Trail Hut

10/17/2026

Introducing Carbon Suites by StayWV - an elevated stay for your next adventure.

Carbon is part of the story of Southern West Virginia. Through coal, it became the lifeblood of our communities, creating extraordinary prosperity and helping power a nation. Our name honors that heritage and the enduring spirit of the place we call home.

Now, we’re proud to open a new chapter—and announce that our first Carbon Suite is available to book!

Created for smaller groups who appreciate a more upscale stay, each suite features a king bedroom, a large custom bathroom, a full kitchen, full laundry, and a full-size sleeper.

Picture a day exploring the trails with your favorite people, a meal shared together, and a beautiful place to settle in for the evening. Room to relax, time to reconnect, and the comforts that make a getaway feel special.

We can’t wait to welcome you to Carbon Suites.

Reserve your stay at staywv.com.

StayWV • Elevated Stays. Exceptional Experiences.

09/15/2026

The wait is over. Trail Hut is back - and it’s better than ever.

When flooding forced Trail Hut to close, we chose to do more than simply restore what was lost. We reimagined the property around one goal: creating an even more comfortable, polished, and elevated experience for every guest.

The result is the next generation of Trail Hut.

Six bedrooms. Six full bathrooms. Inviting spaces where everyone can come together—and the privacy and comfort your group wants after a full day of adventure.

For years, Trail Hut has been part of unforgettable trips to southern West Virginia: mornings filled with anticipation, days spent exploring the trails, and evenings sharing stories with the people who made the trip worthwhile.

Now, a completely renewed Trail Hut is ready for your next adventure.

Whether you have stayed with us before or are planning your first visit, you’ll find everything guests have always loved about Trail Hut - thoughtfully elevated and better than ever.

Trail Hut is core to the StayWV portfolio, solidifying our commitment to elevated stays and exceptional experiences throughout southern West Virginia.

To everyone who supported us and followed along as we rebuilt: thank you for being part of this journey.

Welcome to the next generation of Trail Hut.

Reservations are now available at TrailHutWV.com
Call or text 304-250-9159

09/06/2026

After years of planning, building, and bringing a vision to life, we’re proud to finally introduce element6 - the newest lodge in the StayWV portfolio.

Carbon - the sixth element - is the fundamental building block of life. In Southern West Virginia, it also represents generations of history. The region’s coal powered industries, sustained communities, and helped build America. Its legacy endures in the landscape and in the resilience, determination, and character of the people who call these mountains home.

To us, element6 embodies that enduring soul and spirit - rooted in Southern West Virginia’s past and built on our belief in its future.

Purpose-built for riders and thoughtfully designed for the entire stay, element6 features four king bedrooms, each with a private en suite bathroom. Families and groups can enjoy the space, comfort, and privacy to recharge after a day of adventure - and spend meaningful time together long after the ride is over.

Every detail reflects our vision for element6: a lodge grounded in its surroundings, designed for gathering, and worthy of the place that inspired it.

We’ve waited a long time to share element6 with you. Now, we’re finally ready to welcome you.

Availability begins Thursday, September 10. Prior guests and rental customers will receive the first opportunity to book.

This is element6.
Rooted in Southern West Virginia. Built for what comes next.

Elevated Stays. Exceptional Experiences.

08/09/2026

Something exciting is taking shape in Southern West Virginia. 🍂

Over the past several years, many of you have followed along with Trail Hut, stayed with us, ridden the trails, and watched as we’ve continued to grow.

Today, we’re excited to introduce the next chapter: StayWV.

StayWV will bring together our growing collection of lodging and adventure experiences in Southern West Virginia under one brand — built around a simple idea: making a great trip to West Virginia even better.

And for our Trail Hut followers, Trail Hut isn’t going anywhere. It will remain Trail Hut, with this page continuing to be its home, while becoming part of the larger StayWV portfolio.

This is only the first announcement.

We have a lot more to share in the weeks ahead, including some exciting additions coming together just in time for the fall season.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the journey so far. We’re excited to show you what comes next.

StayWV
Elevated Stays. Exceptional Experiences.

Stay tuned. 🍁

08/03/2025

While we’ve been hard at work on Trail Hut’s post-flood renovation, we want to share an important update. Renovations are taking longer than expected, and because we refuse to cut corners, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay welcoming guests until 2026.

Trail Hut has always set the gold standard in lodging, and this decision ensures we uphold — and exceed — that standard for your future stays. We know our guests expect the very best, and we’re committed to delivering exactly that.

We truly appreciate your patience, understanding, and continued support. When we open our doors again, it will be worth the wait.

