West Virginia Winter Weekend

It’s the best day ever because YOU’RE HERE! Away from your needy boss and elderly dog with two teeth! Arrive at your cozy wintery lodge for check-in by 4pm. Blackwater Falls State Park lodge nestles on the edge of Blackwater Canyon’s South Rim with views of a GORG gorge right outside the front door. Heck yeah!

Once you’ve kicked off your airplane shoes and slid into your Crocs,  you’ll meet your Explorer Chick Guide in the lobby for introductions and a tasty Welcome Dinner in the lodge. After we chow down, we’ll prune up in the hot tub before we switch off for bed.  

Meals: D

Keep those Nature’s Valley crumbs SEALED. You’ll enjoy a hearty, sit-down breakfast at our lodge before we load up our daypacks. Today we take on  West Virginia’s disco-bright snow trails! Even if you’ve spent your entire life in Phoenix, you’ll be cross-country skiing like a champ after our demo. Just show up with a can-do attitude and some padded buns in case of falls.

We’ll start on a beginner bunny trail for a vibe check before breaking for lunch at the on-site cafe, featuring local and organic goodness. After we get our carb fix, we’ll tackle a more challenging trail. Depending on how the group’s feeling (no woman left behind!) we have our choice of over 48 trails on one of the best cross-country ski networks in the Eastern US. Along the way, we’ll take in views of the surrounding West Virginia high country while stopping at cozy ski shelters to warm those fingies and toes by the fire.

After a full day of skiing, we’ll head back to our cozy lodge to get cleaned up for dinner and an evening of live music in town. Davis is a postcard mountain town that will give you instant Virgin River vibes. Situated at 3,250,’ Davis is the highest incorporated town in West Virginia. Explore tasty restaurants, darling artisan shops, and thriving microbreweries in a town of only 580ish people. 

Cross Country Skiing: 3-5 miles. Minimal elevation change

Meals: B-L-D

Get another hot breakfast in your belly before stepping into your snowshoes. If you can walk, you can snowshoe! After everyone gets fitted, we’ll hit an easy trail until lunch. (Notice how everything revolves around food. You’re welcome.) We’ll hit a more moderate trail after we eat in the snow-covered Allegheny Mountains with nothing but trees and quietude all around.

We’ll return to our lodge to change for another dinner together in town. You and your Explorer Chicks are probably already the talk of Davis!

Snowshoeing: 3-5 miles. Minimal elevation changes

Meals: B-L-D

Why do the eggs gotta taste so much better at the last breakfast? *Tear. We’ll enjoy our last morning meal together before we flip out your inner child. IT’S SLEDDING DAY! Lucky for us, the longest sled run on the East Coast is directly outside our lodge. Prepare for cackles galore as you relive some of your best sledding memories with your new Winter Girl Gang.

 After sledding, we’ll take a short, scenic hike to the waterfall that gives our lodge its name: Blackwater Falls. Depending on the weather or if Elsa stopped by to hang, we may see it frozen in time. Either way, it’s a beautiful 57’ cascade that is one of West Virginia’s most photographed spots.

After snapping a million pictures, we’ll enjoy our last lunch in a local cozy hangout to reminisce about our snowglobe weekend. We’ll head home by 2pm today and will dream of all the braless snow angels we made.

Hiking: .5 miles. 121’ elevation gain

Meals: B-L

*Explorer Chick reserves the option to modify trip itineraries at the discretion of your tour director as necessary due to weather, conditions, illness, injury, group dynamics, availability, or other unforeseen incidents.

Explorer Chick cannot guarantee snow for your trip. Alternative no snow itineraries are in place.