Charleston in West Virginia: Museums, Music and Trails

Charleston, West Virginia, lies at the confluence of the Kanawha River and the Elk River. For trip planning, there are several options to focus on: exhibits and history, live culture, or time on wooded trails. If a particular performance is the reason for your stay, check the schedule for the year in question.

Museums: History, Art, and Hands-On Exhibits

The West Virginia State Museum has 26 Discovery Rooms and 2 Connections Rooms. The museum interprets pivotal events and places from West Virginia's past through first-person accounts and vivid recreations. The rooms and storytelling approaches give the history theme a distinctive focus.

Other visitor interests lead to different formats: the Juliet Art Museum presents exhibitions by national and local artists. The Clay Center offers interactive STEAM exhibits; the Avampato Discovery Museum has interactive, hands-on exhibits spread over three floors. Art shows, themed STEAM exhibits, and hands-on activities are different ways to shape a museum visit. You can decide which ones you want to make a focus of your stay based on your interests.

The Craik-Patton House also brings together history and architecture. Built in 1834, the house is an example of the Greek Revival style and now serves as a museum. This gives it a different emphasis from the exhibitions that interpret events and places from West Virginia's past.

Capitol, Architecture, and Performance Program

The West Virginia State Capitol Complex is in Charleston. Its dome is 293 feet high and clad in gold leaf. Tours of the State Capitol are offered Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If you plan to take a tour, check the schedule before your visit.

Charleston's cultural program includes a variety of performance and event formats. Mountain Stage is a two-hour live performance radio show broadcast on more than 200 public radio stations across the United States. Many performances take place at the Culture Center Theater on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol Complex; the venue may vary for individual shows. Live on the Levee began in 2004 and, despite a one-year interruption in 2020, remained a regular part of Charleston's summer program.

FestivALL is a citywide, multidisciplinary cultural program. Throughout the year, it includes events, performances, and exhibitions in music, theater, dance, visual arts, and the humanities. If you are planning your trip around a particular event, consider the specific dates as well as the program's theme.

Woodland Trails and the Surrounding Landscape

The Cato Park Trails form a wooded network of trails in central Charleston. The routes vary in difficulty; if you want to take that into account when planning, this gives you a clear distinction between the trails. Spring Hill Cemetery Park covers 168 acres on a hill, less than a mile from downtown Charleston.

In the area around Charleston, Kanawha State Forest offers 14 hiking trails and 9 mountain biking trails. The stated numbers may change, so it is worth checking current route information when planning a specific outing. This adds an option in the nearby area to your city itinerary, without conflating the hiking and mountain biking opportunities with the centrally located Cato Park Trails.

Capitol Market and Getting There

Open year-round, Capitol Market is an indoor-outdoor market in a turn-of-the-century train station. Its offerings include seasonal goods, which vary depending on the time of year, and gifts made in West Virginia. The market thus combines a historic train station building with changing seasonal offerings.

Another aspect of the city is relevant for getting there by highway: three major interstates meet in Charleston. You can take this highway junction into account when planning your route; the best route for you depends on your starting point. When choosing when to travel, you can weigh year-round attractions like the museums and market against the seasonal nature of events and goods.

Discover more destinations: St Albans, East Bank, Dunbar, South Charleston, Elkview, Cross Lanes

Return to the regional travel overview: Kanawha.