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Daniel Boone lived in West Virginia for years; this document survives in his own hand

Hunting

West Virginia eliminates minimum age for youth hunting seasons

Will Reedy September 10, 2026

Hunting

Long a West Virginia rite of passage, squirrel hunting returns Saturday

Kanawha Valley historian Forrest Hull illustrated the old association between autumn, “Indian summer” and frontier stories in this drawing preserved with his writings. The terminology reflects the period in which Hull wrote and is reproduced here as part of the historical record.

Lore and Legend

Where are the autumns of yesterday? A West Virginia writer remembered a different fall

Units 1 and 2 of the John E. Amos Power Plant in Putnam County, West Virginia. State utility regulators are considering proposed rules governing generating capacity, plant operations and fuel supplies. (Photo by Tikilucas/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Economic Development

West Virginia power plant rules headed for public hearing

Latest West Virginia News

The 80-foot Red Oak Fire Lookout in the Monongahela National Forest is now available for overnight stays in Webster County, West Virginia. (Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service)

Lodging and Real Estate

You can now spend the night 80 feet up in a West Virginia fire tower

September 8, 2026

The Bank of Huntington, at right, appears in this view of Third Avenue circa 1880, only a few years after four armed men robbed the bank in 1875. The identities of two of the robbers remain uncertain.

Lore and Legend

The James Gang supposedly robbed this West Virginia bank, though records are less certain

September 8, 2026

Daniel Boone prepared this survey of ten acres along Crooked Creek in Kanawha County on June 14, 1791. The original manuscript, signed by Boone, is preserved by the West Virginia State Archives. (West Virginia State Archives)

History / Prehistory

Daniel Boone lived in West Virginia for years; this document survives in his own hand

September 7, 2026

The Ohio River curves through Brickyard Bend at New Cumberland, West Virginia, where more than 20 brick plants once produced millions of bricks for markets across the United States. (Photo by David Sibray)

History / Prehistory

This West Virginia town once made the bricks that paved American cities

September 5, 2026

Historic buildings line the railroad at Thurmond, a former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway boomtown now largely preserved within New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. The town is challenging National Park Service plans to demolish several historic structures.

National Parks

Historic town inside national park prepares legal fight to stop demolitions

September 5, 2026

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announces the first awards from West Virginia’s Rural Health Transformation Program at Chesapeake Healthcare Center. Spotted Owl Healthcare Organization received $1.17 million through the program in partnership with the center. (Courtesy photo)

Health and Medicine

Small West Virginia nonprofit lands $1.17 million to expand workplace healthcare

September 5, 2026

Communities

Two properties proposed for inclusion in an expanded historic district stand along a residential street in Richwood, West Virginia. The proposed expansion would extend the existing downtown district into nearby residential areas.

Richwood could double historic district at gateway to Monongahela National Forest

David Sibray September 2, 2026

RICHWOOD, W.Va. — A historic district in this Nicholas County mountain town could roughly double in size, encompassing distinctive homes, churches, and other landmarks as preservationists work to protect the character of a community at the western gateway

Two unbanded peregrine falcons have been confirmed at the New River Gorge Bridge, continuing a conservation story that began decades ago. The inset shows one of the peregrines recently observed at the bridge. (Inset photo by Larry Massey)

Two unbanded peregrine falcons confirmed at New River Gorge Bridge

David Sibray August 31, 2026

LANSING, W.Va. — Two unbanded peregrine falcons have been confirmed at the New River Gorge Bridge, an encouraging development nearly two decades after conservationists began an ambitious effort to restore the species to the central Appalachians. Bridge Walk

A model walks the runway during a fashion show. A West Virginia University researcher says the rise of weight-loss medications is coinciding with a retreat from size inclusivity in the fashion industry. (Photo by Yogendra Singh/Unsplash)

Weight-loss drugs are changing American bodies; Fashion may be changing with them

August 31, 2026

A bull elk stands in the southern West Virginia coalfields, where the state's restored elk population is beginning to roam farther from its established range. (Photo: W.Va. Dept. of Commerce)

West Virginia elk are roaming farther as restored herd grows

August 30, 2026

Injured athletes can face increased body-image pressures and potentially harmful eating and exercise behaviors during recovery, according to a West Virginia University researcher. (WVU Photo/Davidson Chan)

Injured athletes may be hurting their recovery by trying too hard, WVU researcher says

August 30, 2026

The new Ike and Sue Morris Stadium at Glenville State University is part of the university’s $26 million Morris Family Health and Fitness Complex in Glenville, West Virginia.

