Elkins, West Virginia feels a little farther away than the map suggests. Looking at a map in a rural area is so misleading to realize the true distance between two places. The mountain roads narrow, the cliffs close in, and eventually the drive becomes part of the experiences. By the time we arrived, it already felt separated from everything else in the best possible way. It almost felt like we found ourselves somehow inside a model train display.
The first stop was the train station area, home to the historic Elkins Depot Welcome Center. The station store itself was closed when we got there, even though the website suggested it should have been open. Small-town travel sometimes works like that. We learn to adjust and just move on to something else close by.
Directly across the street, though, was a country store inside The Delmonte Market that ended up being more memorable anyway. Sometime you only discover something memorable after wandering around for a few minutes. We saw old wood floors, random shelves filled with crafts and collectables, and quiet spaces. But, the best memory was a cat stretched out upstairs. He clearly considered the place his own. He tolerated visitors politely and decided he liked us enough to stick around while we browsed, sometimes following us around the store.
A few streets away we found the real highlight: donuts worth driving mountain roads for at Byrd’s House Of Donuts.
The bakery wasn’t flashy and didn’t need to be. Fresh donuts, still warm, simple flavors done correctly. Nothing oversized or designed for Instagram. Just genuinely good small-town donuts that disappeared quickly.
We carried them over to a nearby park where our son headed straight for the playground while we sat on a bench with coffee and a box of donuts. It was one of those travel moments that ends up feeling more complete than bigger attractions usually do. No schedule, no crowds, nothing truly planned too much ahead of time. Just a playground, a quiet park, mountain air, and powdered sugar everywhere.
Elkins, West Virginia doesn’t really try to sell itself as seemed to be still decades behind the rest of the country in many ways. That’s part of why it works. The town still manages to feel welcoming without trying too hard. It feels lived in.
And those donuts alone justified the drive through the mountains.
You must be logged in to post a comment.