Trip Report – Blackwater Falls State Park + surrounding area - Part 1

On June 20^th I went down to WV for a day trip in the Monongahela National Forrest. The area was about 40ish minutes southeast of Morgantown. I had been meaning to shoot some waterfalls but I needed to wait for an overcast day so it wasn’t too bright. I needed slow shutter speeds to smooth the running water. That day was perfect because earlier in the week Pittsburgh got hit with the worst storm I had seen in my 4 years there. The storm clouds were still lingering, so I was able to achieve shutter speeds of a few seconds.

First, this place was amazing. I could easily spend a week there. I am tempted to go rent a room in their lodge for a weekend because there are so many trails to hike on and explore. Additionally, there are several creeks feeding the Blackwater River that have undiscovered waterfalls along them.

This park is a nature preserve, so I technically wasn’t supposed to leave the trail for most of my shots. I actually was questioned by a park ranger when he saw me emerge from the woods with my gear via a decommissioned trail. I think the shots are worth it. As a side note, I didn’t get in trouble because I explained that I was being cautious in regards to snakes (a WV specialty and something I was warned about beforehand) and didn’t get in the water anywhere. I could tell they had a problem with teenagers.

The prettiest falls were the Elakala Falls pictured above and in the first picture. I had to veer off a trail for a few hundred yards and over slippery rocks to set up this shot at water’s edge. Because of all the rainfall in the few days before I visited, there was a lot of sediment in the water. The falls were also huge in comparison to the other pictures I saw in the park office. You can see the clay-colored sediment in most of my pictures.

In conclusion I will say that Blackwater Falls are definitely worth visiting. I was upset that I only had a day there, but the campground and facilities looked really nice. I would definitely encourage a multi-day trip there for some car camping and hiking. I estimate that I did about 7-10 miles to see these falls. I will include my trail selection in part 2 of this report. I shot a roll of Ilford HP5 black and white film in my parent’s 27 year-old manual SLR camera alongside my digital camera to compare the results of 2006 technology and 1930’s film tech. As soon as I develop that, I will post part two.