Tygart Lake State Park, Grafton, WV. Mon-Tues, Sept 8-9, 2025. This state park, in the foothills of the Allegheny mountains in scenic north-central West Virginia, features a 10-mile long, 1,750 acre lake. The lake offers the usual water activities (swimming, boating, scuba diving, fishing (bass!), but also Adventure Lake with inflatables (closed when we visited). There are also trails for family-friendly hiking or biking, as well as options for staying overnight (a lodge and campground). There are also playgrounds for the kiddos. Our activities included: *Stopped at the PARK OFFICE to pick up a map. The ranger was friendly and helpful. The NATURE CENTER in the same building was closed. *Checked out the overlook near the DAM which regulates the waters of the Tygart Valley River. This is a tourist-friendly area with a visitors center/restrooms, informational signs, covered picnic tables, outdoor tables with phone charging stations, a WV photo-op at an "Almost Heaven" swing, free parking, and more. The U.S. Corps of Engineers also offers free tours of the dam every Friday in June, July, and August; pre-registration is required. *HIKED the easy Tygart Dam Trail (1.7 miles out-and-back, 160' elevation gain) that connects the Tygart Lake Dam to the Tygart Lodge. The trail was mostly flat, except for a steep paved section at the very beginning/ending on the dam side. There were limited views of the lake from the trail due to foliage, except near the lodge. Our turn around point was the lodge. We sat on a bench on the stairwell going up to the lodge to drink some water and eat a snack; a minor concern was that wasn't a bench in the shade. *Finally, we CAMPED overnight in our Class-B (van-sized) RV in the campground. There are 36 well-maintained sites, of which 26 are non-electric sites ($29.99/night) and 10 that offer 50-amp electric and water for $39.99. While the office on-site was closed when we arrived (Mon, 3:45 pm), there was a sign outlining ways to pay either by calling or online. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. The restrooms/showers, about 50 yards from our site, were clean. We were one of only two campers on the night that we visited so it was very peaceful, and we enjoyed being able to see the dark night sky. We noted, however, that the sites are close together and campers wouldn't have much privacy at busier times. Also, wi-fi was unstable at our (but not all) sites. Overall, we had a very peaceful stay. While we encountered occasional people in the park office, on the trails, in the dam area, and in the campground, it was mostly a solitary experience on a Monday-Tuesday in early September. Also, some of the attractions (Adventure Lake, kayak rental, the Nature Center, campground office) were closed. We didn't have any security concerns. We hope to return one day. read more

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I will never forget my experience at Tygart Lake State Park. What could have been a frightening and dangerous situation instead became one of the safest and most welcoming places I have ever been in my life. Special, heartfelt thanks to Park Ranger Patrick Miller -- truly a power ranger in every sense of the word. Ranger Miller immediately understood that it would have been far more dangerous to turn me away from an RV site. I was a first-time RV driver, snow was coming in, and I am from Louisiana, with no experience driving in winter conditions. His judgment, compassion, and leadership quite literally kept me safe. He tried to help me reverse the camper himself, assessed the situation carefully, and made sure I was secure -- recognizing that I had a winterized vehicle with its own bathroom and that staying put was the safest option. Under his leadership, his team -- JR, John, JJ, and others -- checked on me repeatedly, helped me make a fire, and even jumped my car when it stalled, despite the fact that roadside assistance never showed up when it should have. When my car stalled again later at The Lodge, they were there for me again. People like Jason from Tygart Lake and everyone associated with this park showed up every single time I needed help -- calmly, professionally, and with genuine care. What stood out most was that they didn't just "do their jobs." They cared. Every person I encountered at Tygart Lake State Park made me feel protected, respected, and welcomed. Under the leadership of Park Ranger Patrick Miller, this team embodies what public service is supposed to be. I truly felt like I was meant to be here, and I have never felt safer anywhere. This park -- and the people who run it -- are a treasure. I am deeply grateful. Update: 12/18/25 Horrible Customer Service at GIFT SHOP I bought a one-of-a-kind, hand-blown glass ornament from the lodge gift shop that was supposed to light up. No one tested it at purchase, and when I got back to my room it didn't work. A staff member told me to bring it back for a battery replacement, but when I returned a different staff member was condescending and treated me like I was trying to get away with something over a $2 battery. I've spent close to $1,000 at the lodge in about a week, and this experience left me feeling accused instead of helped. By the time anyone tried to make it right, the tone had already done the damage, and I ended up canceling my New Year's Eve booking and taking my business elsewhere. This wasn't about the battery--it was about how I was treated. read more

