Canaan Valley West Virginia
“Blackwater Falls”
Town of Canaan Valley WV
The town of Canaan Valley is located in an upland valley in northeastern Tucker County, West Virginia. Canaan Valley is an outdoor adventure destination for your next getaway; whether you are looking for recreation, or simply relaxation.
Canaan Valley boasts world-class skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, hunting and fishing, whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, and golfing. With easy access to National Forest Lands, Wildlife Refuge, Wilderness areas, and two State Parks, explore the endless outdoor recreation. Enjoy our quaint mountain towns, unique shops, restaurants and festivals.
Within it are extensive wetlands and the headwaters of the Blackwater River which spills out of the valley at Blackwater Falls. It is a well-known and partially undeveloped scenic attraction and tourist draw, associated with the Canaan Valley Resort State Park and the Blackwater Falls State Park. The elevation ranges from 3,200 to 4,300 feet, giving Canaan Valley a cold climate similar to places in Canada.
The cold climate combined with tundra-like wetlands makes Canaan Valley a biologically rich and diverse area with more than 520 plant species, some 25 of which are rare in West Virginia, and more than 285 mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, and fish species.
History of Canaan Valley WV
The first whites to see Canaan Valley were likely the surveyors of the famous Fairfax Line in 1746. According to a local tradition, a German settler named Henry Fansler, who was migrating from the Shenandoah Valley, viewed the valley from Cabin Mountain in April.
The earliest settler to make a successful and permanent livelihood in the Valley came more than 60 years after Fansler when Solomon W. Cosner began living at Fansler’s old homestead in 1864. Cosner, a Civil War veteran known as the “Pioneer of Canaan”, was a noted bear hunter. He and his sons were said to have killed more than 500 bears in Canaan Valley. Other families arrived to settle in the Valley in the 1870s.
Canaan Valley had a tragic history, and its comeback has been a slow one. A hundred years ago valley and surrounding ridges were covered by a dense red spruce forest.
- Blackwater Falls State Park
- Canaan Valley Resort
- Timberline Four Seasons Resort
- Fairfax Stone State Park
- Little Canaan Wildlife Management Area
- Tucker County Information Center
- Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge
- Monongahela National Forest
- Seneca Rocks
- Seneca Caverns
- Smoke Hole Caverns
- Spruce knob