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The Middle Mountain Cabins are nestled in a small grassy opening near a small pond and Camp Five Run, a hiking trail that leads into the Laurel Fork South Wilderness. The cabins are secluded and offer a quiet retreat for visitors. Rented as a single unit, Middle Mountain Cabins include a main cabin with a kitchen, and two historic sleeping cabins.
The cabins occupy a 3.5-acre space about 18 miles south of Wymer. The two smaller cabins were built in 1939 and served as bunk houses for Forest Service employees.
Middle Mountain Cabins (elevation 3,750 feet) are located on a half-acre grassy field surrounded by red spruce and yellow birch. The cabins sit near the Laurel Fork South Wilderness. Several other trails around the Middle Mountain Cabins include the High Falls of Cheat Trail # 345, which is a 2.9-mile trek to the beautiful waterfalls.
The West Fork Rail Trail #312 is an old railroad grade and runs along the West Fork of the Greenbrier River. The Allegheny Trial # 701 spans many districts on the Monongahela National Forest.
Fishing is popular on the Cheat, Glady Fork, Shavers Fork, and West and East Forks of the Greenbrier River. Lake fishing is popular at Spruce Knob Lake and Buffalo Lake. A state fishing license, National Forest Stamp, a Conservation stamp, and a trout stamp are required.
The main cabin is a single story log building with a gabled roof that extends to cover a full length porch. Inside are exposed log rafters and tie beams. Outside there is a picnic table, grill and campfire ring. A four car gravel parking area is located beside the grassy clearing.
All cabins have fireplaces. Firewood is provided, but the supply is not guaranteed. There is no water in the cabin, but an outside handpump for drinking water is available. An outdoor vault toilet is located onsite. Each sleeping cabin contains two sets of bunk beds, while the main cabin contains one full size bed for a total capacity of 10 people.
The kitchen includes a gas stove, cabinets, a table with six chairs, two lounge chairs, some pots, pans, dishes and silverware. There is no electricity available. Visitors should bring food, matches or a lighter, an ax, small saw, bedding, lanterns for each cabin, flashlights, food, ice chests, and personal gear. Food should be protected as field mice and bears frequent the area.
Middle Mountain Cabins (elevation 3,750 feet) is located on a half-acre grassy field surrounded by red spruce and yellow birch. The cabins sit near the 11,839-acre Laurel Fork South Wilderness.
The Laurel Fork of the Cheat River is characterized by its narrow valley floor with regularly dissected slopes and long narrow ridges. The continuous forest cover of primarily Beech, Maple, Birch, and Cherry is occasionally broken up by beautiful meadows along the river.
A convenience store and fuel can be found in Bartow and a larger grocery store can be found in Elkins. Due to rural mountain roads, visitors should expect to drive for at least an hour to reach these towns.
From Elkins or Harman, drive east on State Route 33. Then turn south (right) on Forest Route 14 at Wymer (14.6 miles east of Elkins). Continue south for 18.2 miles to the entrance road to the cabins, which is marked by a sign. Open gated road with the combination provided by the Greenbrier Ranger District and proceed a quarter-mile to cabin site.
I’ve rented this cabin three times. Nice remote area at 3600 feet elevation. The cabins are at the southern end of the Laurel Fork Wilderness. A trail runs north into the wilderness area, down Camp Five Run to Laurel Fork of the Cheat River. Trout are found in these streams. Bigfoot (I never seen one) has been sighted nearby at Wildell and Glady. A foggy nighttime trip to the outdoor toilet, had me thinking about monsters one night. Good fun and great place to enjoy nature’s beauty.
Very cool outdoors experience, quite remote.
A few tipps:
- Follow the description of the ranger department for navigation to get there and don't follow google maps! It will lead you through closed roads (without the help of some locals I would not have found the cabins).
- You will not have cell phone connection (which is a good thing but be aware).
- The cabins are quite high in the hills, so it can get cold at night.
- The locks open easily, you just have to push and then pull after you put in the right combination.
Enjoy your stay!
Great rustic cabins. Be prepared for zero communication with the outside world and no running water. But there is a hand-pump well and propane for a range/oven and refrigerator in the main cabin. The main cabin and the outhouse are also ADA accessible. All 3 cabins have fireplaces and some firewood is provided. It's a great rustic experience for anyone looking to disconnect for a few days.
We stopped through on a camping road trip to have a break from roughing it but almost decided to cut our losses and go back to camping. Previous renters left a huge mess. Food in sink, coffee grounds all over floor, trash in the fire pit. Could be a nice place if people treated it like it was their own but seems like it doesn’t get a lot of TLC. That being said, location and provided firewood was very nice. We stayed warm, made the best of it, and tried to leave it a little cleaner for the next group.
Just home from our 6 night trip to middle mountain cabins. Our first visit to this location. Wonderful place, only disappointment was not having a big iron swing hook in the fireplace to hang my dutch oven from. Aside from that, if the forest service reads these, guys, DONT paint the grill. Stove paint on the outside is fine but not the grates. Had to burn a really hot 'campfire' in the grill for half the day to burn the paint off the grates, smelled and looked like typical rustoleum spray paint. Dont pack your shower tent, there is a stall for washing. Plenty of seats and benches although not the most comfortable, in cabins and around the fire pit. Hand pump for clean tested water, my next trip I'll bring and leave a 5 gallon bucket since the 2 cooking pots on site require several trips to haul water for cleaning dishes and such. There is a sink to wash dishes in, drains slow, needs a vented pipe. There is a gas range with oven and broiler. Gas fridge that works well but smaller on the inside than the outside, plenty big enough to hold cold foods for a week with 4 people, may have to tetris it a little bit. Closest place to get cell phone service is an hour drive away. This is a setup for relaxing, not much to adventure out and do that is close to the cabins except for hiking trails. Pond on the property is beautiful but not stocked and pretty shallow. Pet friendly as long as you clean up after them. Short walk away to a vault style toilet that is shared by the 3 cabins. Rangers bring firewood on Mondays and Thursdays, lasted 4 of us easily with plenty left at the next load using 2 cabins and keeping a small fire going in both most of the whole time, not to mention using some in the main fire pit(selected out a pile of the cherry) for cooking over. And last, I'm not a big ghost person but we were woken up several times by the sound of footsteps walking around the cabin, outside and inside. All in all it was a wonderful time and we definitely plan to go back again.
