Hiking Project Logo

A great hike that connects some of the park's longer trails for a six-mile loop.


Your Rating: Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating      Clear Rating
Your Difficulty:
Your Favorites: Add To-Do · Your List
Zoom in to see details
Map Key

6.0

Miles

9.7

KM

Loop

2,609' 795 m

High

2,425' 739 m

Low

374' 114 m

Up

374' 114 m

Down

2%

Avg Grade (1°)

11%

Max Grade (6°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Lake · River/Creek · Wildflowers

Overview

This beautiful hike makes a great spring or summer outing to recharge your batteries with some quality time in the woods. Overall, the terrain isn't too demanding, but the rolling elevation and nearly six miles of trails will leave you with a nice feeling of accomplishment at the end.

Need to Know

  • The trails aren't well marked, so make sure to use your Hiking Project mobile app to help with navigating.
  • This hike can easily be modified by substituting alternate trails to make your own adventure.

Description

The hike begins at the parking area at the southern end of Little Beaver Lake. Start in on the rhododendron-lined Beaver Creek Trail, if you're lucky, it will be dotted with beautiful blooms. After a quarter-mile, keep straight onto Rhododendron Run to continue paralleling Little Beaver Creek. Eventually, you reach the eastern park boundary, which comes very close to the edge of a private country club.

After a short jaunt past some rocks, in fairly open woods, the trail goes uphill and you cut back to the west. For the next 0.5 to 0.75 miles, the route is fairly up and down. Rhododendron Run ends on a road where a turn to the right takes hikers past a private home and then around a farm.

Keep on the road past a pond and then look for the trailhead for Weaver Way and Laurel Creek on the left. Here the path is pretty straight and easygoing as it travels uphill from a creek bed. Take the left onto Weaver Way until it connects back with Laurel Creek just before a small pond. The pond makes for a good break spot and there are some neat frogs carrying on with a small symphony.

Next, follow the Deer Trail away from the pond, down to a clearing and then across a road. On the other side, it goes between two sets of camping sites. There are a number of branching trails, but if you turn left onto the unmarked Nature Ridge trail, it leads to an abandoned RV camping site arranged around a looped road. The hiking is easy along this stretch.

After you've passed both ends of Easy Street, look for the Nature Ridge Connector to return to the same dirt road from earlier. Turn right to follow the rolling terrain of Creek Bed back down to the Beaver Creek Trail. From there, turn right and make the final quarter-mile hike back to the parking area.

Flora & Fauna

There are lots of rhododendron at the start of the hike, as it follows Little Beaver Creek. It reminded me a lot of the rhododendron thickets common in Western North Carolina.

Contacts

Land Manager: Little Beaver State Park

Shared By:

Andrew W

Trail Ratings

  3.0 from 2 votes

#5019

Overall
  3.0 from 2 votes
5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
100%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Recommended Route Rankings

#23

in West Virginia

#5,019

Overall
7 Views Last Month
1,079 Since Feb 16, 2017
Intermediate Intermediate

0%
0%
100%
0%
0%
0%

Photos

A walk in the Little Beaver State Park (WV).
Sep 21, 2017 near Daniels, WV
The pond is located at the end of the Weaver Way Trail in Little Beaver State Park.
Jan 1, 2017 near Daniels, WV
Rhododendron bushes line the trail at the start of the hike.
Jan 1, 2017 near Daniels, WV
The Rhododendron Run Trail in the Little Beaver State Park (WV). Little Beaver Creek in September.
Sep 21, 2017 near Daniels, WV
A rhododendron flower bursts into bloom in Little Beaver State Park.
Jan 1, 2017 near Daniels, WV
Near the end of the Rhododendron Trail - Extended, an opening appears as you hike up to the road.
Jan 1, 2017 near Daniels, WV

0 Comments

Weather


Current Trail Conditions

Unknown
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.