Amazing! I went to the restaurant and I got homefries for my breakfast and they mere trying a new kind it was not my personal opinion but still good I asked for original and they remade it so quickly I recommend with a large family read more

We recently road-tripped our way down to this area of WV from Buffalo as a fam' during Christmas break week. Late December in WV is usually fairly frigid, but we lucked out with a beautiful 70-degree day and decided to take advantage and hit up some nature. We stayed in Bridgeport WV, which has at least a half-dozen WV State Parks within 30 minutes to an hour away. We wanted some leisurely nature strolling, and decided to give Tygart Lake a try. Our GPS brought us to a parking area right next to Tygart Dam. The dam has a scenic vista area with some historical information about the dam, and great for taking photos of the lovely landscape. From there there were two trails that came off of the parking lot area, one that went down closer to the lake, and one that went up into the woods. The map looked like they looped into each other at one point, so we went down with plans to turn up into the woods once the trails connected. The trail down towards the lake had an offshoot to get right next to the water. We ventured down, but with the water levels very low, didn't go all the way to the water as the ground was soft and silty the closer you got to the shoreline. I did not come prepared for any mudlarking, but wish I did as I found several pieces of jagged glass with just perusing for a few minutes. If you have time and gloves, there are probably some mudlarking treasures out here! We continued on the trail and looped up into the woods when the two converged. The woods trail ended back at the parking lot, with a couple of exercise machines along the way that looked nearly new. The whole short loop was maybe a mile and a half if that, but did have a decline and hill to get a little more of a workout into the walk. If you are looking for a shorter nature stroll with water views, the trails near the dam at Tygart Lake State Park will get the job done. read more

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My husband and I rented a campsite Tuesday through Friday. Camp site 37 was PERFECT! There are trails right by this site that lead down to the lake. You do have to hike your things maybe 20 yards to the site but it's worth it! It's secluded from other campsites. We were the only ones there during our visit. Rangers were all very nice and helpful! Facilities are very clean and stocked. Recommend site 37 through the week (if you can get it). Also, the lodge restaurant was a great place for lunch. Eric (I think was his name) was a great server and very friendly! Everyone we encountered in this area, from the grocery store to the state park, were helpful and friendly! read more

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Stayed two nights in the lodge and rented a campsite for my concession trailer to stay plugged in Very nice lodge with friendly staff and great views. Beautiful place to hike and see Fall colors. Looks like a good little fishing lake also. Rooms are decent. Ac is good. Great water pressure in the shower. Internet speed was good. Enjoyed a bird banding seminar today that was conducted at the park. Gentleman seemed very knowledgeable and spoke to guest levels of experience. Saw quite abut of wildlife in the area. I'll return to the area and plan to stay here. read more

Tygart Lake State Park - Lodge restaurant view. Nearly the same view as from our room. - Hotels Near Me - Grafton, West Virginia

This place was absolutely beautiful!!! What a great place to bring the family and enjoy a beautiful day!!! The beach is free and you can rent boats and swim at the beach or eat at Apple Annies. This place is also ideal for camping or cabin staying! The staff was so friendly and extremely helpful!! My family and I ventured out here on a Saturday and surprisingly it was not packed at all. I recommend bring snacks, sandwiches and such. You can even girl out then hit the Bach lake to swim! I will be back with the family for sure read more

