At 3,520 feet, Davis is the highest incorporated town in West Virginia. The population is 595, which makes it the kind of place where the same waiter who took your order at lunch may be skiing the lift line behind you the next morning. The Eastern Continental Divide zigzags across this region along a series of shallow ridges, forming the border between Tucker and Grant Counties - rain falling on Davis can end up in the Mississippi or in Chesapeake Bay, depending on a few feet of land elevation. The town is small. The location is everything. Within fifteen minutes of Davis are two state parks, two ski resorts, a national wildlife refuge, one of the most photographed waterfalls in the eastern United States, and the head of an eight-mile gorge.
Davis sits at the intersection of WV Route 32 and WV Route 93 in Tucker County, with Canaan Valley to the south and Blackwater Canyon dropping east toward Hendricks. Until the early 2010s, getting here required slow driving on twisty mountain roads. Then U.S. Route 48 - the long-promised Appalachian Corridor H - opened as a four-lane divided highway through Davis, connecting east to I-81 and I-66 near Strasburg, Virginia, and dramatically shortening drive times from the Washington area. The four-lane configuration shrinks to two lanes for a stretch west of Davis toward Elkins, then resumes and meets I-79 farther west. The nearest commercial airports are Pittsburgh International and Washington Dulles, both just over three hours away.
Davis exists, in significant part, because of the snow. The Canaan Valley side of Cabin Mountain holds snow into April most years, and that fact - first noticed by pilots in the 1940s and 1950s - turned the area into the cradle of southern American skiing. Canaan Valley Resort State Park and Timberline Four Seasons Resort sit close to town, with a combined 84 ski trails for all levels. White Grass Touring Center offers some of the largest Nordic skiing on the East Coast. Blackwater Falls State Park grooms cross-country trails in winter. From late December to early March, Davis fills with skiers from Pittsburgh, Washington, Baltimore, and Northern Virginia, parked at the small hotels and rental cabins around town.
Spring, summer, and fall pull a different crowd. Blackwater Falls drops 57 feet just outside town, dark with tannin and crowded with photographers. The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge protects one of the largest inland wetlands in the eastern United States, with viewing platforms and trails into bog plant communities more typical of boreal Canada. The Blackwater Canyon rail-trail follows the former Western Maryland Railway grade through the gorge, passing the massive stone Big Run culvert and dozens of tributary cascades. Seneca Rocks, Seneca Caverns, Smoke Hole Caverns, and Spruce Knob - the highest peak in West Virginia - are all within an hour and a half by car. Mountain biking, hiking, fishing, kayaking the Class IV-V upper Blackwater, and rock climbing all draw warm-weather visitors.
Davis carries an unusual restaurant scene for a town of 595. The combination of ski tourism, the influx of outdoor-recreation visitors year-round, and the proximity to Thomas - a neighboring town with its own arts and food culture - has produced more good places to eat than a comparable mountain town would typically support. Hellbender Burritos, Stumptown Ales, and Blackwater Brewing Company are among the names that show up on weekend visitors' lists. Coffee shops, breweries, and small-batch bakeries cluster in the few blocks of downtown. If you want a major-chain hotel or a big-box store, you will need to drive an hour east to Moorefield or an hour southwest to Elkins. For everything else, Davis at least gives you choices.
Davis sits inside the National Radio Quiet Zone, the federal restriction zone that protects the Green Bank Observatory's radio astronomy. Cell phone coverage is patchy. Radio stations are limited mostly to the Allegheny Mountain Radio network. Most lodging offers WiFi, but if you are working remotely from Davis, plan for connectivity issues. The weather earns respect: snow can pile up fast in winter, and afternoon thunderstorms build quickly in summer. The 3,520-foot elevation makes for cool nights even in July. Oakland, Maryland sits about an hour to the north for visitors heading on. Elkins, with its own small airport, anchors the southwest. The connectivity issues and weather are part of what keeps Davis what it is.
Located at 39.13 degrees north, 79.47 degrees west, in Tucker County, West Virginia. Best viewed from 4,500 to 6,500 feet AGL. Davis sits at 3,520 feet of elevation - the highest incorporated town in West Virginia - on the edge of Canaan Valley and adjacent to Blackwater Canyon. Look for the high-elevation valley to the south, the canyon to the east, and the Allegheny Front rising further east still. Nearest airport is Elkins-Randolph County (KEKN). The U.S. 48 / Corridor H four-lane divided highway is a clear visual landmark cutting east-west through the area.