The story below is an excerpt from our July/August 2014 issue. For the rest of this story and more like it subscribe today, view our digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
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Video Slideshow: The Blackwater River Trail
All video and photography by Ed Rhebein.
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Steve Shaluta
The Canaan Resort
Resort rooms are all redone, with sitting rooms included.
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Video Slideshow: The Freeland Loop Trail
All video and photography by Ed Rhebein.
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Ed Rehbein
Along the Blackwater River Trail
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Ed Rehbein
Canaan Valley
This view of the Canaan Valley is from the top of Bald Knob. The new lodge has the feel of a resort hotel.
Considered one of the crown jewels of the West Virginia State Park system, Canaan Valley Resort State Park has recently completed a $34 million construction and renovation project, adding a diamond-like sparkle to this all-season recreation destination.
At the dedication ceremony in October, Frank Jezioro, director of the West Virginia DNR, summed up the park’s transformation this way: “Visitors are now able to enjoy modern and comfortable facilities in the new 160-room lodge. The nearly four-decade-old lodge structure this replaces served the public well beyond expectations, and we invite visitors who haven’t been to Canaan in a while to come back and enjoy the improved complex any time of year.”
The new guest room accommodations include luxury beds and linens, oversized baths, flat-screen TVs, in-room microfridges, internet access and mountain vistas. Deluxe suites and studios feature fireplaces and balconies.
Park Superintendent, Rob Gilligan, puts it this way: “There is a comfortable retro feeling as you enter a lodge room. The valley and mountain views are exceptional. Folks visiting Canaan for the first time and those who remember the original structure will be amazed.”