Just spent 3 relaxing, winter nights in one of their cabins. Well-stocked with kitchen equipment and utensils, lots of firewood, relaxing furniture inside and out, and nice views and peace and quiet (December). Clean and everything in great working order! If fireplace isn't enough there's also electric baseboard and gas burners too! Don't feel like cooking? There's a newly-opened Boston Beanery at the lodge about 4 miles down the road that offers pub food for lunch and dinner. Convenient winter activities include hiking, deer-watching, and visiting the Tygart Dam and visitor center nearby. The Civil War-era Grafton National Cemetery is in nearby Grafton. Philippi (23 miles) is known for its covered bridge and being site of the first organized land battle of the Civil War. One last note, this park is obviously geared for intensive watersport summer crowds when the water level allows the marina to operate full swing. But don't discount the off-season for quiet times in the forest. NOTE: 2011 - 2012 is the first time this park is remaining open during the winter months as a trial run to prove the viability of round-the-year operation. read more

Tygart Lake State Park - Tygart Dam - Hotels Near Me - Grafton, West Virginia

Yesterday June 11th, Tony Vanoy and I visited Tygart Lake State Park here in WV outside of Grafton. The lake is lovely. There is a marina and a beach. Cabins to rent and tent sites. There is a lodge for hotel stay. There is a dam and visitors center. If in the area, you should have a picnic and let the kids enjoy the playground or the beach...let us know what you think? read more

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We booked an overnight stay in the Lake Lodge. Thank goodness it was only one night! The room wasn't clean and really dark even with the curtains open and bright sunshine! There were no blankets for the cold night. The food served in the restaurant was worse than any school cafeteria! Don't bother with the Lodge you will be extremely disappointed. Perhaps I should have rented a cabin, but I'm not inclined to return. read more

Clean and comfortable room at the lodge with great views. The trails are well kept and the water park on the lake is pretty fun too. Wanted to stay for a few more days! Lodge has amazing food! Only complaint was that the waitress Kim at the Lodge restaurant smelled strongly of marijuana and appeared high during dinner on 8/18/21 while serving us. read more

Great park. Needs workout are because the food is soooo good!. Everyone was friendly and went out of their way to be friendly!

We attempted to stay in Cabin #8 on 5/22/21. After being assured correspondence from a supervisor, no one has reached out to me. I left a voicemail, and sent an email, which I pasted below. We had considered coming back but no longer will due to the non existant customer service. Hopefully you at least took care of the bugs so other patrons do not get infested. Good Morning, I am awaiting a call from a supervisor in regards to our attempted stay on cabin 8 last evening. When I put the kids to bed at 1030pm after an over 9 hr drive from Holden Beach, I was laying with my 2 yr old and these small bugs kept crawling on my phone screen. Upon further inspection of all 3 beds, the bugs were on 3 out of 4 pillows, and all in the covers of just her bed. They were very tiny, and crawled very fast. They did not fly. I have multiple pictures of them. As a result, we made the tough decision to drive home another 5.5 hours to New York. (I immediately called the front desk and they told me that a supervisor would be in contact and there was nothing that could presently be done.) I am unsure what exactly they were- bed bugs or lice. But I cannot allow my family to risk getting either. It's disappointing as we arrived home at 430am with miserable children when we were looking forward to hiking the old bus trail, spending some time on the beach, and enjoying the inflatable park. The cabin was clean and wonderful aside from the bugs all over the 3 bed pillows and one twin bed. We live in the country on over 75 acres, they weren't a typical camping or 'country' insect. I hope to hear from you soon. Please call me at your earliest convenience. My number is (removed for review). Thank you, Samantha read more

