Start from 27 curated places around Morgantown, WV, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Oliverio's Ristorante
The restaurant that Morgantown most consistently names as its best, occupying a prime spot in the Wharf District with Tuscan-inspired cooking, nightly specials built around fresh seafood and house-made sauces, and a dining room that manages the rare combination of big-city feel and small-town ease. The wine list and service are as carefully considered as the kitchen.
Iron Horse Tavern
The anchor of the Morgantown Mile on High Street, where West Virginia craft beer, specialty cocktails, and genuinely ambitious pub fare have made it the gathering place for a wide cross-section of the city — students, faculty, professionals, and out-of-towners alike. The brunch program and burger have achieved local legend status.
Trails & outdoors
Coopers Rock State Forest Loop
A 7.1-mile moderate loop through the sandstone terrain of Coopers Rock State Forest, passing the historic Henry Clay Iron Furnace ruin, wooded ridgelines, and the spectacular Cheat River Valley overlook — one of the best day hikes accessible from Morgantown. The rock surface throughout the trail requires appropriate footwear and rewards the effort with consistently dramatic terrain.
Mon River Rail Trail
A Hall of Fame-designated rail trail along the Monongahela River from downtown Morgantown extending southward, recognized by the Rails to Trails Conservancy for its scenic value, amenities, and historical significance. The paved surface, river views, and connection to the Core Arboretum make it the city's premier flat trail for running, cycling, and walking with a stroller.
Things to do
WVU Mountaineers Football at Milan Puskar Stadium
WVU football in Morgantown is not a sporting event — it's a civic institution. The 60,000-seat Milan Puskar Stadium fills to capacity for home games with a crowd energy that transforms the city, and the traditions ("Country Roads" at the end of the third quarter, the tailgate scene on the WVU campus and surrounding neighborhoods) are among the most distinctive in college football.
Creative Arts Center at WVU
WVU's performing arts complex hosting theater, dance, and music productions by both professional guest artists and the university's acclaimed performing arts programs — with a production calendar that runs most weeks of the academic year and extends into summer with special programming. The Gladys G. Davis Concert Hall is the acoustic centerpiece.
Landmarks & sights
WVU Core Arboretum
A 91-acre old-growth forest preserve and botanical garden on the WVU Evansdale campus along the Monongahela River, with 11 interconnected trails through a forest that has never been cleared for development. It's free, open dawn to dusk every day, and one of the most genuinely tranquil natural spaces within walking distance of any university campus in the mid-Atlantic.
Coopers Rock State Forest
A 12,713-acre state forest 13 miles east of Morgantown on I-68, with sandstone cliffs, a dramatic Cheat River Valley overlook, bouldering and rock climbing terrain, and more than 50 miles of hiking and biking trails. The main overlook is one of the most photographed vistas in West Virginia — a 180-degree view into the Cheat River gorge from a sandstone shelf 1,300 feet above the water.