Meandering Around Marlinton

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Located in the mountains of Pocahontas County, Marlinton (population approximately 800) is one of West Virginia’s delightful small towns. We spent two days last summer meandering around Marlinton and the surrounding area. Our base for the visit was the Locust Hill Inn.

“We moved here in 2000 from St. Louis with the goal of operating a spa with massages as part of a B&B,” said Paula Zorn, who owns the inn with her husband, Dave. 

As time passed, the couple built a cabin on their 20 acres in 2006-7, opened a restaurant in 2014 (Dave’s background is in food service), and emphasized outdoor activities. Guests can fish in the pond, play croquet, badminton, corn hole, volleyball or horseshoes, and enjoy a fire pit. 

Pocahontas County is known as “The Birthplace of Rivers,” as eight waterways originate in the area. Snowshoe Mountain Resort is also nearby, so the Zorns commonly host skiers, anglers, bikers, and hikers.

“We love what we do,” Paula said. “No matter what job you do, you should enjoy it. We meet so many great people and to build something, to grow a business that gives people happiness is special.”

We visited Marlinton early in a week, so we didn’t experience the pleasure of dining at the inn’s restaurant, which is open Thursday through Saturday evenings. Paula said the steaks are popular, with various entrees originating from a West Virginia Black Angus herd.

Coffee and bike riding

Not long after arriving in Marlinton, we went to the Dirtbean Coffee and Bike Shop for lunch. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we saw a bike propped against the wall. The conveyance turned out to be for Kristy Lanier, who operates the business. We asked her how her enterprise came to be.

“I was a professional mountain biker and triathlon competitor when I started this business in 2004,” she said. “I also had an interest in food preparation. I felt a bike shop by itself probably couldn’t survive, but believed that both businesses would do well if they were combined.”

The cycling arm offers bike purchases, rentals, and repairs. The Greenbrier River Trail winds its way through downtown Marlinton, and has a reputation as one of the premier rails to trails pathways in the East. 

“Probably our client’s most popular ride is the round trip of 18 miles from Marlinton to Sharps Tunnel and back,” Frame said. “Bike riders are well known for their love of coffee, so we fuel them with that before they leave and feed them a meal when they return.”

The restaurant’s signature dish is probably fish tacos with ahi tuna or mahi-mahi. Another popular entrée is the Appalachian Blast, which features bacon, lettuce, avocado, Swiss cheese, and tomato on a toasted ciabatta with ramp aioli. We relished our Summer Salad with ahi tuna and Roasted Red Pepper Soup and Mediterranean Salad. The breakfast menu features French toast made from sourdough bread, topped with banana, cinnamon, nutmeg, and whipped cream—a favorite of cyclists, Frame said.

Next up was the Pocahontas County Opera House, where we met Director Brynn Kusic.

“The Opera House was built in 1910 during the region’s timber boom,” she said. “Actors came from as far away as New York and Chicago to give Vaudeville-style performances. Silent movies were also shown, and recitals were commonly presented.”

But as the surrounding forests were decimated, Marlinton’s population plummeted. The Opera House, as such, was finished. As the decades passed, the building served as a church, car dealership, and lumber warehouse, among other iterations. Eventually, the structure fell into disrepair.

In the late 1990s, community leaders, led by the late Ruth Morgan, initiated a restoration campaign to bring the Opera House back to its original grandeur.

“Many people thought that would be impossible,” Kusic said. The building had no floor, no stage, but through a lot of hard work and fundraising, that goal was accomplished. 

“Now, the Opera House is the cultural heart of the community, and Marlinton is on the state’s Mountain Music Trail. In 2022, we’re having Ceara Conway, who is from the west coast of Ireland, come perform traditional and ancient ballads of Ireland. We’re also having the Bing Brothers and Jake Krack perform old-time music with their fiddles and banjos. Poisoned Dwarf is also coming to perform Celtic music,” she said.

Cara Rose, director of the Pocahontas County Convention and Visitor Bureau, said that some 62 percent of the surrounding area is public land, either in the Monongahela National Forest, state wildlife management areas, or Watoga State Park. With all of that public land, we had to check out Appalachian Sport, a boat rental and sporting goods store.

“The Greenbrier River flows right by our shop, and a lot of people come here to paddle or fish,” said owner Chuck Workman. “Two of our most popular trips are Marlinton to Seebert and Seebert to Rennick. Providing water levels are satisfactory, these two floats are good destinations for families.”

One of the best smallmouth bass rivers is the Mountain Stem, while the West Fork and East Fork of the Greenbrier are also quality trout streams.

We then headed for the Fourth Avenue Gallery, which opened in 2007; Kevin Stitzinger has been manager since 2016. An affiliated second gallery exists at the nearby Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.