~ Jonathan

06/06/2025

We hope this message finds you well!

While we've been intentionally quiet, we wanted to share an exciting update on Trail Hut’s renovation. The great news: we're officially in rebuild mode! Major components have been ordered, and the pieces are starting to come together. Trail Hut has always set the gold standard in lodging — and we’re raising the bar even higher.

We remain on track to welcome guests back for the fall season, with our rental calendar opening October 1st.

Over the next week, we’ll be reaching out to previous guests and those whose reservations we unfortunately had to cancel earlier this year. They’ll receive early access to rebook before we open to the public.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We can’t wait to see you again soon!

~ Jonathan

04/11/2025

Our local representatives, who have supported Trail Hut from the very beginning, are working to highlight the need for waterway maintenance in McDowell county. In the past, environmental agencies have blocked flood prevention work. We are optimistic that efforts to remove this red tape are successful and look forward to celebrating when equipment starts digging into Tug Fork.

~ Jonathan

This issue has gone unaddressed for far too long, and we’re pushing hard to change that.
The resolution is being sent to everyone we believe can help.

02/24/2025

This week has been a whirlwind … and wanted to post an update to all of our friends.

First, I wanted to share that the Corps of Engineers came to the property and used a flood mark on our new garages as an official measure of flood height. They recorded a flood altitude of 1322.0’. The official 100-year flood height is 1321.0’ where measured. What does this mean? This flood was 1’ deeper than any worst case prediction. From a flood rating perspective, our building is flood rated X (subject to 500-year flood only) and went through the record breaking floods of 2001 and 2002 without any water. In short, this was the big one - and impacts to Southern WV will be felt for quite some time.

The reality has set that it will take some significant time for our unplanned remodel. Taking our time and make sure that no corners are cut is priority. Slower is sometimes better and our focus remains on having a top-tier property for both our family and our guests. We are going to post progress as we proceed; as for timeline, that’s TBD at this point.

All wall cavities have been opened up, submerged insulation removed, mud cleaned, and drying has started. Our rented commercial dehumidifier is running around the clock. We now will press pause and let the whole hut properly dry over the next two weeks.

There are many people who I’d like to thank for help over the last week who were a godsend:

* Katie, my wife, literally shoveled through the mud all week and tried to keep my spirits high.
* Jennifer, Amber and Callie, our property turnover team, spent days mopping, cleaning and sanitizing everything to get to a ready for remodel point.
* Norm, my father, cleared our parking and disassembled the mountainside kitchen to access the main center wall.
* Nick, my brother, commandeered a tractor to move mud, cut and broke sheetrock, and literally climbed through a wall to open up behind the laundry units.
* Dustin and Josh, part of our property maintenance team, deep in the mucking mud and trying to save anything that was submerged.

Finally, a few folks have reached out asking how they can help those in need. While there are many different ways to support, I was humbled with the selflessness of a few restaurant owners in the area who have been giving out simple, hot meals to those that lost their homes or are working on cleanup. One of these restaurant owners is literally sleeping in his restaurant to make sure that anyone who needs a meal can get it, on his own dime. Katie and I were offered one of those meals, which we greatly appreciated after a long work day, and made sure that we also made a financial contribution to the cause. The little things matter, and sometimes it’s a hot meal to move you forward. If you are compelled, reach out privately and we can coordinate details on how to send a contribution that I will hand deliver to these businesses.

I have the greatest appreciation to everyone for the ongoing support and really look forward to sharing more as we get back on course.

~ Jonathan

02/20/2025

Here’s a walkthrough of the current state of Trail Hut. With a LOT of help, we are finally getting to the point where the walls can properly drain and dry. We still need to demo all the bathroom showers and the mechanical room as there are a few inaccessible pockets we can’t yet access. Not quite a view that we are proud of, but it’s the unfortunate reality of unpredictable events.

~Jonathan

02/18/2025

Today was a difficult day. The damage has far exceeded our expectations.

The interior took on at least a foot of mud water. Everything that was submerged has to be discarded. Drywall, furniture, cabinets, appliances all destined for the landfill.

The exterior faired even worse. Our patio has collapsed, the machine wash area is compromised, we are missing large chunks of our land and parking area, and the entire building is surrounded by 18” thick of rock and silt.

We are going to do our best to share updates and showcase the amount of pride and love we pour into Trail Hut. It’s certainly going to be hard to hold our heads high seeing years of work destroyed in a single day.

Tomorrow my father is taking a day off work to help me cut into the drywall and remove the kitchens. This is one of the many steps we need to take to stabilize the interior condition.

~ Jonathan