It was exceptionally warm on Thanksgiving weekend so we decided to put the top down and take a day trip. We decided on visiting Cacapon State Park in West Virginia. It is located not far from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. With Top Down, seat warmer and heat on it was a very pleasant temperature to enjoy the open air.
We drove through the park, which in November did not have a lot of people around but there were a few. Most likely families that rented one of cabins for Thanksgiving. The park has over 30 cabins to rent. They also have rooms at the park lodge. The current park lodge is going through a renovation. It looks to be over half done and we suspect will be ready to open sometime in 2021.
The park in total is around 6000 acres. The roads of the park have recently been repaved so the drive through the park was a very smooth and comfortable ride. A portion of the road was closed for the winter so exploring the entire park was not possible. We found that the park has several hiking trails so we took about an hour hike past the beach and lake area, through the woods, following a stream that feeds the lake. Did not see a lot of wildlife but we did see a frog and a wood pecker along the trail.
After looking around the park we decided we had enough time to go to the Paw Paw tunnel on the C&O canal. It is actually in Maryland. The C&O canal was originally a canal going from Cumberland Maryland to Washington DC. It runs a total of 184 miles. After nearly 100 years of moving supplies back and forth between Cumberland and Washington DC it is now a walking and biking path. Most of the 184 miles is open to the public and where portions are not open, detours are setup so that you can hike or bike from Cumberland to DC if you desire. The Paw Paw tunnel is part of the C&O canal, it took 14 years to build due to complications in the digging and massive cost overruns. You can walk into the tunnel but it has been closed on the far end of the tunnel for a couple years. The tunnel is 3,118 ft long, so it gets very dark inside the tunnel. Recommend you take a flashlight. It does give you a feeling of isolation when you get away from the opening. If your claustrophobic it is probably not the place for you.
As you could imagine driving around the area of White Sulphur Springs WV and Paw Paw Md are all country roads winding through trees, creeks and homes, up and down hills. Just the type of road that makes a Top Down Day magical.