“Our main focus is to create an avenue for local artists to expand their skill sets,” he said. “We also see the gallery as an incubator for young and new artists. Those people in this area who enjoy picking up a paintbrush, using a stained glass cutter, or sitting down at a pottery wheel,” he said.

“The aesthetics of these mountains and Pocahontas County tends to send people here who are interested in drawing, painting, woodwork, and making products from natural ingredients—folks who want to connect to nature and the area’s history. All that is reflected in what we have to sell. We have 52 artists represented at the two galleries.”

Stitzinger and his wife, Cree Lahti, display items at the gallery.

“We create ceramic jewelry based on native leaves and flowers,” Lahti said, which involves creating natural designs in clay. She said she enjoys exploring the forest for native trees to find leaves with just the right vein structures for art.

Needing an afternoon sweet treat, we ambled over to Rayetta’s Lunchbox where we met manager Anna Landis. The business offers catering and daily lunch specials—the grilled meat loaf is a local favorite—but we were there for the ice cream. Six different varieties are available on any given day. On our visit the flavors were cookie-n-cream, pecan praline, road runner raspberry, cotton candy, blueberry cheesecake, and banana pudding. We sat on a main street bench and enjoyed the latter two.

For dinner, we ventured to the Greenbrier Grill, located on its namesake river. Head server Tiffany Ryder told us that the most popular entrée was the West Virginia Original, consisting of kielbasa, home fries, mushrooms and onions. The pan seared or broiled trout fillet also has its fans. We dined on Stir-Fry Chicken and a Skinless Chicken Breast.

Before heading back to the inn, we took an evening walk on the Greenbrier River Trail. The trail spans 77 miles from North Caldwell to the Cass Scenic Railroad, making it the longest rails to trails walkway in West Virginia. We’ve accessed the trail many times to fish, bird watch, and just enjoy the outdoors. It’s a must destination any time we visit a town along the walkway.

Fishing and walking

After breakfast, we went our separate ways, Bruce heading to the Elk River, Elaine heading off on a casual walk through town.

Elaine’s first stop was to The Cackling Hens, a consignment shop with vintage and antique items. Arrangements of carnival glass and Fisher-Price pull toys were intermingled with large furniture pieces. Next, she wandered to the Fourth Avenue Mason Jar to chat with Mary Doss.

“The store carries lots of primitive antique items as well as Amish-made furniture, but you never know what you might find,” Doss said.

One of the most interesting items was a Hoosier-style cabinet with recipes from a previous owner still scotch-taped inside a door.

At lunchtime, Elaine found Alfredo’s Italian and Greek Restaurant. The menu is extensive, ranging from calzones to pasta to subs and pizza, but server Rhonda Thayer spoke of a few favorites.

“People really like our cheese steak sub, as well as the grilled chicken sub,” she said. “We also are known for our gyros, both a lamb and a grilled chicken one.”

Elaine opted for the chicken gyro filled with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, onions, and cucumber sauce in a flatbread. 

Meanwhile, Bruce spent a few hours fly fishing the Elk with Patrick Skeen, fly shop and guide manager for Elk Springs Resort in Monterville.

This is a great area for anglers, Skeen said. “My favorite place to fish for smallmouth bass is the Greenbrier River, and my two favorite places to trout fish are the Elk River and all the small tributaries in this area that hold native brook trout.”

Elk Springs Resort rests on its namesake river and offers a restaurant, fly shop, trout pay ponds, cabins, and a lodge.

After a relaxing day, we headed for the S&D Diner. Whether you come to this restaurant for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, be sure to order the biscuits—they’re some of the best we’ve ever eaten anywhere.

“My wife Shelli makes the biscuits,” said co-owner Dennis Wilfong. “They’re big and fluffy and come from a special recipe handed down from my grandmother, with Shelli making a few twists.”

We both ordered the Grilled Chicken Salad and two biscuits each. We wished we had ordered more biscuits to take home with us.

The Durbin Rocket

We arose early the next morning to head for Durbin to board the Durbin Rocket. Twice a day, this steam locomotive chugs along on a two-hour junket paralleling the Greenbrier River. Jim Bennett has worked for the railroad line since 2008 and has served as a conductor, maintenance man, and all around gopher. 

“I just have one rule—don’t climb up on the roof like one guy did,” he says. “He was a train buff and wanted to ride that way.”

This rail line was built to remove timber from the area, but all that is left now are remains and several homes of timber barons. After our ride, we stopped in at the New Al’s Upper Inn Club of Durbin. The “New Al” is Kristina Tobasco. When we asked about her specialty, a patron piped up and said, “her Reuben sandwich; the corned beef is fantastic.”

“Yeah, that’s what we’re known for, that and the Mushroom Swiss Burger and our Spicy Italian Sauerkraut Soup,” Tobasco said.

We each opted for a grilled chicken sandwich and the homemade coleslaw—both scrumptious—to take with us, and headed home. But we had seen enough to know that we would again return to the Marlinton area.

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