Rolling along W.Va.’s byway of heritage

UNGER, W.Va. — As the narrow road winds over Sleepy Creek Mountain toward Shanghai, picture-per-fect views appear every few miles.

The porch of a 1930s grocery store laden with freshly picked pumpkins and apples. Rolling green pastures dotted with rust-colored barns and black cows. A panorama of largely undeveloped countryside at Mills Gap.

Then, just as doubt about directions sets in, a blue-and-white “Byway” sign beckons.

This is a slice of the Washington Heritage Trail Scenic Byway, a 112-mile loop through the eastern panhandle created three years ago but virtually unknown even to veteran West Virginia tourists.

It’s a journey though early American history, with unspoiled views, Revolutionary and Civil War attractions, and historic homes and cemeteries associated with George Washington and his clan.

“In most people’s minds, George Washington and his family are Virginians, and yet there are more Washington relatives and descendants buried in the panhandle than in all of Virginia,” says Bob O’Connor of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Combined, Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties have identified 51 historically significant structures and locations, but some can be admired only from afar.

“One of our struggles is a lot of homes are not open to the public, and we don’t quite know how to deal with it,” Mr. O’Connor says. “Even though there is a historical marker, people don’t like it when you pull in their driveway and take a picture. That’s a struggle for all scenic byways.”

Web sites with maps are helping get the word out, and Berkeley County has won a grant to publish a trail guide. It plans to open an exhibit center at a historic railroad roundhouse in about a year.

Ray Johnston, a historian and real estate developer who came up with the idea for the trail, says it’s been difficult to promote. To see the sights, travelers accustomed to high-speed interstate highways must follow a series of secondary and rural roads on which traffic moves more slowly.

“And there’s no single really big tourist attraction,” he says.

Still, a driving tour makes sense.

“There’s never been a nation more in love with their cars than us, and we love to get out and see things from our cars,” Mr. Johnston says.

A main goal of the heritage trail is to get people to spend more than just a weekend in the panhandle, a frequent getaway choice for tourists from Greater Baltimore and Washington.

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