Spent a nice weekend at the campground. There are some grassy sites with electric hookups that are really close together and and out in the open. A few more sites are down the road and a few more in another meadow area. The sites vary greatly so look at them all before choosing. If you want to reserve I would recommend 1 or 14 if you really need the electric or 37-40 if you want some limited privacy. I stayed in 21 which was a larger site and it was close to the bathrooms and the playground. A good picnic table, fire ring and two trash cans. It was a good site but cars driving by on the loop road are a distraction. Warning: Raccoons will get into the trash and any food you leave out so lock it in your car. There is a small office with ice ($2.50) and a decent stack of firewood ($4.00) and a few various food items like ketchup and mustard. Due to WV budget cuts it is not always manned but it was on Saturday and allowed me to get some wood. There is also a water faucet available near the office for filling up. The bathrooms were semi-clean and had two showers for each bathroom. I had a hot shower although the water pressure was lacking. The playground is great although geared for kids 5 and up. I took my toddler but had to hoist her up to get on the slides which she loved! We enjoyed the nature center and it's good for kids with lots of animal skins to feel and bones/skulls and a few animals (snake, turtle, etc.). Ate breakfast at Apple Annie's in the lodge and it was good - nothing spectacular but good. Great view of the lake and a little gift shop. Make sure you put Bath House road or the actual lodge address in the GPS and not Tygart Lake State Park. I ended up driving all the way around the lake before finding the campsites! Follow the brown state park signs from Grafton and you'll find it. We will be back and may stay in the cabins or even the lodge. It really is a nice WV State Park. read more

I spent three days at the Lodge in Tygart Lake State Park. The views from the room are fantastic, the staff is extremely friendly and accomodating, and the room was very clean. It is an older hotel, but I wasn't looking for fancy. I just wanted something comfortable, clean and relaxing. I got all of that at the Lodge. read more

Tygart Lake State Park - This was the view from my room when I stayed at the Lodge. - Hotels Near Me - Grafton, West Virginia

It's a nice place but we were disappointed to see all these old Christmas trees attached to cinder blocks thrown into the lake. We went here to find garbage and cinder blocked trees lining the shores that are normally underwater but the water level was extremely low. Theyre for fish habitat i understand but an eyesore none the less. And the park Ranger was ripping through the area on an atv golf cart thing kinda ruining the nature. The Dam is cool and when you go in season it's much nicer. read more

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Rented a cabin for 2 days in july of this year. Paid for the first night and thought all was good to go, however when we arrived we were told that we had rented a room at the lodge instead of a cabin. So dissapointing but we stayed anyway. The next day while talking to a man at the gazebo i found out the same thing had happened to him and his wife. Then while looking for a miniture golf course i talked to a elderly man who said he hears of situations like that almost daily. He says its a trick they use to fill the lodge( so outdated) rooms. My advice stay away from this place the only thing they have to offer is some nice views of the lake! read more

