MCDOWELL COUNTY The remote wilderness in this region offers renowned hunting opportunities. McDowell only permits bow hunting. Great wildlife experiences await. Once known as the "Nation's Coal Bin" because the coal was shipping all around the United States for commercial and home heating use.
Panther State Forest
Box 287, Panther, WV 24872
(304) 938-2252
http://www.pantherstateforest.com. Panther offers a small campground in heavily wooded surroundings. Hiking trails to scenic overlooks, trout fishing, picnicking, swimming and hunting, esp. squirrel and grouse are featured at the forest (10,640 acres). Panther is comprised of extremely mountainous terrain with flat, narrow ridgetops and is almost completely forested. Only bow hunting is permitted for deer and trapping is mainly for fox and bobcats. Panther Creek provides stocked trout fishing. Six primitive campsites are available for a fee.
Anawalt Wildlife Management Area Anawalt Lake is a 7-acre impoundment on the Anawalt Lake WMA (1,792 acres) located 1.3 miles southeast of the town of Anawalt. A foot trail surrounds the lake providing good bank fishing access. Pit type toilets, shelters, and picnic tables are provided. Boating, camping, and the use of live minnows as bait are prohibited. Stocked with largemouth bass and bluegill fingerlings. Adult channel catfish are stocked annually in June. Trout are stocked monthly from February through May each year. The lake provides a good warm water, as well as coldwater fishery.Camping is prohibited.
Berwind Lake Wildlife Management Area www.berwindlake.com 18,000 acres of rugged mountain terrain. Oak and hickory dominate the woodlands, which also have some beech and maple cover. A small percentage of the area consists of brushlands which were created by timber cutting, old log landings, skidder trails and abandoned strip mines. forest terrain offers hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, raccoon and squirrel. Berwind Lake encompasses 20 acres and provides fishing for warmwater species and trout. The area has eight primitive camp sites. Picnic areas and swimming pool.
Tug Fork WMA (2,308 acres) McDowell County. Located approximately 10 miles northeast of Welch. Several administrative roads and trails provide interior access for foot travel only. The WMA consists primarily of mixed hardwood forest with oak-hickory forest types on drier sites and yellow poplar/black cherry in the coves. The area offers hunting opportunities for squirrel, deer, bear, turkey and ruffed grouse. Tug Fork River is the northern border of the area and supports a warmwater fishery. Camping and the use of ATVs on the area are prohibited. .
KOA for trailriders - close to the Hatfield-McCoy ATV Trails, tent and full hook-up RV sites, kabins, kottages, bathhouse, laundry, cable TV, campstore, LP, ATV gas. Open year round.
Cape Coalwood Restoration Association Coalwood, WV
304-297-4124
October 2, 2006 - "October Sky" author, Homer Hickam & Rocket Boys will attend Festival. Autographs & book signings, entertainment, food, hayride, games, etc., All WV authors invited to attend. See scenic southern W. Va. in its fall splendor!
Located 25 miles north of Bluefield, WV on Rt. 52. Was incorporated in 1911 and named for Frederick J. Kimball who was the second President of the Norfork and Western Railway.
War
Welch
Located 30 miles nmorth of Bluefield on US Rt. 52. Chamber of Commerce Fall Festival is the first Saturday and Sunday in October.
Welch Hotel (now vacated on Elkhorn St.). Location where Matewan Police Chief Sid Hatfield and his Deputy Ed Chambers were gunned down on the McDowell Co. Courthouse steps August 1, 1921 by 11 Baldwin Felts Detective Agency men. Contributed to the WV Mine Wards.
Fordson Coal Company - Twin Branch, WV, owned bby Henry Ford during the 1920's. Area located 9.2 miles west of Welch, WV on Rt. 7.
King Coal Company Store - Kimball, WV. Originally company store for King Coal Company and Tidewater Coal & Coke Company of Kimball. Located 5 miles south of Welch on Rt 52 and 25 miles north of Bluefield on Rt 52. Companies were owned by the Houston Family until the 1930's when they were bought by Koppers Coal Company. It is being developed into a cultural and museum center.
