At a Glance
One of West Virginia’s most iconic four-season outdoor recreation destinations, Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley Resort State Park are just the start in this trail town. Davis pairs downtown access to hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails that traverse the Monongahela National Forest’s Canaan Mountain Backcountry and Camp 70 systems with local breweries and enough pub food to recover from any outdoor adventure. From wildflower walks through the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge to powder days at Whitegrass and Timberline Resort, Davis is made for all levels of outdoor adventure.
Featured Activites
Itineraries
Stay
Whether you’re biking the backcountry, shredding the ski slopes, or chasing waterfalls, Davis invites you to relax in the heart of Tucker County. With craft breweries, farm-to-table dining, and family restaurants that honor West Virginia’s culinary heritage, there’s no shortage of places to refuel before you recharge at your choice of mountain lodges and cozy cabins.
History
Before the railroad’s arrival, the highlands around Davis were sparsely settled by a handful of farmers, as Canaan Valley’s short growing season and harsh mountain climate made large-scale agriculture difficult. Everything changed in the 1880s with the arrival of the West Virginia Central & Pittsburgh Railway, which opened the region to intensive logging and sparked the rapid growth of a new industrial town. Named after railroad magnate and U.S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis, the community quickly became one of West Virginia’s most productive timber centers. As the timber era waned and the forests regrew, Davis reinvented itself as an outdoor gateway, leveraging its unique connection to nature to develop innovating new styles of skiing to mountain biking that have influenced the nation.
Thompson Lumber Company, Davis, W. Va., ca. 1910–1930. Fletcher, Sarah T. West Virginia and Regional History Collection, West Virginia University Libraries.
Did you know?
Atop Almost Heaven
At an elevation of 3,520ft overlooking the Canaan Valley, Davis is the highest incorporated town in West Virginia
Getting Technical
Forged in rock gardens and bogs in the 1980s, Davis made ‘East-Coast tech’ a Mountain Bike rite of passage and redefined adventure racing with events like “Revenge of the Rattlesnake”.
Skiing South
The snowdrifts of Canaan Valley became home to the first Ski Area south of the Mason-Dixon line and today remains a hub for the Telemark style- a unique blend of Nordic and Alpine skiing
