Seneca Rocks West Virginia

This is part four of a travel series to West Virginia.  To start at the beginning, go HERE!

After spending the morning in Blackwater Falls State Park we drove 45 minutes to our next stop for the night:   Seneca Rocks.

Seneca Rocks is a 900 foot Tuscarora quartzite crag in Pendleton County, West Virginia.  It is located within the Spruce-Knob Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area and it offers world-class traditional climbing, scenic trails, and rich history in the Monongahela National Forest.  There is a visitor center, but it wasn't open yet for the season when we were there...which I thought was ridiculous 😡.  In fact, the road into the Seneca Rocks area was actually CLOSED!  Thankfully, you can still easily access the trail by walking in.  We were also disappointed that the Dolly Sods Wilderness area (another must-see West Virginia attraction) was closed in April.  Apparently, they close the roads in winter in West Virginia for safety reasons and don't re-open them till around mid-April and we were there about a week too early 😢.

We have stayed in a lot of different hotels/motels before but this was the first time we rented a room above a store!  There aren't many places to stay around Seneca Rocks, so it was either this or camping.  Yokum's is actually a campground offering tent camping, RV camping, even tee pee camping, but they also have a few rooms above their general store and restaurant to rent too, so that's what we did.  The room, though dated, was actually not so bad.  It was spacious, and had a little kitchette, tv, internet, everything you'd expect in a motel room (sorry, I never took a photo).

The building on the right is a separate business and is West Virginia's Oldest Store built in 1902.  There is a restaurant inside, but it wasn't open for the season yet.  Thankfully, Yokum's serves food all year round, or we would have starved.  

We did go inside Harper's Old County Store but I didn't take any photos 😢.  The employee said everything in the building was original.  It was pretty cool!

The main reason we stayed here, was because it was located directly across the street from Seneca Rocks.  In fact, we could see the amazing rock formation from our hotel window.  What a view!

Because the park was closed, after checking into our hotel, we just walked across the street to the trail head.  First we came to this pretty bridge.

The bridge had pretty views of Seneca Creek.

The first part of the trail at the base of the trail is fairly level and is filled with all these rocks that must have fallen over the years.  It was really cool seeing so many rocks amongst the trees, I've never seen that before.

But eventually all good things must come to an end and the uphill climb began 😁. The Seneca Rocks Trail is 1.3 miles each way with a 960 elevation deck that leads to an observation deck with panoramic views of the North Fork River Valley.

So many cool rocks!

Even though there is no foliage hiking this time of year, there are advantages to that:  you can see through the trees!  Normally foliage would block scenic views like this.

We could even see the top of Seneca Rocks through the trees, which would normally be covered up tree foliage. 

Unlike the Maryland Heights Trail at Harpers Ferry, the Seneca Rocks Trail had switchbacks, so climbing uphill wasn't that bad.  There were so many signs about staying on the trail and not climbing up the hill to skip the switchbacks.  Why anyone would put themselves through that misery, I have no idea, but apparently a lot of people think it's a better shortcut.

After almost an hour of climbing up, we finally got a glimpse of the observation deck...so we knew we were almost there 😃!

And the views of the North Fork River Valley were definitely worth the hike!

You can climb higher than the observation deck if you dare.  My husband and son went further on, I chose to wait (and pray) for their return on a bench on the observation deck.

The next two photos show the views from the rock scrambling area that my husband and son did alone.

As always, the hike back down was easier than the hike up.  At the base of Seneca Rocks is an old homestead.  It was closed while we were there, but we walked around the property and peeked through the windows.

It was nice that we could still see inside the home even though it was closed.  Isn't this room cool?  I'd live in it today!

Of course, I'd have to put in modern plumbing before moving in 😆.

They had a garden.  I like how they sectioned everything off with rocks and had walking paths in-between.  

And just look at those views! Wouldn't you love to live here and see that view everyday?

The apple trees were blooming already, and we thought they looked so pretty with the rock formation in the background.  The sun was so bright, I had to look away from the camera.  And see how I'm dressed with just a tee?  We started the day at Blackwater Falls State Park wearing winter coats because it was only in the thirties.  By the end of the day, it was in the sixties!  That is spring weather in West Virginia.  Dress in layers if you visit during the off-season.

We only had one choice for dinner and that was Yokums.  They do make good burgers.  I saw a lot of people ordering pizza too.

Well, by now we were tired after a full day of hiking.  It was nice to be able to just walk upstairs after dinner and go to bed.  The silhouette of Seneca Rocks was absolutely breathtaking.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more posts from this travel series check these out:

Harpers Ferry West Virginia

Hiking the Maryland Heights Trail at Harpers Ferry

Old Town Winchester

Blackwater Falls State Park West Virginia

 

Our Mother's Day Weekend

Did everyone have a good Mother's Day celebrating the women in our lives who do so much for us?  I sure did.  As a grandmother of four I think Mother's Day is one of my favorite holidays.  I can't stand to be without my kids and grandbabies on Mother's Day.  One year, it was just my husband and me and I was so miserable  I vowed to never let that happen again.  Since then, every Mother's Day we always meet up half way between our two homes and stay in hotel for one night.  And before you say "Oh, my kids would never do that for me", I am the one who plans the whole weekend and pays for it;  so it's more of a Mother's Day gift to myself. 😄  My children always give me lovely gifts and the grandkids are always so sweet about wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.  This year, even baby Lazarus said "Happy Mother's Day".  He has incredible speech for a two year old.

