My Weekend in Putnam County, West Virginia: Small-Town Fun and Wild Adventures

Sometimes it’s the small places that surprise you the most. And Putnam County, situated just between Huntington and Charleston, in West Virginia, is one of those spots.

Sure, Huntington and Charleston get more attention. But Putnam County, with their family-focused fun, sense of community, and great eats, deserves your time too.

Thanks to Putnam County Tourism for sponsoring my trip and this post! All opinions are of course completely my own.

I spent a weekend in Putnam County, and their county seat, Hurricane (pronounced “hurri-kin” and definitely not like the oceanic storm). And I was so surprised by what I found here! I got to hold the friendliest snake. I walked through a forest filled with pumpkins. I learned about the community spirit that has transformed their outdoor offerings. And I ate some great food!

So here’s what my weekend in Putnam County, West Virginia looked like! (I was there Thursday through Saturday, but you could totally adapt this for a Friday through Saturday trip too!)

Thursday Night: Downtown Hurricane and Jo’s Belknap Pizza

Cheese pizza topped with dollops of ricotta and fresh basil on a metal serving tray. The pizza has a golden bubbly crust with browned edges and melted cheese across the center. — My Pizza Bianca at Jo’s Belknap!

I started out on Thursday night with dinner at Jo’s Belknap, a local pizza favorite. This restaurant in downtown Hurricane serves pizza from an authentic Italian pizza oven and my goodness was it good!

I got the Bianca Pizza, with 4 different cheese, including the creamiest ricotta and some of the best pizza crust I’ve had in a long time. And it was cooked perfectly…with just enough oven char without tasting like fire. I absolutely loved it.

Plus the desserts were fantastic too. I had their seasonal pumpkin cannoli that were just perfect, and I also got to try the Nutella Foldover when was HUGE and full of so much Nutella (it’s basically their pizza dough folded over and stuffed with Nutella).

After dinner I headed to Valley Park for their Night Market, where several vendors were set up and there was live music going on. These take place once a month on Thursday nights (usually the 4th Thursday, but check their schedule) from May through October.

My favorite was, of course, the pop-up bookstore! Cassidy’s Reading Corner was the absolute cutest little book kiosk with such a great selection of used books. (I picked up this book set in West Virginia.)

Friday Morning: Wildlife & Discovery Center of WV

Interior of a wildlife discovery center with large glass animal enclosures surrounded by plants and educational displays. Bright orange wall panels feature white wildlife illustrations and the words "Wildlife and Discovery Center." — This is the main room at the Wildlife & Discovery Center of WV, but there are also side rooms and hallways with more animals!

I spent Friday morning at the Wildlife & Discovery Center of WV, also located in Valley Park.

This facility is actually the only reptile rescue center in West Virginia. They work to save animals from abuse and neglect cases as well as be a safe place for animal surrenders.

And while animal rescue is a huge part of what they do, they’ve also expanded their educations opportunities.

I learned so much about reptiles and amphibians while I was here, especially how they are viewed by the public and what it means to have these animals as pets.

I’m a huge animal lover of all kinds, but I’ll admit that my first preference are the traditional cute and cuddly kind.

But getting to spend some dedicated time with these animals and meet them and talk to the staff that work with them, I really got to see how their personalities shine through.

Smiling woman holds a large black and orange lizard during an animal encounter at a wildlife center. A yellow anaconda educational display and animal enclosures are visible behind her. — I loved meeting this funny blue tongued skink!

Green iguana rests inside a glass wildlife enclosure with one front leg stretched forward. Its textured scales. Large dewlap. Spiny back. And surrounding wooden branches are clearly visible. — This friendly iguana loves to ride on the staff’s shoulders and heads!

I got to hold the sweetest snake, and I’m not sure I would have told you a snake could have a sweet demeanor before this. And I don’t know that I would have called a blue-tongued skink cute, but after spending time with one and seeing his little dinosaur-shaped head, that’s definitely how I would describe him now.

My experience was absolutely fantastic and I came away with a new appreciation for reptiles, amphibians, and even bugs.

