Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

Canaan Valley (locally ) is a large bathtub-shaped upland valley in northeastern Tucker County, West Virginia, USA. 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. Since 1994, almost 70% of the Valley has become the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the nation's 500th National Wildlife Refuge, with Canaan Valley Resort State Park and Blackwater Falls State Park nearby. Canaan Valley was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974. The National Park Service citation indicates that the Valley is "a splendid 'museum' of Pleistocene habitats ... contain[ing] ... an aggregation of these habitats seldom found in the eastern United States. It is unique as a northern boreal relict community at this latitude by virtue of its size, elevation and diversity." The local pronunciation of "Canaan" is , rather than the conventional for the Biblical region from which the area questionably takes its name. According to legend, this is the result of improper pronunciation by the German settler who named the valley. As the legend goes, he described the valley as being as gorgeous as the Canaan described in the Bible. His mispronunciation of the word stuck. However, it has also been speculated for decades now that Canaan Valley early on was called the "Canadian Valley", little resembling the biblical Canaan's land of "milk and honey". That speculation is based on arguments that the valley looks very similar to Canada and was first described by early expeditions into its wild, nearly impenetrable wilderness as a place suffix to strike terror into the hearts of men, not being fit for man or beast, and as harboring the dark River of Styx (River of the Dead), now called less frighteningly, the Blackwater River. Furthermore, the name "Canaan" is strikingly similar to "Canadian", with Canaan only missing only two letters (d & i) to spell "Canadian".

Canaan Heights is an unincorporated community in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. Canaan Heights is located on West Virginia Route 32, south of Davis. As of 2006, it had a large, mature plantation of Norway spruce (Picea abies). In May 2023, Canaan Heights reported 20.3 inches of snowfall, the largest May snowstorm recorded in the history of West Virginia.

Tucker County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,762, making it West Virginia's fourth-least populous county. Its county seat is Parsons. The county was created in 1856 from a part of Randolph County, then part of Virginia. In 1871, a small part of Barbour County, was transferred to Tucker County. The county was named after Henry St. George Tucker, Sr., a judge and Congressman from Williamsburg, Virginia.

Cortland is an unincorporated community in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. The community lies at the intersection of West Virginia Secondary Routes 35 and 35/18. Cortland was originally known as Cortlands until its post office changed its name to Cortland on March 26, 1888. Cortland once had its own school, Cortland Grade School, in operation there until it was closed in 1933.

Timberline Mountain, also known as Timberline Four Seasons Resort or Timberline WV, is an alpine skiing resort in Canaan valley, West Virginia. It has two surface lifts, one quad chairlift, and one six-pack chairlift. The resort has two terrain parks, a hotel, night skiing held only on select nights, and two glade trails. Its longest slope, Salamander Run, stretches for two miles and is the longest in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Herman August Meyer House is a historic home located at Davis, Tucker County, West Virginia. It was built about 1891, and is a 2+1⁄2-story, T-shaped, 5-bay central-passage I house of wood construction. It was built as a single-family residence, and converted for use as a bed and breakfast inn. Also on the property is a domestic dependency, built about 1891. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Davis is a town in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Blackwater River. The population was 595 at the 2020 census.

Gatzmer is an unincorporated community in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States.

White Grass Ski Touring Center is a cross-country skiing facility located in Canaan Valley in Tucker County, West Virginia. It originally opened in 1979 on White Grass Knob near Harrisonburg, Virginia. Two years later, the operation was moved to the site of the second Weiss Knob Ski Area. The resort uses Weiss Knob's former lodge as its day lodge; it is one of the oldest dedicated cross country ski areas in the United States. Because of its status as a former downhill slope, White Grass is an unusually steep cross country area, with nearly 1,200 feet (370 m) of vertical rise—more than at neighboring downhill slope Canaan Valley Resort State Park. Its 45 trails are rated approximately 30% easy, 55% intermediate, 15% most difficult; climbs are available to the summit of 4,436-foot (1,352 m) Weiss Knob by intermediate skiing, and to 4,308-foot (1,313 m) Bald Knob via easier or intermediate trails. White Grass staff also conduct free natural history snowshoe tours each Sunday into the Canaan Valley Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The resort's trails stretch along the northern slope of Cabin Mountain from Canaan Valley Resort northeast to Timberline Four Seasons Resort. It also provides access to Dolly Sods wilderness area on the east, and to trails in Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge on the west. There are more than 50 kilometres (31 mi) of cross-country trails on White Grass property, and more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) of trails are locally accessible. Half of the established trails at White Grass are machine groomed. The resort harvests its 150 inches (3.8 m) of natural snowfall with 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) of snow fences. The resort supports snowshoeing and telemark skiing as well as moonlight tours once a month. White Grass has been described as catering to a "fleece-and-flannel scene". During the summer, it is the site of a 500-acre (2.0 km2) cattle farm. The resort's natural foods cafe has become a popular attraction, publishing two novelty cookbooks. White Grass was voted the most popular ski center in North America winter of 2017 by a USA Today survey. As of 2004 the resort lodge consumed less than $2 worth of electricity per day, and was heated by a wood-burning stove. In 2003 the resort was recognized by the West Virginia Environmental Council for the environmental sustainability of its operations, such as its snow farming. In 1994 The Washington Post cited White Grass Touring Center as one of the ten best Nordic ski areas in the nation.

Bear Rocks are a widely recognized symbol of West Virginia wilderness and among the most frequently photographed places in the state. They are a well-known landmark on the eastern edge of the plateau that includes the Dolly Sods Wilderness. They sit in a high-elevation heathland punctuated with wind-carved sandstone outcrops and is home to more than a dozen rare plant and animal species. Situated on the crest of the Allegheny Front, Bear Rocks afford vistas over the South Branch Potomac River. Visibility can extend eastward to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The Bear Rocks Preserve is a 477-acre (1.93 km2) tract owned and preserved by The Nature Conservancy.

The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and western Virginia. The Allegheny Front forms the boundary between the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to its east and the Appalachian Plateau (locally called the Allegheny Plateau) to its west. The Front is closely associated with the Appalachian Mountains' Eastern Continental Divide, which in this area divides the waters of the Ohio/Mississippi river system, flowing to the Gulf of Mexico, from rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay and from there into the Atlantic Ocean. The Allegheny Front and the Eastern Continental Divide do not always coincide; for example, the North Branch of the Potomac River begins well west of the Front, at the Fairfax Stone near the southwestern tip of Maryland, about 10 miles (16 km) and across the actual divide from the headwaters of the Youghiogheny River draining northwards into the Monongahela and Ohio rivers. The Allegheny Front is one of the windiest spots east of the Mississippi, leading to the recent establishment of wind farming there.

Stony River Reservoir was constructed on the Stony River in 1888 by Westvaco to supply the source of water for the company's main pulp mill. William Luke's summer residence was located on the lake. The dam suffered from structural weakness and was periodically drained for repairs. The center portion of the dam has since been demolished and the reservoir drained. The majority of the dam still stands on either side of the, now, free flowing river.