Little Kanawha Parkway
Little Kanawha Parkway is a State Scenic Byway in West Virginia. Within West Virginia it covers roughly 75 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Little Kanawha Parkway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
West Virginia's Little Kanawha Parkway follows State Route 5 along the Little Kanawha River from Mineral Wells to Flatwoods, through rustic east-central farmland. The drive offers access to fishing, hunting, and hiking alongside river, forest, and farmland views. The Little Kanawha itself was once a vital commercial route, particularly for the region's logging and petroleum industries, with steam- and later gasoline-powered boats carrying people, mail, and freight up and down the river from the mid-1800s into the 1930s. Nearby Burning Springs was the site of West Virginia's first oil well, drilled in 1860 and one of the earliest oil wells anywhere in the world, tying the parkway to the birth of the American petroleum industry. The road today is a quiet, largely undeveloped alternative to nearby highways, prized for its river scenery over any single landmark.
- Little Kanawha River
- Burning Springs oil well
- Mineral Wells to Flatwoods
- State Route 5
- 1860 first oil well
- logging and petroleum history
- river commerce
Plan a drive on Little Kanawha Parkway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Little Kanawha Parkway
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Little Kanawha Parkway.
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