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Summersville WV


Summersville West Virginia
“Let our Mountain Water Playground be Your Backyard”




Town of Summersville WV

The city of Summersville is located in Nicholas County and surrounded by water flowing down from the West Virginia mountains. The city is focused on outdoor recreation by frequently hosting boaters visiting Summersville Lake and rafters and kayakers paddling the nearby Gauley River, a world-renowned whitewater stream. These waters provide world class outdoor recreational activities, such as whitewater rafting on the Gauley or New rivers, boating on Summersville Lake, or hiking along the Muddlety Creek Trail. Summersville Lake, the largest lake in West Virginia, is located south and west of the town in the Summersville Lake Wildlife Management Area Summersville is also home to the annual West Virginia Potato Festival.


History of Summersville WV

Summersville was established in 1824, incorporated in 1850, and named in honor of Judge Lewis Summers, who introduced the bill that created Nicholas County. In the mid-1800s, Summersville was an important lodging and commerce point on the Weston & Gauley Bridge Turnpike, an overland route between the valleys of the Kanawha and Monongahela rivers.


  • Summersville Lake
  • The Mystery Hole
  • Grandview State Park
  • Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park
  • Gauley River National Recreation Area
  • New River Gorge National River
  • Hawks Nest State Park
  • Babcock State Park
  • Camp Washington Carver
  • Exhibition Coal Mine
  • Summersville Lake Festival
  • Civil War Weekend
  • Nicholas County Potato Festival
  • Gauley River Festival
  • Tamarack
  • Monongahela National Forest
  • Greenbrier River Trail State Park


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