West Virginia’s oak heath forests are places of beauty and resilience. West Virginia is among the three most forested states in the nation. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has witnessed the landscape of uninterrupted treetops stretching out as far as the eye can see. Not all forests
Rambler on the River
A handmade rod introduces everyday anglers to the joys and challenges of fishing with bamboo. Don Crum ties his own flies. It’s a skill he learned as a boy growing up in Mingo County and something he’s proud of—knowing that his fly floating on the water for just a few
Tall Timber
Since 1963, West Virginians have helped the state keep a register of its biggest trees. Could one be in your backyard? It only takes Craig Mohler about five minutes to explain how to make a clinometer, an instrument that measures vertical slope. He begins by listing the supplies needed to
September 2018 Photo Gallery
Arachnophobes beware: photographers Tessa Nickels and Van Slider train their lenses on Mountain State spiders.
October 2019 Photo Gallery
“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” John Muir
Butter Up
In West Virginia, autumn means apple butter. Meet a family helping to keep the tradition alive. Kathy Legg grew up in the hills of Clay County—in Fola, West Virginia, to be exact—just down the road from her maternal grandmother. Her grandmother’s house was always full of family and food. Actually,
Get the Picture?
Veteran photographers offer advice on getting good wildlife shots. To the uninitiated, photography is photography. But anyone who has dabbled in the art form knows portraiture is nearly as different from landscape photography as watercolors are from oil pastels. Wildlife photography also requires its own specialized skills. So we picked
Gone Shooting
If you’re searching for West Virginia’s most photogenic places, we’ve done the work for you. Happy photographing. Appropriately named, Beauty Mountain is just that. Nestled along the New River Gorge, this popular vantage point provides panoramas of the winding valley and its snaking river. This is the perfect place for
Star Light, Star Bright
This story was originally published in the August 2018 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. To subscribe, visit wonderfulwv.com. Dark skies make West Virginia the perfect playground for skywatchers. Ed Conners refers to himself as an amatuer stargazer. His resume notes otherwise. Twenty years ago, building on a childhood fascination with
The Sportsman
This story was originally published in the August 2018 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. To subscribe, visit wonderfulwv.com. Glenn Jones has been providing new hunters with safety training for nearly four decades. Glenn Jones completed his first hunter safety course in 1980, the second-ever hunter education class taught in West