’s prosperity grew with the railroad. During the Civil War, its status as a hub for shipments of supplies to local troops (Martinsburg changed hands between Union and Confederate troops several times), made it a prime target. The original shops and roundhouse were ultimately raided and destroyed by Confederate troops. This was also the site of the nation’s first labor action. The great railroad strike of 1877 began here on July 16th of that year. Today, the roundhouse is still a central element of downtown Martinsburg as home to a community farmers market, a children’s art programs and more.