Coopers Rock State Forest
Managed by West Virginia Division of Forestry
734 acres3.2 mi of trail
Johnson Hollow Trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
Henry Clay Furnace · Photo: Brian Masney · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Cheat Lake
10% of Cheat Lake’s land is conserved: 894 acres
The biggest trail networks: Coopers Rock State Forest (3.2 mi), WV Botanic Garden (1 mi). 23% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 6.2 miles of mapped trail cross Cheat Lake, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #26 of 61 in West Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
10%
894 acres · of 14.3 sq mi of land
Trails
6.2 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
158 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
23%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.4 mi
4.4 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Cheat Lake?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cheat Lake have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cheat Lake is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #26 of 61 in West Virginia. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cheat Lake’s overall grade.
Conserved land10% of the land · typical WV town 2% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · WV 0.3 · U.S. 0.4BPark land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (158 acres) · WV 10 · U.S. 13BParks close to home23% of residents within a half mile of a park · WV 71% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
West Virginia towns of 2,500+ (61)Ahead of 58%
Few West Virginia towns conserve much land (a typical one, 2%; the U.S., 4%), so Cheat Lake’s 10% is ahead of 88% of West Virginia towns, while its trails per square mile lead 58% of them.
Water is 9% of Cheat Lake’s area (1 of 16 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 9%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Coopers Rock State Forest, with 3.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
WV Botanic Garden
Managed by Morgantown Board of Parks and Recreation
39 acres1 mi of trail
Reservoir Loop
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area
Managed by State of West Virginia
1 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
894 conserved acres
10% of Cheat Lake’s land. Water is left out: Cheat Lake has 14.3 square miles of land and 1.5 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Cheat Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources736 ac
Town or city86 ac
Private owners77 ac
Other state land37 ac
Not recorded119 ac
State Resource Management Area · 735 acLocal Park · 162 acPrivate Park · 77 acLocal Recreation Area · 44 acState Park · 37 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coopers Rock State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 735 | Open |
| Cheat Lake Park Local Park | Not recorded | 153 | Open |
| WV Botanic Garden Local Park | Not recorded | 85 | Open |
| Tibbs Run Reservoir Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 44 | Open |
| Coopers Rock State Park (Mont Chateau??) State Park | Other state land | 37 | Open |
| Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1 | Open |
Things to do
5 places to go in Cheat Lake
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Cheat Lake
Cheat Lake ParkIn Cheat Lake Park
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Cheat Lake
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.7 miUnpaved · 1.1 mi
Reservoir Loop0.7 mi
Johnson Hollow Trail0.5 mi
Mont Chateau Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.4 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.4 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
2Tennis
1Basketball
1Soccer
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Cheat Lake: April and August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.6 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 15.0 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 9.9 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 39 | 42 | 51 | 64 | 73 | 80 | 83 | 82 | 76 | 65 | 53 | 43 |
| Rain (in) | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (3.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 4.9 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Cheat Lake →
Next door
Cheat Lake and its neighbors
Cheat Lake has the most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheat Lake | 10% | 0.4 | 14 | 23% | B− |
| Brookhaven | under 1% | 0.3 | 2 | under 1% | D |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Cheat Lake
Where can I hike in Cheat Lake?
The longest trail networks: Coopers Rock State Forest, 3.2 miles; WV Botanic Garden, 1 miles; Snake Hill Wildlife Management Area, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cheat Lake is conserved land?
10% of its land, against a typical 2% for a West Virginia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Cheat Lake’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Coopers Rock State Forest (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cheat Lake?
4.4 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.4 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Cheat Lake?
34,372 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cheat Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 903 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Cheat Lake have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #26 of 61 in West Virginia. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Cheat Lake neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →