Battle Run Campground, COE
June 28 -30

We felt fortunate to land a campsite at Battle Run Campground, one of the Corps of Engineer managed parks on Summersville Lake. Campsites near water often sell out, so to nab a lakeside spot on short notice was lucky. Our campsite was on a finger of land stretching into the lake, so we had a water view to the left and right.

Summersville is east of Charleston, WV, and halfway between Beckley and Sutton. The Corps of Engineers manages several campgrounds on the lake. Boating and fishing are big here, but so is just relaxing by the water. This is a busy campground, and on this week leading up to the Fourth of July weekend, everyone was enjoying their vacation time. Lots of kids zooming around on bikes, pontoon boats on the lake, and barbecues all around.

It’s a gorgeous lake. The water is crystal clear and the shores are wooded. At Long Point, sheer cliffs rim the lake, a significant challenge for rock climbers and daredevil jumpers.

We opted for some hiking, part of it along the dyke system for the dam. It took six years to complete the Summersville Dam. It is a large piece in the watershed and flood control efforts of the COE.

Like many other dam projects, a small town was sacrificed and now rests at the bottom of the lake. Several years ago, sediment at the lake bottom shifted and revealed the intact town of Gad. Scuba divers are having a grand time exploring the town that time forgot, including houses with picket fences, cars from the 60s, and other remnants of a town frozen in time.

Often dams are named for the town closest to the construction site. However, after considering the name “Gad Dam,” they chose to name it the Summersville Dam.