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WV VIPP Lost River State Park, WV

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This entry is purely for historical purposes. When the new year of 2016 dawned I knew that I needed to get out and get my West Virginia Very Important Parks Person Participation Card updated. So early on the morning of January 5, 2016 I set out from Manassas, VA to visit Lost River State Park near Mathias, WV and in Hardy County.

It was a cold day. And though we did not get any snow the previous evening, they did out in West Virginia. I drove I66 to I81 to US48/VA55. As soon as I got onto the 4 lane Corridor H portion of US48/VA55 I immediately had to exit onto WV259, then drove west for about 20 miles to Mathias, WV.

This town was only about 5 buildings and was at the turnoff to the park. I then turned right onto Howards Lick RD/WV12 and after about 20 minutes, arrived at the park. There was a light coating of snow on the ground as I entered the boundry of this state park.

There was nobody there. I drove around and saw vehicles but no people. I finally found the visitors center but it was closed up tight. Oh, oh, I thought. Did I come all this way for nothing? Then I saw a small box next to the entrance of the visitors center that said VIPP. So I opened it and there was a rubber stamp and a stamp pad in the box. I then stamped my card and looked around for a bit.

This park was built in 1937 and appeared to be located in a gorge. There were trails. It also appeared to cater mostly to horses/riders. There were small shelters all around the park. I wasn't sure if they were meant to camp in or only be used in case of emergencies. But I thought it strange. It was very cold out so I did not want to hike around. So I started the long drive home.

This may be a good future place to go tent camping. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to discover this beautiful West Virginia State Park. If it wouldn't have been for the WV VIPP program I never would have taken the time to come here.

Mike C



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