Local Gems: Cooper’s Rock
The best thing about having guests from out of town is the ability to view your most familiar surroundings through the eyes of those encountering them for the first time ever or at least the first time in a while. Though I really hate it when I visit somewhere and my hosts ask me what I want to do because, as an outsider, I probably don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. My typical approach is to ask my guests what kinds of things they’re interested in seeing (e.g. museums, scenery), doing (e.g. shopping, hiking), or eating. From there, I go through the mental rolodex. Today, I’d hit on Cooper’s Rock State Forest.
Cooper’s Rock has numerous features that make it popular among locals and visitors: easy driving access, plentiful parking, in addition to easy walking access to some of the most stunning features. Not everyone is an avid hiker, plus it’s nice to be able to take in some scenery wearing a pair of lousy sandals once in a while.
This state forest supposedly gets its name from a fugitive who hid out from authorities in the area of what is now the main overlook. He apparently lived in the forest making barrels and selling them to locals for the better part of four decades. I am unclear of the timeline of these events because in the 1930s into the early 1940s much of the forest’s infrastructure was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Most of these structures are still in place to day and are easily identified by the style of architecture—rugged beauty, often close reflections of the areas they are found in.
For our purposes, we visited the Main Overlook. This ADA-accessible overlook offers breathtaking views of the Cheat Canyon after only a short walk from the main parking areas, restrooms, and large picnic pavilions (there was a wedding reception happening on the day we visited). It was also wonderful to be able to point out that, for the most part, the viewshed of the Cooper’s Rock overlook is protected due to the state forest status on the east side of Cheat Lake, the Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area on the west side of the lake, and some recent custodial agreements regarding non-Snake Hill land on the west side of the lake.
View from the Main Overlook at Cooper's Rock State Forest
The other popular overlook, Raven Rock, requires a rocky, ~2 mile hike for what is, in my opinion, not a much better view—though definitely worth it to those more physically inclined. The other great feature is the Henry Clay Iron Furnace, which is reachable via several trails and is a well-preserved example of the iron furnaces that used to number in the thousands in the general region (especially if you head up into Pennsylvania).