The Via Ferrata is a little known adventure that challenges the natural fear of heights. Experienced guides train you to be safe and monitor your progress during the 4 hour climb. This is a must do WV experience!

Do not attempt this if you are out of shape, afraid of heights, can't get dirty, whine or need a five star place to stay. If you are in to adventure, physical and emotional challenges, gorgeous scenery, can sleep in a remote mountainside cabin and cook your own food over a fire pit or grill then you do not want to miss this! If you are not too exhausted after the via Ferrata or zip line then go to the lake at Spruce Knob lake down the road for a swim.

They say that Via Ferrata is Italian for "Iron Road" - Nelson Rocks' Via Ferrata means AWESOME in every language! My daughter and I spent about 4 hours clipping and climbing this weekend and had a BLAST. We've never done any climbing beyond trying to scale the climbing wall once or twice at vacation resorts but one of the beauties of the Via Ferrata is that no experience is necessary. They fit you up with all the gear you need and teach you how to use it in about 10 minutes. Moderately uncomfortable at heights - aren't we all? My palms sweat just looking at the pictures that we took! At times my legs were shaking but I wasn't sure whether it was from fatigue or fear (or both)! Check out the pictures on the Nelsonrocks.org website and TRUST ME, those are the real deal - no camera angles used to make it look scary. The views from the tops of the fin are amazing - the fall colors were in full bloom this past weekend! This is a GREAT activity to do as a family, with some friends, or as an office team building event. Make sure you have a little backpack with some water in it and whatever you do don't leave your camera behind! Josh and Tony served as our small group's guides and did an amazing job at keeping us safe, making it fun, and ensuring that we all got through it. The only down side to Nelson Rocks is that there really is nothing nearby - restaurants, stores, hotels, etc. On second thought, though, that's also one of the things that makes it so great. We drove 3 hours to get there, spent 4+ hours climbing, then went to Canaan Valley resort to spend the night. This is not something you do when you're "in the area" ... make a plan and do it - you won't be sorry! Oh, who can do it? Anyone who puts their mind to it - I'm nearly 60 and spend 12 hours a day sitting behind a desk.