by Ken Springer
Big things are happening at West Virginia’s largest state park
On one fine autumn day 10 years ago, Mary Dawson, Maureen Conley and Assistant Superintendent of Watoga State Park Kelly Smith, were walking the Watoga Lake Trail when the three women came up with a sterling idea: creating a volunteer foundation dedicated to improving this much-loved park.
Since its inception in 2015, the Watoga State Park Foundation has been responsible for many improvements and additions to our park. Examples of previous projects include the restoration of the Workman Cabin and installation of a Victorian fence around the Workman Cemetery. As a result, the history of the Workman Cabin and its occupants has brought even greater attention to the park.
Thanks to a matching grant, the old tennis court was converted to a pickleball court, and a disc golf course was designed and installed, much to the delight of the frisbee crowd.
The Arboretum, often referred to as the park’s crown jewel, was greatly improved with new tree identification placards and the restoration of the collapsed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) shelter at the head of the Dragon Draft Trail. A grant from the Pocahontas County Historic Landmarks Commission to the Foundation funded this project.
One of the most beautiful and challenging trails at Watoga is Jesse’s Cove Trail, with its rugged hillsides and the waters of Rock Run that begin at the Workman Cabin and plunge over rocks and into numerous crystal-clear pools on its way to the Greenbrier River.
Unfortunately, the trail had become nearly impassable after several flooding events in previous years. The Watoga State Park Foundation literally rescued this landmark trail by funding a major cleanup and trail restoration.
Watoga State Park is unique in many ways. It is a park of diverse beauty and natural treasures, not least its designation as an International Dark Sky Park. Creating and funding the Dark Sky Project was the brainchild of the Watoga State Park Foundation. This project offers public night-sky activities, complete with telescopes and astronomers.
All of the projects mentioned so far are already in place. Now is the time to discuss the upcoming projects of the Watoga State Park Foundation, in cooperation with Superintendent Josh Feather. The new projects are exciting, educational, and destined to bring many more visitors to Watoga State Park.
Recently, Watoga State Park Foundation President Anne Workman announced a series of grants that include three major additions to the park in 2026. But they are not stopping there and are currently planning four or more additional improvements that will offer even more interactive displays at the new nature center. Once the Foundation receives future grants, this column will report on them.
If you have been to Watoga State Park recently, you may have noticed that the playground equipment near the picnic area was removed for safety reasons. Fear not, kids: the Foundation has requested and received a $50,000 matching grant to replace the old equipment with brand-new.
Watoga has had a small nature center for many years, but that is about to be replaced with a much larger one that will offer more nature programs and interpretive displays. A grant from the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) will fund this project, which will turn the former, but spacious, activities building into a new interpretive nature center.
Initially, the nature center will offer educational exhibits and programs where the public can learn and appreciate the dark sky habitat, one of only three designated dark sky parks in West Virginia: Watoga, Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park and Calvin Price State Forest.
Although the initial grant will only cover the first three exhibits, a total of seven exhibits are on the agenda, and the Foundation is confident that future grants will cover the remaining nature exhibit projects.
The following is what the public can look forward to when the new Watoga State Park Nature Center opens its doors.
The Dark Sky Ceiling Mural features hand-painted ceiling tiles that create a fully immersive, astronomically accurate transition from daylight in the forest section to the darkness of the dark sky. In the dusk portion of the mural, visitors will observe silhouettes of twilight-dwelling wildlife, such as bats and moths.
In early June 2020, a retired WVDNR biologist was driving through Watoga State Park after dark when she saw what may be synchronous fireflies just above the picnic area. Using her cellphone, she obtained the geographic coordinates of the firefly activities and emailed them to the park.
A few days later, a small group consisting of me, Mary Dawson, Sam Parker, and USDA biologist Tiffany Beachy visited the site after dark. It wasn’t long before we all had an experience we will never forget. As if on cue, thousands of fireflies simultaneously lit up the entire forest, followed by a period of total darkness. We observed this cycle that repeated over and over again. We soon ran out of adjectives to describe the beauty we had witnessed.
To educate the public about the various species of synchronous fireflies, the new nature center will offer an interactive display featuring game control buttons that mimic the flash patterns of specific firefly species. Whereas the synchronous fireflies residing in Watoga State Park are only visible in June, anyone can learn about them year-round at the nature center.
Persistent rumors about an old-growth area at Watoga State Park came to fruition when Mark Mengele, the park historian and hiker extraordinaire, stumbled upon multiple tree species of immense size within the park.
A myth no longer, the discovery of the old-growth area was but another jewel in the crown of Watoga State Park. The new nature center will have a photographic mural offering a wrap-around view of the old-growth forest.
Pocahontas County has many reasons to be proud. Not least among them are the number of people here who willingly and eagerly volunteer for so many projects that make our county even more “Almost Heaven.”
The current Watoga State Park Foundation is made up of people from all over the county and beyond, who generously give of their time and energy, because, and this is important, in their hearts they know that community involvement makes life better for our own residents and those who come from far away to marvel at what they find here.
I am proud and humbled to be part of this group: Anne Workman, Mark Mengele, Ken Beezley, Vada Boback, Nancy Smithson, Dan Shockey, Edwin White, Anne Walker, Wayne Pollard and Louanne Fatora. I know they do not expect any thanks for what they do, but next time you see them, please let them know you appreciate their work.
A special thanks to the much talented Terry Hackney, who will be an indispensable part of the new Watoga State Park Nature Center.
An up-front acknowledgment and thanks to Tim Lavender, Activities Coordinator at Watoga, who will be running the new Nature Center.
Ken Springer
ken1949bongo@gmail.com
