Travel Diary: Hiking Chimney Top in West Virginia

Recently I was looking for ways to honor one of my friends. He loved hiking, so my husband and I decided to complete a hike in his memory.

While in previous years my husband and I hiked in Maine, Yosemite National Park, and even Greece, this would be our first hike of 2022. We scoured the mid-Atlantic region for a hike that would be worthy of our objective and decided upon Chimney Top in West Virginia. So we decided to drive to West Virginia after work on Friday, complete the hike Saturday morning, and drive back to Virginia afterwards.

tips and general info:

  • The trail is approximately 5.3 miles and 2000 ft elevation gain and is an out and back route. More details available on AllTrails.
  • This hike is almost entirely uphill, and the last quarter mile is especially steep.
  • I was glad that I had taken off my rings before the hike, as getting the best views at the summit involves using your hands to scramble up rock. 
  • We got a relatively early(ish) start -- we were on the trailhead by 8:45am. But I almost think it would have been better to start later because of the position of the sun: So much of the beauty was in shadow while we were at the summit. However, we definitely had the trail to ourselves on the way up but passed *numerous* people arriving on our way down, so if we'd waited, it would have been more crowded. So it depends on what you value!
  • I am apparently terrible at understanding peak foliage because I thought we'd be too late on October 22, but upon arriving I actually think we were there at the perfect time? Although there was still a lot of green? It's very confusing to me!
  • I had cell service (with T-Mobile/Sprint) the entire trail, as far as I'm aware of.
  • We did bring hiking backpacks with us, even though it was a relatively short hike, because I heat up so easily and wanted to be able to have somewhere to stash my layers.

itinerary:

We looked at a few places but chose to stay at the Inn at Canaan Valley on Friday night. Our room was more spacious than I was expecting, and they offered a small continental breakfast and had extensively decorated the entrance for fall, which I loved!

The Inn was just under 4 hours from Richmond, Virginia, and a 45-50 minute drive from the Chimney Top trailhead. We had looked at Harman's Luxury Log Cabins, but they required a 3 night stay (and were also already all booked), as well as some Airbnb "glamping" (but I was a little iffy about staying in a tent with a heater, no matter how nice the tent structure/set-up was).

photo diary:

Stopped for a few photos on the way up.

Did you see me right away?




Where my husband was to take the previous photos of me, haha!















Climbed to the very top!


Aaand taking more photos on the way back down...









One thing that 2022 has made clear for me is not to take time or your loved ones for granted. So let me just be sure to say thank you to my darling husband for putting up with me, my travel demands, my photo requests!

links I used or recommend:

West Virginia is referred to as "Almost Heaven." It's easy to see why -- the state is gorgeous. And the nickname felt even more fitting for the purpose of remembering my friend. I truly couldn't think of a better way to honor his memory. Rest easy, Conor, you are dearly missed.

love from

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