Friday Lunch: Whiskey Taco

Rustic restaurant dining room with wooden tables and black chairs beneath warm pendant lights and a wagon wheel chandelier. Large turquoise letters spelling "WHISKEY TACO" stretch across a geometric wood accent wall above a long brown booth. — I loved the interior of Whiskey Taco!

For lunch I headed just down the street to Whiskey Taco. And when I first walked in the door, I could tell I was going to love this place.

A restaurant located in a shopping plaza that looks relatively unassuming from the outside (aside from the Lucha Libre statue outside) is completely transformed into a modern Mexican restaurant.

There are SO many different kinds of tacos on the menu, from Nashville Hot chicken to Tinga Chicken to Beer Battered Fish. I got the Ribeye Tacos, which were delicious. It was ribeye stick on a corn tortilla with queso cheese and fried potatoes on top. I didn’t expect it to, but those fried potatoes really made the dish.

Two steak tacos topped with crispy potatoes on a paper lined tray. Black beans. Mexican rice. And a cup of green sauce are served alongside the tacos. — The crispy fried potatoes on top of my ribeye tacos really pulled it all together in a way I didn’t expect!

I’d definitely recommend this as a dining spot! But there are also several other places that would make a great lunch stop including Wok’d, Mediterranean Breeze, or Thai Valley Kitchen.

Friday Afternoon: Blenko Glass Company

A bright glass shop is filled with colorful hand blown glass vases, pitchers, bottles, and decorative pieces displayed across wooden tables and wall shelves. The glassware is arranged in vivid shades of blue, green, yellow, red, purple, and clear glass throughout the shop. — The store at Blenko Glass was full of SO much beautiful glasswork!

our colorful textured glass garden sculptures in teal, yellow, dark purple, and green stand among leafy plants. A flower filled garden and wooden fence create a softly blurred background behind the decorative glass pieces. — There is also so much beautiful glass throughout the garden!

After lunch I headed over to Blenko Glass Company. While *technically* this is in the next county over, this is really a great thing to do while you are staying in Putnam County.

Blenko Glass Company has been making glass for over 100 years and as soon as I walked into the store I was BLOWN away. (Omg, pun not intended.)

Their store is full of SO much beautiful glassware. And I especially loved that it was all color coordinated because it made it so visually pleasing.

I won’t lie, the glass as the store here is pretty pricey. But there are some smaller items that won’t break the bank and you can look for their “seconds” which are pieces that don’t quite meet their quality standards, so they are deeply discounted. For example, a “seconds” water jug was on sale for $50, while the first-quality jug was $99.

But you can do more than just visit the store here. Just outside the store, there is a beautiful garden next to a pond where you can stroll through flowers accented with glass decor everywhere.

Upstairs, there is a small one-room museum with a bit of history of Blenko Glass as well as displays of different glass pieces through the years and some beautiful stained glass.

And if you keep walking out the doors you can go back to the observation deck in the hot shop, where you may be lucky enough to get to see the glassmakers in action.

And while I wasn’t there for a tour, they do offer tours Tuesday through Friday mornings.

Friday Evening: Gritt’s Farm

A vintage teal farm truck is parked beside stacked hay bales covered with orange and white pumpkins and gourds. The truck bed is overflowing with pumpkins in front of a large red barn. — Gritt’s Farm is THE place to go for Fall fun!

If you’re in Putnam County during the Fall, then Gritt’s Farm is an absolute must-do. This is THE fall fun place, and I got to go for a special event the night before their opening day to check out some of their attractions, including their new Glowing Pumpkin Forest.

At Gritt’s Farm you’ll find everything from a corn maze to hay rides to apple cannons to giant slides. There is a barn with the biggest corn kernel pit I have ever seen (think ball pit except full of corn kernels). There are food stands with fantastic food (I had some great pizza as well as a delicious apple cider donut).

And of course there is a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.

They also now have a Glowing Pumpkin Forest, which was was so cool!

It’s a trail through the woods (about .3 miles) full of, well, glowing pumpkins. They are all carved in such different and amazing ways, from large carved sculptures of monsters and storybook characters to traditional jack-o-lanterns with varying faces and rainbow colors.

