Blackwater Falls State Park

The falls drop about seventeen metres, and the water is genuinely amber-brown - tannic acid leached from the red spruce and hemlock bogs upstream stains it, which is where the river gets its name. The canyon below runs about thirteen kilometres and drops around three hundred metres. A boardwalk with more than two hundred steps descends to viewing platforms at the falls. The plateau here sits above nine hundred metres and gets more snow than anywhere else in the state, so the falls partly freeze most winters into ice formations that draw photographers. Lindy Point, a short walk from a nearby trailhead, gives an open view down the canyon and is the standard sunset spot.

What you actually see

• Amber water - stained by tannins from spruce and hemlock bogs.
• A drop of about seventeen metres - into a 300-metre canyon.
• Over two hundred boardwalk steps - down to the viewing platforms.
• Lindy Point - the open canyon view, best at sunset.

When to go

May to October, or midwinter for ice. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The boardwalk is a long climb back up. Winter access can be icy and the steps close in bad conditions. The plateau gets heavy snow and roads are affected. Summer weekends fill the small lots.

Nearby

Dolly Sods is east; Canaan Valley is south.