Tygart Lake State Park: Dogwood/Tygart Dam Loop (Blog Hike #1037)

Trails: Dogwood and Tygart Dam Trails
Hike Location: Tygart Lake State Park
Geographic Location: south of Grafton, WV (39.30469, -80.02294)
Length: 2.3 miles
Difficulty: 8/10 (Moderate/Difficult)
Date Hiked: October 2024
Overview: A loop hike, steep in areas, over a ridge and along Tygart Lake.
Park Information: https://wvstateparks.com/park/tygart-lake-state-park/
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=974952
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: (coming August 1)

Directions to the trailhead: From the junction of US 50 and US 119 in Grafton, take US 119 south 1 mile to Barrett Street.  Turn left on Barrett Street, which becomes Knottsville Road after it leaves Grafton.  Drive a total of 3 miles from US 119 to Boyce Road and turn right on Boyce Rd.  Drive Boyce Rd. west 1.1 miles to its end at the main park road.  Angle right on the main park road, and drive the main park road 1.5 miles to Tygart Lake Lodge on the left.  Park in front of the lodge.

The hike: Tucked deep in the hills of northern West Virginia, Tygart Lake State Park protects 391 acres on the east shore of its namesake lake.  Tygart Lake came to be in 1938 when the Army Corps of Engineers built a dam on the Tygart River to control flooding on the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers downstream.  The federal government deeded the land to the State of West Virginia in 1945, and the park opened in 1953.

            Considering the park's remote location, it has an impressive list of amenities.  In terms of lodging, the park features a cozy 20-room lodge complete with a restaurant and gift shop, 11 cabins, and a 40-site partially developed campground.  The park also offers a marina and the usual aquatic activities on Tygart Lake.  For hikers, the park offers 6 trails totaling 7 miles.  This hike combines 2 of those trails and explores both the ridgetop and lakeside areas, thus sampling everything the park has to offer.

Signed start of Dogwood Trail

            Your first task on this hike is to find the start of the Dogwood Trail.  From the lodge parking lot, walk north on the seldom-used park road, which is back out the way you drove in if you followed the directions to the trailhead above.  After walking about 1000 feet, look for the signed start of the Dogwood Trail on the left.  The trail going right is the end of the Tygart Dam Trail, which is the final leg on our loop.

Climbing on the Dogwood Trail

            Marked with white plastic diamonds, the Dogwood Trail climbs the unnamed hill on a moderate to steep grade.  Three switchbacks get you to the top of the hill, and while the trail is rough and primitive, I have certainly hiked rougher and more primitive trails in West Virginia.  Some large oak trees dominate the forest, and the hiking is challenging but pleasant.

View down power line corridor

            At 0.7 miles, you reach the top of the hill as the trail curves left to pass under a power line.  A nice view northwest down the power line corridor can be had to the right.  This hilltop is about 400 feet above Tygart Lake, but Tygart Lake is not visible from here.  After reentering the woods, the trail makes a broad switchback near the top of the hill, and this switchback is the flattest part of the Dogwood Trail.

End of Dogwood Trail

            Just past 1 mile, the trail curves left to leave the hilltop area and heads straight down the hillside.  There are no switchbacks on this part of the trail, and therefore the descent is very steep.  At 1.2 miles, you intersect a steep gravel road that allows service vehicles to access some tanks to the right.  Turn left to walk down the gravel road and intersect the main park road.  A small alternate parking lot exists here, and the Dogwood Trail ends here.  A connector trail heads straight downhill to the Tygart Dam Trail, but this hike also visits Tygart Dam by turning right and beginning a 0.25 mile road walk.

Tygart Lake

            1.5 miles into the hike, you reach the Tygart Dam area, where a rustic picnic shelter overlooks the dam.  Turn sharply left to begin our return route on the Tygart Dam Trail.  Marked with yellow/orange trail markers, the Tygart Dam Trail descends steeply on a gated asphalt road to reach an area with benches overlooking Tygart Lake.  These benches feature nice views of Tygart Lake, and they make nice places to stop and have a snack with the hardest hiking behind you.

Looking uphill to the lodge

            At 1.7 miles, you reach a cul de sac where the gated road turns into a dirt trail.  After crossing a wooden footbridge, the connector trail you passed at the parking lot earlier comes in from the left.  The Tygart Dam Trail stays in the narrow strip of woods with the park road uphill to the left and the lake downhill to the right.  While the trail is not completely flat, it seems easy relative to the steep Dogwood Trail you hiked earlier.  At 2.2 miles, the lodge comes into view uphill to the left, and your final lake view opens up on the right.  Climb the steps to the left and walk through the lodge lobby to return to the lodge parking lot and complete the hike.