July 5th 2020 I tried to take my 6yr old daughter and my 8yr old nephew and my 6yr old niece to swim at Tygart lake state park it was opened from 11am to 6pm We got there at 4pm there was a sign outside on the sidewalk that said Beach at full capacity of 138 ppl!!! We were among 25 to 30 ppl walking to the door however even with the sign outside saying they were at full capacity they let 20 to 25 more ppl in we were the last ones in line to go when it came time for Us to go we were told they were full and we either had to wait or come back another day the young girl that came to tell Us also told Us that she wasn't allowed to tell ppl this but she would tell Us "she said that if we went up the hill and make a sharp turn We could pull down that road and swim however your not supposed to but as long as we weren't seen we wouldn't get in trouble lol" I said No I didn't want to take my kids to swim somewhere where We could get in trouble!!! She said we could wait and when 5 ppl came out they would let Us in so we proceeded to go back to the car kids upset b/c they rode for almost an hour and a half just to go so as we are getting ready to pull out another car comes into the parking lot and parks the couple got out of there car walked up to the door and was let in mind you NOBODY had came outta the park for them to be let in!!!! When I see this I pulled my car back to the front where the young girl who had just told Us we couldn't go in b/c they were over capacity was at she was there with another woman I stepped outta my car and asked why we were told we couldn't go in when they clearly just let that other couple in!!! So I asked was the reason we were turn away b/c We were Black the older lady looked at me and said I'm offended you would ask Me that I responded with I'm not offended to ask you b/c We were just told that we couldn't go in b/c you were over capacity and here you let 20 to 25 ppl in that was b4 Us in with the sign clearly saying that the Beach area was full but You wouldn't allow Us but then a white couple pulled up nobody had came out of the beach area and they were let in at this time The park ranger Patrick police came up and asked was there a problem I said I was just asking a question and I go on to explain what I just said in the beginning of this review and he says were doing our best and the older lady holds up her phone to the park police and shows him that there is 146 ppl in the beach area so I said I don't understand how your telling Us that we couldn't go in b/c capacity is 138 but the staff worker phone said 146 so Patrick says "What do U want me to do make a special exception for ya'll" I said No that's not what I'm asking what I'm asking how you say your over capacity to Us but still let 2 more ppl in after telling Us that but you wouldn't let Us in smh!!! He looks at me and says you just want to argue I said no sir I just want to Understand again he says to Me so You just want me to make a special exception for y'all and I said no sir I just wanted to Understand why we were turned away but U let 2 more ppl in without anyone coming out So he gets alil more upset that I'm questioning what just happened and was like Fine just go in just go in it's the Holiday weekend and we are doing our best I said sir I understand that but it's just odd that the sign says capacity is 138 and the staff Worker phone says 146 plus they just let two more ppl in but We were turned away He gets alil loud and says Just go in I'll make a SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR YA'LL!!! I said sir you can't be making a Special exception for Us b/c you made an exception for the 20 ppl b4 Us and the 2 ppl you let in after telling Us we couldn't go in!!!! So how would you be making a SPECIAL EXCEPTION when you are clearly not following your own Capacity rules!!!! I typed all this to say that it was funny to see all the ppl who was let in b4 we were turned away and to see them let two more in after telling Us No also referring to Us a y'all and special exceptions made it didn't have anything to do with color but when your of color and it happens to you IT SURE DOES FEEL LIKE IT WAS B/C WE WERE BLACK!!!!! 1st & last time there and my personal feelings is if your of color and you don't have the right color with you then your assed out it's crazy that kids had to go thru this IN A STATE PARK!!! SYSTEMATIC RACISM IS REAL I ALONG WITH MY KIDS EXPERIENCED IT YESTERDAY IN A WV STATE PARK!!!!! TYGART LAKE STATE PARK NEEDS TO CLEARLY CORRECT THIS AND THE ATTITUDE OF IT'S PARK OFFICIALS!!!!! read more

Drove down from Pittsburgh area and stayed at the Lodge a couple of nights in early fall just ahead of peak colors. Yes, the Lodge is old, but our room was fine with a beautiful view of the lake. Cable TV, fridge, microwave, and very good Wi-Fi. The restaurant had closed a couple of weeks earlier (probably a blessing). Provided a breakfast basket in room with juices and pre-packaged goodies - not gourmet but quaint and appreciated. Free coffee/tea in the lobby. New gazebo out back with great lake view. Fire pit. The staff is very friendly right down to the park ranger. No road noise! Safe, quiet and peaceful place to wind down at. read more

We camped here for one night. The staff was friendly and helpful. BUT. The electric "sites" are just an open parking lot covered with rock. The popups/rvs/etc just get to line up next to each other with no space or privacy at all. Heat was radiating off the black rocks that cover the lot and this was April. I can't imagine what it would be like in August. There are no trees or bushes. You are right by the campground road and have a great view of the admission booth and soda machines. The tent sites were closed so I can't say about them, but if you have a popup like we do - go somewhere else. read more

Tygart Lake State Park Lodge offer 17 rooms as well as 4 Executive Suites. There are also 11 cabins. The campground has 40 sites: 26 standard and 14 equipped with electricity. read more

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Not sure what has happened here, but I am sad to say the Lodge is slipping into utter disappointment. Went to eat dinner at The Boston Beanery on Thursday and, after being seated in a half-empty restaurant in front of the kitchen (a/k/a worst table in the house) we asked to be moved to another 4-top. The menu was a one-page disappointment. After waiting a few minutes with no service we left. The lobby is now full of filthy furniture that is both too large for the space and too many pieces to make the place remotely comfortable. The gift shop junk is now everywhere. The whole place, once a quaint and charming respite, now looks like a bad WV stereotype. After a treacherous drive up to the park in a road that is in utter disrepair and questionable safety, a flea market/snack bar was not what we were expecting. We dined at Jerry's in town, instead. Wake up Tygart Lake! You are slowly killing our gem! read more