pipestem state park

Bluestone Dining Room, at Pipestem State Park, has a good seafood buffet, every Friday night. It's where, oddly enough, in the hills of WV, I have had some of the best raw oysters, ever. They are COLD, FIRM, FRESH-SMELLING (that means they smell like a fresh breeze from a clean ocean) and served on the half shell, with all the fresh lemon you desire. There also is, usually, a large baked grouper, that you can pick at, like a roasted pig. Add a few fried items, like oysters, clam strips, and shrimp, and another 2 or 3 fish selections, in tasty sauces, and steamed peel-and-eat shrimp, deviled crab, clam chowder, several (fresh) veggie dishes, a prime rib carving station, salad bar, and dessert table, and you have quite the WV State Park dinner! They have a menu, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it is a good value, as are the buffets that they offer, when the lodge is sufficiently booked, for breakfast and dinner. We have never eaten lunch there.

We have been coming to Pipestem since 1995 having stayed in the Lodge and every yr in a cabin for our annual ski trip. Always a good time and the park has lots if thing to do year round. Recommend you stay if time allows a little detour off I-77.

We found lots to do at Pipestem State Park! It took us all week to explore the park and we plan to come back next year! The pool is huge and refreshing and on a day without sunshine the indoor pool was awesome. They have lots of trails including my favorite that surrounds the lake. They also have a large lookout tower that gives you a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Beautiful for sunsets! The food is delicious and there is something for everyone, hamburgers, buffets, and fine dining. Although we didn't golf the courses are well maintained and looked challenging.

We stayed there with friends in November 2014. The cabins are great and lend themselves well to large gatherings. Very relaxing weekend in front of the fireplace.

Great people working there but the food is mediocre. There is lots to do including horseback riding, hiking, and a nature center.

We stayed at the Mckeever Lodge. Very nice accommodations, Large comfortable room with balcony. Gorgeous view. All staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Hike to Observation Tower is an easy climb and the views are worth it. Take the time to visit Brush Creek Falls. There is a variety of activities, horse back riding, golf, miniature golf, swimming, hiking,tennis just relaxing in the many seating areas. There are 3 nice gift shops with variety of merchandise.

The park was beautiful.. so much to do there. We camped at the campground for a week. We didn't plan to stay that long, but we had engine problems with our camping van, and had to order parts from a local business. The park employees- especially Greg- were extremely caring and helpful. They visited us each day to see how we were doing and if we needed anything. A security guard and the park superintendent each gave my husband a ride to the store for groceries. The park had lots of activities within walking distance for us to explore. We visited the gift shop, rode on the tram, walked numerous trails, and visited the observation tower several times- spectacular views. We also explored the area around the amphitheater-very pretty- saw lots of deer. We ate at the lodge restaurant. The food was good. Overall, if we had to "get stuck" somewhere on our trip, this was the perfect place for it.

The trees, the mountains, the people and the wildlife are great here! If you go make sure you ride the horses and if you mountain bike this place has some great trails. Hike up to the observation tower too. The views from the golf course are beautiful and the tennis courts are kept in good shape. I've never stayed in the "lodge", but, in all honesty, it doesn't claim to be the Ritz.

We didn't spend a lot of time here, but what we seen and done was very enjoyable. Beautiful park. Lot's of deer, we must have seen 35-40 while we were there. We hiked up to the Bolar tower. Well worth the fairly short, but somewhat steep hike. Awesome views of the mountains and surrounding areas from the tower. Also hiked down to the lake, which was a nice, relatively short hike. Would have liked to explored more, had time allowed.

While at Pipestem we hiked, took photos, played disc golf, ate some great meals and swam. There is a lot more than that to do at the resort. So many trails. If the trail says it is challenging - TRUST that. Getting out to explore was exactly what we wanted to do.The indoor pool is huge and very warm. it says no food or drink, but one of the people working there was eating her lunch while she was "lifeguarding," so I'm not sure if that is a "real rule" or not. Remarkably, the pool area is not obnoxiously loud. They have placed some sound proofing panels around the room and they really make a difference.The disc golf course is phenomenal. The front nine are more open the back nine take you on a hike through the woods. The 17th hole is a killer. But it is a really fun course. We are going back in a few weeks to see the leaves turn. The natural setting is very relaxing. I hadn't been there ten minutes when a small buck walked past the deck off our room. That was amazing.One thing to note... the rooms are NOT soundproof. We could hear people next door and upstairs and suspect they could hear us as well. The nature makes up for the lack of quiet in the rooms, but the other patrons seemed to be pretty respectful, so it was not a major issue. The place was also full when we were there (class reunion from classes of 1958-1962 from a local H.S.). Can't wait to go back and explore more.One last tip - the location really lends itself to stargazing. If you have a clear night, get away from the lights and enjoy the night sky.