A large arch covered with carved jack o lanterns marks the entrance to the "Glowing Pumpkin Forest." The festive fall display leads into a wooded area with hay bales and more glowing pumpkins visible beyond the entrance. — Waiting for it to get dark at the entrance to the Glowing Pumpkin Forest!

Dozens of glowing pumpkins illuminate a dark wooded trail with colorful carved swirl and flower patterns in red, pink, blue, and yellow. Large illuminated pumpkin carvings depicting detailed figures rise among the smaller pumpkins and create a dramatic nighttime display in the forest. — An Alice in Wonderland scene. There are so many scenes and pumpkins from different stories and movies you love.

It was so amazing to walk through and the perfect Halloween vibe for me: a little spooky because it’s in the dark, but not scary in any way.

This is a great addition to all the other amazing offerings at Gritt’s Farm during the Fall!

And you should know that if you’re there during another time of year, you should still check out what Gritt’s has going on! During the Spring they have a tulips and during the summer there are special farm-to-table dinners for adults.

This is such a special place in this community. It offers so much fun, and it’s so beautiful on top of everything else.

Saturday Breakfast: Tudor’s Biscuit World

I started my Saturday morning with what is apparently a beloved West Virginia staple: Tudor’s Biscuit World.

Their menu is full of, you guessed it, biscuits. And it’s a place with a down-home vibe and impressively low prices.

And the biscuits are good! As a Southerner, I know my biscuits. And I have to say I was pretty impressed with the biscuits here which are large and buttery and fluffy.

I had the Egg Melt Biscuit and a plain biscuit. My only complaint is that I didn’t expect the cheese on the Egg Melt to be nacho cheese, so I didn’t love that. But a plain biscuit with butter and jelly is my favorite way to eat a biscuit, and I loved mine here!

Saturday Morning: Meeks Mountain Trails

Look for this entrance to the trails in the back of the Hurricane City Park.

After breakfast, a walk was in order. So I headed to the Meeks Mountain Trails in Hurricane.

Meeks Mountain has an amazing story. The trails began being built in 2018, all by hand and ALL by volunteers in the community. There are now over 30 miles of trails, all hand dug by the community. I mean, what an incredible testament to the sense of community here!

And all the trails are named after people who helped build them.

The trails are all pretty densely packed, which is pretty cool. I’ve never seen a trail system quite like this before, and it makes it easy to go all kinds of different way. People hike and mountain bike here, so you can take your pick.

I just did a short hike on the Skeeney D Trail. There was a race going on while I was there, so I wanted to stay out of the way of the trail runners. But the hike I did do was so lovely.

And it’s so cool that this trail system is so close to the main part of town and right across the street from restaurants, a juice bar, and a bike shop.

More Things To Do in Putnam County

There are even more fun things to do in Putnam County, so here are some other ideas if you have more time.

Paddleboard on the Kanawha River — Rent a paddleboard Mountaineer Paddle and spend some time on the river.
Hike at the Toyota West Virginia Biodiversity Trail — This trail is easy for the whole family and has educational signage.
Hike at Ridenour Lake — Another hiking area around a small lake and with lots of trails!
Enjoy Valley Park — Beyond the Wildlife & Discovery Center of WV, Valley Park has a playground, an obstacle course, and, during the summer, a wave pool you can enjoy!
Go Antique Shopping in Nitro — The city of Nitro is known for their antique shopping, so spend time there in their Antique District.

Where to Stay in Putnam County

The exterior of a Sleep Inn by Choice Hotels features a modern light gray facade with purple accents and a covered entrance. The four story hotel sits beneath a bright blue sky with large white clouds.

I stayed at the Sleep Inn in Teay’s Valley/Hurricane. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I’ve never stayed at Sleep Inn before, and I know they can be kind of hit or miss.

But I was so impressed by this property. As soon as I checked in, they were telling me about all kinds of offerings: cookies and popcorn in the afternoons, soup in the evenings, and of course their breakfast.

I found out later that the owners of this hotel have won awards with Choice Hotels for their management. And it’s well deserved! They have a lot of thoughtful touches into the hotel, including things like having Asian breakfast offerings at their continental breakfast for the people who travel in for business at the nearby Toyota plant.

My room was really comfortable too, and it really was a great place to stay. I highly recommend it!