Cacapon Resort State Park

COME HOME TO CACAPON for strolling, biking, fishing, golfing and more

COMMUNITY

written by TRICIA LYNN STRADER

At the base of Cacapon Mountain in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., is Cacapon Resort State Park, one of West Virginia’s original state parks. It is named after a Shawnee word meaning “medicine waters,” a reference to the area's mineral waters that have been extolled for their healing powers. The park was constructed during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps and opened July 1, 1937.

Cacapon Mountain is the highest peak in the eastern portion of the state, at 2,300 feet.

Cacapon is a 6,000-acre park of hills, valleys, large shade trees and woods, rock outcroppings and flowing water. It offers lake activities such as swimming, fishing and boating. There’s also ample opportunity for hiking and biking, horseback riding and golf.

Visitors may stay in vacation cabins or the lodge. The original lodge, now called the Old Inn, was built in 1937. The 12room log structure was West Virginia’s first state park lodge.

The main lodge, built in 1956, has a relaxed setting, complete with a lounge, TV, board games, fireplace and cozy furniture. Downstairs, a recreation room provides hours of entertainment with various games. The lodge has a full-service restaurant.

The golf course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, was built in 1972, and is a popular course for tournaments inside the park’s picturesque valley.

Above: A $30 million addition and renovation is under way at Cacapon Resort State Park. The addition will include 78 new guest rooms. Below: A stream runs through Cacapon Resort State Park. Photos by Tricia Lynn Strader

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A Cacapon Resort cabin. Photo by Tricia Lynn Strader

Vacation cabins and more than 13,000 square feet of conference facilities were added in the late 1990s. A new and improved lodge is coming soon. Coming home to Cacapon

Every Sunday of Labor Day weekend, the park hosts a free homecoming event, which started about 1995. The first one was meant to attract families to the park on the last big weekend of summer. That mission hasn't changed. The homecoming theme has always been “Come home to Cacapon. It's your park.”

People gather at the gazebo for live entertainment, door prizes and a silent auction. Proceeds from the auction benefit the Cacapon Resort State Park Foundation’s improvement projects.

The Cacapon Resort State Park Foundation was formed in 1989, and helps with fundraising events. There is a strong connection between park officials, the foundation, local volunteers and those who donate to the park’s upkeep. Local businesses and citizens donate items for the silent auction.

Park Superintendent Scott Fortney has been a park superintendent for 24 years, four of which have been spent at Cacapon. He’s one of 140 employees.

“Homecoming is a way to give back to the community because of their support,” Fortney said. “The foundation has supported the park – from building the nature center, shelters and overlook, to cleaning trails, and volunteering to lead programs and special events. Without the foundation, the park would be limited in the extra projects that we could complete.”

Cabin interior. Submitted photo from Cacapon Resort State Park

Building on biking

Fortney said Cacapon Resort State Park Foundation members and volunteers have supported and helped with aspects of the new mountain bike trails, a playground in the picnic area and wildflower gardens around the nature center.

In the fall of 2018, Fortney asked Boy Scouts staying at the park on a camporee to help work on the trails as part of their community service. The group of more than 125 boys built a new, nearly one-mile trail for climbing the mountain from Batt Picnic Area and named it Boy Scout Trail.

Mountain bike trails are among many new and exciting things happening at the park. In June 2019, the foundation applied for a $150,000 Recreational Trails Fund Program grant from the West Virginia Department of Transportation to build bike trails at the park for recreation and competitions. The grant required a 30% match, so the foundation

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and mountain-biking enthusiasts sought donations and funds from Morgan County.

Mark Hoyle was part of a group that lobbied for mountain-biking trails at Cacapon.

“We have a group of 30 to 40 local mountain bikers in West Virginia and Virginia who have a passion for both the sport and this beautiful area in which we all live,” Hoyle said. “In 2017, a group of us were getting ready to ride the trails and talking about how a big section of the trails we usually rode had been turned into a cross- country course. This effectively cut off our access to the main trails we ride.”

That gave them an idea: Work with staff at Cacapon to create new ones.

“We started seeing more mountain bikers after we built the cross-country trail,” Fortney said. “That left no access for them to some parts of the trails. Some trails have historical value, and we don’t want bikes or horses on them. It’s a growing sport. I knew we’d have to address it at some point and didn’t want to put up a bunch of ‘no’ signs. It happened that Mark and his group came along to volunteer.”