New Glenville State stadium marks $26 million investment in rural West Virginia

August 29, 2026

Attractions

The Big Moses gas well erupts along Indian Creek in Tyler County, West Virginia, during the region’s oil and gas boom of the 1890s. Drilled in search of oil in 1894, the well instead struck an enormous flow of natural gas that repeatedly resisted efforts to bring it under control.

In 1895, lightning struck a massive West Virginia gas well, which then blew out its own fire

David Sibray September 4, 2026

ALMA, W.Va. — When lightning struck one of the world’s most powerful gas wells in 1895, flames reportedly leaped 200 feet into the air, illuminating the rural countryside as crowds traveled to see what a Parkersburg newspaper described

A young forager gathers wild berries. Foraging for edible plants is the focus of Nature Wonder Weekend, a West Virginia tradition held at North Bend State Park since 1968. (Getty image)

For nearly 60 years, West Virginians have gathered in this park to eat from the wild

David Sibray September 2, 2026

CAIRO, W.Va. — For nearly six decades, people have gathered in the woods of a West Virginia state park to find, prepare, and eat foods most visitors might simply walk past. The tradition will continue Sept. 11–13, when Nature

The former Fort Gay High School in Fort Gay, W.Va., closed in 2013 and is now being redeveloped with eight affordable apartments and space for community, municipal and commercial uses.

West Virginia high school closed for 13 years is becoming apartments

September 1, 2026

The night sky stretches above the observation tower at Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park in Pocahontas County. The photograph won the summer beauty category in the West Virginia State Parks Foundation's spring and summer photo contest. (Photo by Leslie Carpenter)

Five stunning photos capture summer in West Virginia’s state parks

August 31, 2026

The Gothic Revival facade of the West Virginia Penitentiary dominates Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville. The prison operated from 1866 until 1995 and is now open to visitors as a historic attraction.

Behind the walls of West Virginia’s massive Gothic prison, now a tourist attraction

August 29, 2026

The New River winds through a landscape where railroads, communities, industrial history and outdoor recreation remain intertwined inside New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

National Park Week starts Saturday: Why West Virginia’s New River Gorge is different

August 19, 2026

Recreation

Tyler Harmon holds the 72.75-pound blue catfish he caught in the Ohio River in Jackson County as a West Virginia Division of Natural Resources official assists with the record certification. The fish set a new state weight record and was released alive. (WVDNR photo)

West Virginia brought back a giant native fish that now keeps breaking records

Will Reedy September 4, 2026

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — When Tyler Harmon decided on the spur of the moment to take his son fishing on the Ohio River, he called his father on the way to the boat ramp and invited him along. Within

A bicycle rests beside the Meadow River along the Meadow River Rail Trail, an 18-mile route between Rainelle and Nallen in southern West Virginia. (Photo courtesy Meadow River Rail Trail)

New 18-mile trail is revealing a hidden West Virginia river valley

David Sibray September 4, 2026

RAINELLE, W.Va. — Several weeks after the Meadow River Rail Trail completed its 18-mile route through southern West Virginia, bicycles are appearing outside businesses, cars carrying bikes are arriving from other states, and visitors to the nearby New River

Rafters charge through whitewater on the Gauley River during Gauley Season in West Virginia. The six-week fall season draws thousands of whitewater enthusiasts to the river each year. (NPS photo)

Six weeks of legendary whitewater are about to begin on the Gauley in West Virginia

David Sibray August 26, 2026

SUMMERSVILLE, W.Va. — For six weekends beginning in September, controlled releases from Summersville Dam will turn the Gauley River in West Virginia into one of the world’s premier whitewater destinations. Veteran river guides say this year’s unusually wet

A couple walks a wooded trail at Pipestem Resort State Park, where the West Virginia Trails Conference will be held Nov. 8–10, 2026.

West Virginia trails conference looks to turn outdoor recreation into community growth

August 24, 2026

Morgantown angler Robert Glover holds the 9.76-inch pumpkinseed sunfish he caught at Cheat Lake, setting the West Virginia record for a category that has now been broken three times in little more than a month. (Photo courtesy W.Va. DNR)

West Virginia fishing record broken for third time in little more than a month

August 21, 2026

Participants learn outdoor skills during a Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop in West Virginia. The nationally recognized program introduces women to hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities in a supportive setting.

More women are taking up hunting and fishing; these West Virginia workshops may be helping

August 18, 2026

Visitors descend into Organ Cave in Greenbrier County, one of the many West Virginia caverns around which generations of history, tradition and folklore have accumulated. Photographer to be determined.

West Virginia cave lore—strange stories from beneath the Mountain State

August 17, 2026

Filmmaker Emma Crow-Willard pauses beside a mountain stream while hiking West Virginia's 320-mile Allegheny Trail. Her month-long journey combines backpacking with interviews exploring the changing economies of communities along the route.

