Qualla: Beech Fork State Park

Beech Fork State Park: Introduction

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David Brossard, CC BY-SA 2.0. Ten horsepower. That is the limit set by the Army Corps of Engineers for any boat motor on Beech Fork Lake, and it shapes the entire character of the place. You will not hear waterskiing here. You will not see jet skis cutting wakes across the coves. Instead, fishing boats drift slowly between the wooded shorelines, kayakers paddle the quiet arms of the impoundment, and the loudest sounds carry from the campgrounds rather than from the water. Beech Fork State Park, opened in the mid-1970s on the tailwater shores of the lake, was designed around that quiet from the start.

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Image: David Brossard | CC BY-SA 2.0

Beech Fork State Park: What the Lake Holds

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Youngamerican and modified by User:WVhybrid, CC BY-SA 3.0. Beech Fork Lake is a flood-control impoundment of the Beech Fork of Twelvepole Creek, built by the Army Corps' Huntington District. Like every Corps lake in the Ohio River basin, it serves the same hard utility: holding back high water in storms to protect the towns downstream. T...

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Image: User:Youngamerican and modified by User:WVhybrid | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beech Fork State Park: Camping and Cabins

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid, CC BY-SA 3.0. The park has four campgrounds spread across the property, totaling 275 sites. Forty-nine of those come with full hookups for RVs that need water, sewer, and power. Another 189 have electrical service only - enough for the trailer fridge and a few lights. Thirty-seven are primitiv...

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Image: User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beech Fork State Park: The 50-Meter Pool

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid, CC BY-SA 3.0. A 50-meter swimming pool is the kind of facility most state parks do not bother with - a competition-length pool of the sort more often seen at universities or municipal aquatic centers. At Beech Fork, it sits at the heart of the developed area, with hiking trails and mountain bi...

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Image: User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beech Fork State Park: Quiet Boats, Active Coves

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid, CC BY-SA 3.0. The 10-horsepower restriction makes the lake a paradise for certain users and a non-starter for others. Fishermen love it - bass, crappie, bluegill, and catfish all thrive in the slack water, and the lack of wake from larger boats means quieter conditions and better fishing. Padd...

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Image: User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid | CC BY-SA 3.0

Beech Fork State Park: Accessibility and Honest Reporting

Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid, CC BY-SA 3.0. West Virginia University assessed the park's accessibility for disabled visitors in 2005. The campgrounds, picnic areas, swimming pool, and the doors and ramps of public buildings all met accessibility standards. The reviewers flagged problems with signage on buildings and parkin...

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Image: User:Youngamerican and touched up by User:WVhybrid | CC BY-SA 3.0