Canaan Valley Resort State Park is a state park in the

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, within

Canaan Valley Canaan Valley () is a large bathtub-shaped upland valley in northeastern Tucker County, West Virginia, USA. Within it are extensive wetlands and the headwaters of the Blackwater River which spills out of the valley at Blackwater Falls. It is a w ...

Tucker County, West Virginia Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of ...

. Located in the highest valley east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, the park contains the second-largest inland

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

area in the United States. The valley featured the first commercial ski development in West Virginia.

History

In 1950 and 1951, members of the Washington Ski Club identified the Canaan Valley side of Cabin Mountain as an opportune place for ski development, based on pilots' reports. Because of its protection from the sun, snow on that side of the mountain often remains until April or later. The club began slope development in the early 1950s, signing a ten year operational lease with local landowners in 1954. Their slope, named Cabin Mountain Ski Area, featured two

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-c ...

s on of terrain stretching from route 32 to a height of . Runs extended down a slope with a vertical drop of . It was the first commercial ski establishment south of the

Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

. The ski area closed in 1962. In 1955, University of Virginia School of Law student Robert Barton established Weiss Knob Ski Area, climbing the slope of Weiss Knob above the Cabin Mountain site to a height of . It featured of terrain serviced by a

T-bar A surface lift is a type of cable transport for snow sports in which skiers and snowboarders remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher-capacity and higher-co ...

as well as three rope tows. This site was acquired by the state of West Virginia in 1959, so Barton reopened "Weiss Knob Ski Area" at a new site on Cabin Mountain's Bald Knob. Opening in fall 1959, the new site featured four rope tows and the first

snowmaking Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

equipment in West Virginia; in its first season, of snow fell, burying the equipment and closing the facility for the year. The resort remained open until 1970, when the impending opening of Canaan Valley Resort prompted Barton to go out of business. This new ski area was actually a redevelopment of the original Weiss Knob site; the second Weiss Knob site would be re-opened as the second home of White Grass Ski Touring Center in 1981. In 1957, the state of West Virginia made its first land acquisition with an eye toward further developing a ski industry in West Virginia. Sarah Maude Thompson Kaemmerling granted to the state in the 1950s for the formation of a state park with the stipulation that the state make a matching acquisition. The state would go on to claim more than 30 properties between 1964 and 1970. It was not until 1971, however, that the Canaan Valley Resort State Park was established centering on the ski slopes at the southern end of the Valley. In 1972, an 18-hole

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

course was also constructed there. The lodge at Canaan Valley Resort State Park Lodge opened in 1977. The park has been very successful and several private ski operations have opened nearby and in other parts of the state as well.

Canaan Valley Resort

Canaan Valley Resort opened for skiing in 1971, on the original site of Weiss Knob Ski Area. It offers 49 ski trails, one

terrain park A terrain park or snow park is an outdoor recreation area containing terrain that allows skiers, snowboarders and snowbikers to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. From thei ...

, and a

snow tubing Tubing, also known as inner tubing, bumper tubing, towed tubing, or kite tubing, is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donu ...

area. A

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

and magic carpet access the resort's beginner skiing area, on the far right of the mountain (facing up the slope). Other than this terrain and one long green trail running from the summit to the resort base, practically all the mountain terrain is marked more difficult or most difficult. These blue and black slopes generally descend the mountain at the same pitch, regardless of their difficulty marking. A triple chair and quad chair access the resort summit; the latter also has a mid-mountain station, which is the point beginners are encouraged to offload as the upper part of the mountain is steeper.

Amenities and recreation

Canaan Valley Resort State Park features a 160 room lodge, plus 23 cabins & cottages, and 34 campsites. The park also provides hiking trails, bike trails, ski area, and an 18 hole championship-level golf course designed by Geoffrey Cornish. In 2016, a paragliding launch site was opened on Cabin Mountain, and is accessible from the ski lift.

Explosion

On Sunday, February 14, 1988, a mid-day explosion and fire in a maintenance building killed three men who were attending an air compressor for the

system. The building also contained several drums of chemicals.

References

External links