Almost every Mother's Day we meet up in a different location than we did the year before.  This year, we met up in Lake Geneva.  We took these fun photos down by the lake.  I did one with just the grandkids and then my son had to jump in and get in on the action.  It was so funny.

To keep costs down, we first had a picnic at Seminary Park where the kids could play on the playground and expend some pent up energy from the four hour car drive.  Then we headed down to Donian Park which was very different from Seminary Park.  This park offers a woodland setting with a scenic observation deck overlooking the White River and walkways along Mill Creek.  The park features walking trails, wildlife viewing, and picnic areas.

This is such a pretty park.  We noticed it the last time my husband and I were in Lake Geneva, but we didn't spend anytime exploring it then.

The grandkids had a blast climbing on the rocks along the river.  The water is very shallow, so it is safe, except their mom was very worried they would fall in and their only pair of shoes would be wet for the weekend. 😀

There was a small island in the center of the river so Grandpa had to jump onto it with baby Lazarus so they could throw rocks.

Then of course the other three grandchildren wanted grandpa to help them onto the island too. 😀

We did spot a couple of turtles sunning themselves, but that is all the wildlife we saw this day.

After stopping at Kilwins for some Dubai Chocolate Fudge 😋 we then headed down for a walk on the Lakeshore Path.  

If you recall, my husband and I were just in Lake Geneva for a Romantic Weekend Getaway.  We walked this same path and I couldn't believe how much prettier it was in May than in March.  All the trees were in bloom and the grass was green.  

It all looked so different from our March visit.  The piers and boathouses were back in the water.  Every winter they pull them out of the water and put them near the Lakeshore Path which sometimes ruins your views.  I like the views with the piers in the water so much better.

Atticus was complaining of being tired and the path isn't always stroller friendly, so we didn't walk far.  By now it was almost three so we thought by the time we walk all the way back to the car, we could check into our hotel and then the grandkids could spend some time in the pool before dinner. 

On the way back to the car, we walked right past The Riviera and once again, I couldn't believe how different it looked from our first visit.  The fountain wasn't running then, and the trees weren't in bloom, and both of those things just added so much beauty to the place.

Once checked in to our hotel, we headed straight down to the pool.  The Comfort Inn and Suites is one of the more affordable hotels in Lake Geneva and it's perfect for families with small children.  The pool area was so spacious, and we loved that they had a kiddie pool for the wee little ones. 

For dinner, we just took everyone to Culvers because they really wanted ice cream.

The next morning, we went back to the pool for a couple of hours then we headed over to a Farmer's Market at Lake Geneva House of Music.  What a fun place this was!  The weather was beautiful, they had bouncy inflatable toys for the kids to play in, while I shopped for honey and other delicacies.  Even though I just had a small breakfast at the hotel, when I saw these Nutella/Strawberry Crepes, I had to have one...shared with four grandchildren of course!

For Mother's Day lunch we headed over to Next Door Pub and Pizzeria which boasts the best pizza in town.  I would have to agree especially after the icky pizza we had at the Oakfire two months before.  Seriously, how is it possible to screw up pizza that badly?

And to our surprise, when we were all done with our pizza, they brought out a tray of desserts to be shared by everyone at the table in honor of Mother's Day.  That was so sweet!

After lunch, we said our goodbyes 😢 and we all jumped back in our cars for the four hour drive home.  

Before I leave, I have to show you some of my Mother's Day gifts.  One I am wearing in the Farmer's Market/crepe photo above.  It was a straw bucket hat from my sun.  I wanted a hat that shaded my face and not just my head, and this one from Amazon certainly fits the bill.  If you don't want such a wide floppy brim, order the S.  I accidentally put the M in my wish list thinking that was the hat size.  Nope, that's the brim size.  I would have preferred the S, because the brim is too sloppy for my taste.  Oh well, it shades my face well!

On the way home, we stopped at Aldi to get groceries, and I found these beautiful "copper" wind spinners for $14.99 each, so that was my Mother's Day gift to myself.   What a deal!  I love wind spinners;  they add so much interest to a garden with their movement and these are so elegant looking. 

My daughter gifted me this shirt from Amazon which I wore to the post office the next day.  I just love this shirt! It's super soft and I adore the bird print.  She also gave me a new Kay Arthur bible study book and a bell for my e bike.  

I really enjoyed our Mother's Day weekend.  The weather was beautiful and the company was what made it all the more special.  Even though we live eight hours a part, with a little effort and planning, we can still be together on meaningful holidays.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more posts on Lake Geneva, check this out:

How to Spend a Romantic Weekend in Lake Geneva in Spring