The floor of Canaan (pronounced Kah-NANE) Valley is 3,200 feet in elevation, and the surrounding tree-covered mountains reach 4,200 feet, so there's snow here no matter what the weather. In addition, both downhill centers-- Canaan Valley Resort State Park and Timberline-- can make snow on at least 85 percent of their runs. And what runs! At Timberline, a real "skier's mountain," a third of the runs are for experts only. Salamander, at 2 miles, is among the longest beginner runs in the East.
Meanwhile, Canaan Resort -- one of the jewels of West Virginia's state park system -- brags about its family-friendly mountain. The on-slope atmosphere starts with the ski patrol, whose members keep the mountain safely groomed; they also stop to help children tote their skis and are only too glad to crank up the country music playing at the top of the hill. Seventy percent of Canaan Resort's trails are for beginning and intermediate skiers. But don't think this mountain offers no challenges. If the view from atop Gravity doesn't take a skier's breath away, the steep pitch of the black-diamond run certainly will.
Between them, the hills boast 69 trails; a new voucher program now allows unlimited skiing at both over two days for a lower cost. Each hill has three chairlifts. Each also has a compact base lodge where meals, including burgers, soups and salads, are available. Timberline's restaurant/bar area is bigger and includes loft seating in front of big windows overlooking the ends of several runs.
Canaan Resort has a nicer, better-maintained lodge and offers more rental equipment, including parabolic skis. Like many of the West's best ski resorts, Canaan Valley is a little out of the way. The rugged valley, which once was described as a wilderness able to "strike terror in any human creature,"wasn't settled until 1864. The mining and lumber industries boomed until the early part of this century.The Ski Club of Washington, D.C., arrived in 1950; 21 years later, Canan Valley State Resort Park opened for skiig.
These days, getting to Canaan Valley is easier. A four-lane highway
takes
visitors within 40 miles of the valley; the last stretch is classic winding
West Virginia mountain road. On weekdays, that isolation often means a
half-empty parking lot and wide-open slopes. On weekends, both resorts
are crowed but the wait for the lifts is never long.
Everything in the valley -- including lodges, motels and
rental houses - is 10 minutes from the slopes.Although the commercial stretch
along Rt. 32 is becoming developed, the valley still has plenty of forest
and patches of open grass. It's home to two state parks and a national
wildlife refuge, and it's rimmed by national forest and wilderness areas.
Side roads lead to small lakes and wetlands, and mountain woods that hide
pretty vacation homes with big windows. Many can be rented. If a rental
home is too much space or bother, accommodations at the state parks featuring
lodge rooms and cabins- are very nice.
The lodge consists of a series of long, two-story motel-like buildings spreading out from the main building. Ask for the newer buildings, which have larger rooms. The rooms on the back side of Deer Lodge offer great views of the valley and the park's ice-skating rink. At dusk, lodgers likely will see foraging deer a few feet from their door. Downhill skiing isn't the only activity. Cross-country skiing is readily available either on groomed trails or into the back country of the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. White Grass Ski Touring Center is the place to start [White Grass Nordic Area is nice and they have a great restaurant and a terrific Cook Book], or check into the nordic centers at Canaan Resort and Timberline.
The state park has a skating rink, and this year it added a tubing park. Picture a 600-foot sledding hill with big inner tube instead of wooden sleds. A tow rope lets participants skip trudging back up the hill. Anyone over age 4 is welcome to try a run or three. If it's not snowing, sightseers can take in the panorama Blackwater Falls State Park, where the water plunges 63 feet into a boulder-strewn gorge. Overlook and trails provide scenic views. Dolly Sods Scenic Area (separate from the wilderness area) has an overlook and short loop trail through bogs and barrens; ask about road conditions though, before heading that high. At the north end of the valley are Davis, once a booming lumber town, and Thomas, former home of one of the world's top coal companies. Both towns have seen hard times but are bouncing back, mining their newest industry: tourism. In its heyday, Davis had seven churches and seven saloons. Today, its most glorious structure is the massive bank building on William Street made of yellow brick and stone. Down the block is My Grampa's Attic, an antiques-and-angels collectibles shop in the town's old company store. Across the street from that is one of the valley's best restaurants Sirianni's Cafe. The pizzas and pastas are great, and don't pass up the parmesan wedges appetizer. Definitely worth a stop too is the Art Company, featuring jewelry, clothing, pottery and paintings by many fine local artists.
Two miles from Davis is Thomas, where residents are working hard to restore a turn-of-the-century opera house. Until then, visitors can entertain themselves by browsing through a half-dozen shops on East Avenue (the lower of the hillside town's two main drags). One World Concept is a big, airy shop that's half cafe and half gift shop, offering gourmet foods and gifts from around the world. Down the street, the LCC Bookstore carries new and used books, including titles about West Virginia or by West Virginians. Also on the street are Old Crow Antiques and the Christmas Shop.
White Grass Cafe's "Cross Country" Cookbook
by Laurie Little and Mary Beth Gwyer
Now in it's second printing
188 pages $12.95 plus shipping
White Grass Cafe specializes in ethnically diverse foods, homemade soups, breads, deserts and some of the best vegetarian around.