Most hikers have never heard of the Allegheny Trail. One filmmaker set out to discover why

August 3, 2026

West Virginia anglers Ken Neer (left) and Sierra Adamson each caught state-record pumpkinseed sunfish in summer 2026. Adamson's catch surpassed Neer's record just 19 days after it established the species' first official place in the state's record books.

West Virginia’s new state fishing record lasted 19 days before another angler broke it

July 30, 2026

Two cyclists bike the West Fork Rail Trail near Durbin in the Monongahela National Forest.

Expedia will help two West Virginia towns build new trails into the Monongahela National Forest

July 30, 2026

Kayakers paddle around Big Rock on the lower Greenbrier River near Hinton, West Virginia.

Big Rock: A Greenbrier River landmark where the Civil War didn’t end

July 17, 2026

A white-tailed doe pauses in a West Virginia forest. The state's controlled antlerless lottery hunts are designed to manage deer populations while protecting forests and wildlife habitat.

Hunters can apply for rare deer hunts in West Virginia state parks

July 16, 2026

Culture

The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia identified Marmaduke Van Swearingen as the Shawnee chief Blue Jacket, preserving a long-standing legend that historical research and DNA evidence later disputed.

West Virginia legend said a white boy became a Shawnee war chief. DNA told another story

David Sibray September 2, 2026

RICHWOOD.. W.Va. — For generations, one of West Virginia’s most remarkable frontier stories held that a white boy born in western Virginia was captured by the Shawnee Indians, adopted their way of life, and eventually became Blue Jacket,

West Virginia Explorer publisher David Sibray examines the Water Panther Stone at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park in Point Pleasant, W.Va. The prehistoric petroglyph has been interpreted as depicting an Underwater Panther, a powerful being represented in Indigenous traditions and rock art.

Ancient spirit ‘underwater panther’ carved in stone survives in West Virginia

David Sibray August 30, 2026

POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Sheltered near where the Kanawha River empties into the Ohio, one of West Virginia’s most unusual surviving pieces of prehistoric art stands. Carved into a large stone is the outline of a four-legged creature

Autumn At Babcock State Park in West Virginia

Fall begins Tuesday in West Virginia with temperatures in the mid-90s

Clyde Craig August 28, 2026

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fall officially begins Tuesday for meteorologists, but someone apparently forgot to tell West Virginia’s weather. The first day of meteorological fall is expected to feel decidedly like summer across much of the state. The National

Employees of the Kanawha & Michigan Railway pose with Engine No. 547 in southern West Virginia in 1909, 18 years after the railroad's deadly Fourth of July wreck near Dunbar. (Photo courtesy West Virginia & Regional History Center, WVU Libraries)

Lore and Legend

An artist’s interpretation of the legend of Crock Face, an Indigenous warrior said to have disguised himself as a scarecrow while waiting near the home of an early settler in what is now Harrison County, West Virginia.

Real Estate

History and Prehistory

The Céloron lead plate buried at present-day Point Pleasant in 1749 asserted France's claim to the Ohio Valley amid a territorial struggle that would help ignite the French and Indian War and the global Seven Years' War.

State Parks

Mountain Creek Lodge glows in the evening at the bottom of West Virginia's Bluestone Gorge, where the new Mountain Creek Appalachian Cuisine restaurant welcomes diners arriving by Pipestem Resort State Park's iconic aerial tram.

Hunting

An American woodcock pauses on the forest floor during its annual migration through Appalachia. The secretive bird depends on young forests and moist woodlands that provide shelter and abundant earthworms as it travels between its northern breeding grounds and southern wintering habitat.

Fishing

West Virginia has stocked more than 50 lakes and ponds with channel catfish for the summer, giving visitors and residents fresh opportunities to fish at state parks and public waters across the Mountain State. (Photo courtesy W.Va. Dept. of Commerce)

Hiking

Hikers enjoy panoramic views from North Fork Mountain Trail, where miles of exposed ridgeline overlook the South Branch Valley in eastern West Virginia.

Skiing

White Grass has long been a magnet for visitors from Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mountain River Media)

National Parks

A debris slide blocks a road in New River Gorge National Park and Preserve following torrential rainfall Sunday. Flooding, washouts and fallen trees closed several roads and recreation access points across the park. (NPS photo)

Kayaking

Motorboats with engines larger than 10 horsepower are now permitted to operate at no-wake speed on Elk Fork, North Bend, O’Brien, Stonecoal, and Woodrum lakes.

Whitewater Rafting

Biking

One of the largest networks on the East Coast, the routes activate thousands of miles of gravel roads across the Mon Forest for visitors and communities. (Photo: Getty Images)

More West Virginia News

Hunting