Our visit was just before time for the leaves to change, but it was still beautiful. It will be gorgeous in about a month. The tram is a treat to ride, and if there is enough water you can see waterfalls going down or up. Unfortunately we were not able to eat there, but the gift shop and the Local Artisan's wares were great. There appears to be great opportunities for camping from the motor home to the tent enthusiasts.There two restaurants and hotels plus a golf course and miles of woodland trails.There is a fee for the tram, but there are lots of things to do that do not require a fee.Definitely worth a short drive out of the way to visit.

We found a Gem in the hills of Southern West Virginia! From the beautiful scenery to the very friendly staff (from check-in to the maid staff) to the cleanliness to the many activities, made this long weekend a treasure. We were just looking for a place which was half way between Raleigh, NC and Columbus, Oh where we could meet our daughter and her family for visits so neither had to travel the full 9 hours. What we found was impressive. The main lodge is very nice with spectacular views and wildlife all around. They have numerous cabins and campsites as well. But to our good fortune all of these were booked so we had to stay at the Mountain Stream Lodge. You take a beautiful relaxing cable tram ride down about 1100 feet of mountain side and across a large creek to the secluded lodge. It had 3 buildings with about 14 rooms per building. Rooms were spacious and had small balconies with great views of the large creek which was about 30 yards away. Each morning there were deer eating apples out back and lots of trails, volleyball, horseshoes, a play place for the kids, an upscale restaurant and a gift shop were all there (could just stay there). We did venture out for more hiking and a great horseback riding experience (highly recommend). The Main Lodge has a restaurant with an upscale look but reasonable prices and great food/staff. We have found our family get-away. So if you want a quiet get-away with golf, trails (hiking, horse, mountain bike) trout fishing, sightseeing, horseback riding, swimming and lots of activities for all. Check this place out. We felt so relaxed and calm (as much as a 3 year old allows) than we have in a long time.

Enjoyed the dinner buffet at the Lodge. The view was beautiful and the food was what I had expected it to be. After dinner, I visited the Tram at the Canyon Rim - this is a must. My daughter and I road it at sunset and the view was spectacular.

People travel here from all over the US and other countries, yet it is one of West Virginia's most well-kept secrets....Pipestem State Park. If you just like to ride and site-see, the mountains, deer and other wildlife, the lake, gorge, river.....you could spend hours just looking. Then there are many other activities such as horse-back riding, biking, golfing, hiking, many beautiful picnic areas, swimming, parks for the youngsters, fishing, boating. Don't miss the tram ride- it offers spectacular views. Visit the nature center where you can see animal skins, live snakes, deer racks and talk to the well-informed guides who can answer any questions that you may have about the area. The indoor and outdoor pools are both clean and well-kept. If you like seafood, there is a wonderful seafood buffet on Friday evenings. There is a game room at the indoor pool and also an exercise room. There are cabins, tent and camper camping and also a hotel. There is also an amphitheater which offers a variety of entertainment such as clogging, plays and bluegrass and country shows. If you visit in autumn, make your way down to the nearby town of Hinton, WV and enjoy Railroad Days. Also take time to enjoy some good barbque at Brandon's, located just across the entrance of Pipestem State Park.

We are a family of 6 and this was our family vacation. We have 3 children who are on the autism specrum. We reserved our site 3 months in advance which was a painless process. So easy. I called the week before our trip to confirm and ask questions. There isn't 1 central place you can call to get information so I had to be transfered to each place I had questions about. Everyone answered my questions wonderfully. The only hassle was that each place can't transfer among themselves so I had to keep calling to ask each different place question. We arrived early fri morning and our campsite was already ready we set up quickly and headed to the nearby town of Hinton to go to their waterslide and railroad musuem. We spent Saturday and Sunday in the park. My children ages 9,6,6, ans 3 had a blast. They did a couple different activities at the nature center. 2 were headed by justin and we did a nature walk with julie. She was incrediably patient as my eldest son asked her many many questions. We bought a 2 day pool pass and spent time amonst the indoor and outdoor pools. It saved us a lot of money doing it that route. I've seen a couple reviews from other campers complaining about paying extra for the pool. We also camp at KOA's and pay 50 or more a night and have their outdoor pool included there. So paying 26 a night and paying 25.00 for 2 days of swimming at either pool for 6 people was a great deal!! Especially when you see all the free activities they have at the park. We will definately be going back in the future.