Retro Trip Report: Blackwater Falls

Back in winter of early 2019 we took a day trip up into West Virginia to Blackwater Falls state park. I had never been and did not really know what to expect, but I knew there would be some snow up that way and could possibly get some interesting photos, and would be a good place to scout.

Little did I know however, was that once we got close we'd enter what seemed like another world. It was as if the entirety of life was frozen in a moment, covered in ice and snow. The air and sky seemed still, even alien.

Entering the park, it felt as if I was in Yellowstone in winter, or some other well known winter wonderland covered in snow.

I wasn't expecting anything like that this far east. Yet here it was.

But I was also taken aback by the fact that much of what I had seen photographed, was supposedly off limits, at least according to the shop keepers. And so this put a slight damper on the day. But we made the best of it.

Which really was the lesson I took from there that day. Sometimes in photography you just can't get to where you want to be, so you just do the best where you're at.

Even so, it still was an awesome place to experience in the winter. I'm hoping, if the Lord wills, to get out there in the coming weeks and months again.

The above photo was taken from a boardwalk overlook. Too much more to the left and I'd have gotten the lower boardwalk in the frame, hence the waterfall so close to the edge. Even so I like the image actually.

If you're planning a visit to this place, winter is definitely a great time to experience it. Much less crowded, the beauty of snow and ice, and the inherit beauty of the landscape all make it a grand place to experience.

But just realize that the lower boardwalk is probably going to be closed, and some other areas may be less accessible. And it will be COLD.

If you're willing to deal with those, then you will be rewarded with one of the finer landscapes of the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.