Johnny Molloy - The Best in Tent Camping: West Virginia: A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos

W ITH A JEEP, a laptop computer, and an open mind I set forth into the hills of West Virginia. The first trip started in the spring. In southwest Virginia, historic coal country, I came upon my first surprise, Panther State Forest. The place was covered in wildflowers! It started raining the next morning. Such are times that a tent camper has to face. Next I headed up the Ohio River Valley. Amid the development along the waterway, I found other gems such as Tomlinson Run, where the trees of the hilltop campground hadnt begun to leaf out, and I spent a cold night as the sole occupant of the campground.

More trips extended into the summer. As the weather warmed in the lowlands around me, the Alleghenies and lake areas became the places to go. The weather was great and the scenery even better. Getaways like Bulltown, an Army Corps of Engineers preserve, offered a watery place to cool off as well as glimpses into the vast human history of the Mountain State. Other times I headed high into the Monongahela National Forest, to places like Bear Heaven, where on July evenings I donned a jacket and scooted a little closer to the campfire.

The more campgrounds I visited, the more I appreciated the people who operated these preserves. They were hardworking, enthusiastic patrons of their lands. Sometimes a great park staff was saddled with a mediocre campground, and it was disappointing not to be able to include them.

The days began to shortenfall was on its way. There were still more campgrounds to inspect, and I headed down to the New River area. I had rafted the river, as well as the Gauley, in previous years and knew how scenic these gorges were. I enjoyed Glade Creek, part of the New River National Recreation Area, so much, I went back for a second visit, under the guise of making sure it should be in the book.

And with the joy of completing a book and the sadness of an adventure ended, I finished my research. But, not surprisingly, within a month of turning in the manuscript, I returned with a friend to the Dolly Sods for a backpacking trip and to the upper New River for a canoe trip. And so I shall return to the Mountain State for years to come. So will you.