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For the Kids
For the kids, and mom and dad: Exposing youngsters to the great outdoors is a gift that keeps on giving; Tucker County is just that, an outdoor recreation mecca with a few traditional amenities for the kids. Start with the animals, Mountain Trail rides and Triple C Farm and Schoolhouse Discovery Center specializes in entertaining the youth with a petting zoo and pony rides daily. While there check out the miners cave and hunt for treasure jewels while in the cave. Want to see deer in the “wild”, take a drive through Canaan Valley State Park where a herd of whitetail deer call home. A simple drive through the park and you will eventually find them along the road side, posing for pictures, just please never feed the deer!
While in Canaan Valley enjoy a scenic chair lift ride. Head over to Canaan Valley Ski Resort any day of the week for a scenic chairlift ride, hiking trails to Bald Knob overlooking Canaan Valley begin here. Canaan Valley Resort also offers a climbing wall, euro-bungee, full size outdoor pool, and Turtle slide land tubing for kid’s entertainment.
Three choices of miniature golf are available in Canaan Valley, Canaan Village Inn, Canaan Valley Resort, and Deerfield Restaurant each have courses. The latest golf course to be put in has quickly become a crowd favorite for the young and old, is called foot golf! Played with a soccer ball, the manicured course looks over the Dry Fork Valley at Chip Shots and is without a doubt the most scenic, user friendly, family fun around. If you and the kids are proficient with the Frisbee, Blackwater Falls State Park is home to Tucker County’s only disc golf course.
Get on the water. Blackwater Outdoor Adventures in St George, WV offers every type of water activity for the family. In spring and early summer guided whitewater rafting the class II to III Cheat River Narrows is ideal family fun. When the river is too low for full raft trips, personal inflated kayaks (duckies) for one or two people are led down the Cheat Narrows by the same experienced guides. Lunch, swimming holes, and jumping off rocks are all part of the fun. If this is not your cup of tea, inner tubes, canoes, open kayaks, and stand up paddle boards are all part of the quiver on the upper stretches of the Cheat River. Blackwater Outdoor Adventures will take you up river, drop off the family for your own personalized river trip down the lazy river, right back to the steps of the BOA lodge, which is located on the banks of the Cheat River. Don’t forget your fishing pole! Add Splash Park for little and playground at Mill Race Park ones while in Parsons.
Rainy days are a drag for everyone, but in particular the charged up young ones. It is no secret we have to be creative in Tucker County on these days. Big Johns Family Fixings is the closest thing to a “Chucky Cheese” we have, arcade games and massive pizzas is what they do best. A 35 minute drive from Canaan Valley is Seneca and Smoke Hole Caverns, which is located nearby the Seneca Rocks Nature Center. Most Saturday and Sunday afternoons, The Purple Fiddle in Thomas WV offers free live music for those that can’t keep the feet still to the sound of the beat. Indoor swimming pools are available seven days a week. For a modest price anyone can enjoy these amenities at Blackwater Falls State Park or Canaan Valley State Park. Weather forecast are now a dime a dozen, plan ahead, introduce the technology inclined nine year old to board games, puzzles or card games. Make sure these items are purchased before arriving in Tucker County!
