This is the East Fork Campground in Durbin, West Virginia. The pictures show the beauty from right next to the East Fork Greenbrier River. Temperatures this day went down into the lower 30s (F) overnight, which made spending any time in the bathrooms chilly at best. The bathrooms here are not heated, so I opted to forgo a shower since this was just an overnight stay. As you can see, there also are no parking pads, just grass. There is a historical train depot next to the campground which offers train rides. This was once a bustling small town which, like many small towns across the US, is in an advanced state of decay.
Locust Springs Picnic Area is located just inside the Virginia State Line on FR 106 in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. It isn't very far from Thornwood, West Virginia. Unfortunately, this particular facility has seen better days and needs some serious attention. The sign above was very difficult to read, although one can just make out the words and numbers up close to it. The grass and weeds hadn't yet been mowed for the season, some picnic tables are rotten and moss-covered, and the fencing is also rotten and some parts broken. There are vault toilets here but no running water. Our original plan was to eat lunch here, but since there wasn't any pavilion here and the tables were wet and the campground was only a few miles away, we ended up eating there instead.
The Sounding Knob Fire Tower is a wonderful place to visit, especially if one enjoys views of the surrounding landscape from a high location. It sits just outside of Monterey, Virginia on a side road (Sounding Knob Rd.) off of US 250. The views are expansive and the experience well worth the trip on the gravel road to the tower from US 250. The pictures from underneath the cab at the top are actually better than ones taken from inside the cab due to not having the windows in the way, but the thrill of being able to see everything around this location is still awesome.
The Confederate Breastworks Interpretive Site has a short trail from the parking lot just off of US 250 between Head Waters and West Augusta, Virginia that takes one along Fort Edward Johnson and shows fortifications made during the Civil War. The views from the overlook are also notable here.
