Arrowhead Trail

The Arrowhead Trail loops through the heart of Watoga State Park, West Virginia's largest state park at nearly 10,000 acres, penetrating one of the most extensive old-growth hardwood forests accessible by trail in the entire Appalachian range—a remnant of the original Allegheny hardwood cathedral that stretched unbroken across the plateau before industrial logging transformed the landscape beginning in the 1880s. Watoga was established in 1934 partly in recognition of this remaining old-growth forest's significance, and the CCC crews who built the park's infrastructure were instructed to leave the largest trees undisturbed. The result is a forest of extraordinary stature: sugar maple, yellow birch, American beech, and black cherry trees reaching 24 to 30 inches in diameter and 80 to 100 feet in height dominate the canopy, their smooth gray and yellow-orange bark catching the filtered sunlight that penetrates only in small patches to the forest floor. The understory is defined by striped maple and hobblebush, and the herb layer supports trout lily, Dutchman's breeches, and blue cohosh in spring before the canopy leafs out. Black bear sign—claw marks on beech trees where bears have climbed to harvest mast, turned logs in search of carpenter ant colonies, and excavated yellow jacket nests—is visible throughout the forest. The park's remoteness and trail system solitude make it one of West Virginia's best kept secrets among serious hikers.