A few trails have been established by volunteers, and competitions have taken place since 2019. In the spring of 2019, the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association held its season-opening Enduro race there. According to the association’s website, the Enduro race is a combination of downhill racing and XC racing. Riders start at timed intervals and have three to four stages of timed runs, mostly downhill. There might be flats or small uphill portions. Hoyle said the race at Cacapon was the biggest event the WV Enduro Series has ever had.

“We attracted over 125 riders from the area and surrounding states,” he said. “It was a great success and energized the group. We also established the Facebook group Mountain Bikers of the 540 & 304: Northern Shenandoah

2019 Cacapon Enduro. Photo by Will Niccolls

Valley with members from the whole area. There are now 602 members of this group.”

The sport is an economic boost to any community that hosts an event.

“West Virginia University conducted an economic impact study of the event and found that each rider spent an average of $290 in Morgan County,” Hoyle said. “This does not even cover their trips to preride the trails or visit again.”

“We raised $880 in donations at the race for the foundation,” Fortney said. “The money goes back into maintenance for the trails, like an endowment.”

More trails are being constructed.

“With guidance from Kyle Lawrence from the Harrisonburg (Va.)-based bike club SVBC (Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition), we applied for several grants, and have won,” Hoyle said. “Our first grants were small, yet impactful. We won grants from local Walmarts, were awarded a grant from Gat Creek furniture and were awarded several West Virginia State Park grants. We raised enough money to fund our first trail, a 2.2-mile machine-built trail designed for hosting National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) mountain bike races, and to get more people a place to get into the sport. Our area is extremely rocky and not conducive to beginner riding. This trail is designed to address that need.”

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Fortney said mountain biking is a year-round activity with low maintenance demands, so it yields more tourism dollars for Cacapon, local businesses and the state.

Trails have names like Giddy Up, Start Me Up and Get Down.

“We were awarded a $150,000 Recreational Trails Program grant from the state of West Virginia,” Hoyle said. “This is a federal highway funds program for building recreational trails. The result of this big win will be the building of the first of many trails from the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail accelerator program Trail Plan. We plan to build what we are calling a ‘signature trail’ that will go from the top of the mountain all the way down to connect into the new beginner trails. This will be a trail people will travel from around the region to ride.”

Fortney said the project could yield 35 miles of mountain-biking trails. Expanding, renovating the park

Work continues to ensure Cacapon endures and thrives for future generations, just like the ones who took hammer and nail more than 75 years ago to build the first pavilions and cabins. A $30 million expansion and renovation project is under way, for which a groundbreaking was held in 2018.

Capacon Resort Lake and beach. Photo by Tricia Lynn Strader

Funding is provided by bonds financed with excess lottery revenue.

The project has been a vision of park and state officials for some time, and it was a long process to get to the construction phase. The plans have been in the works since 2009, with former Govs. Joe Manchin and Earl Ray Tomblin, and current Gov. Jim Justice involved.

Thirty-one cabins have already been remodeled with handmade Gat Creek furniture made in Berkeley Springs at Caperton Furniture Works. The cabins have tankless water heaters; upgraded heating, ventilation and air conditioning; new kitchens and baths; and newly paved paths and private parking areas.

An addition to the existing 66,786-square-foot main lodge, which will be called the North Lodge, includes 78 new guest rooms; a new public dining room; updated kitchen; a new lounge and fitness room; spa; indoor pool for guests; private dining area for guests; and two new conference rooms. The addition was scheduled to be completed by November.

The spa will offer nail and skin services, as well as massages.

Renovations to the existing main lodge’s 48 guest rooms and conference rooms include new Gat Creek furniture and a retro 1950s theme. Those improvements are expected to be complete in January. At that point, Cacapon Resort State Park will have 120 guest rooms and four king suites.

Plans are also being finalized to upgrade the bathhouse, beach snack bar and golf pro shop. An 18-hole disc-golf course should be completed before the end of the year. The addition and renovations will result in the need for 45 new employees.

The park, for which there is no entrance fee, is a family, reunion or conference destination, and a place to relax, swim, boat, fish, golf, hike, bike and ride horses. Once all the additions and renovations are complete, it will have even more amenities for guests.

“The great thing about Cacapon is that it has something for everyone, from the more rustic to a new lodge,” Fortney said. For more information or to make reservations, call 304-258-1022 or go to www.cacaponresort.com. — Places

Golfers can try their game at the Robert Trent Jones course at Cacapon. Inset: Berkeley Springs (W.Va.) High School golfers warm up at the driving range before a tournament. Photos by Tricia Lynn Strader