Learn about some of the best things to do in Moundsville West Virginia during your classic motorcycle tour, including some of the best riding roads.
The Skinny
- What: Moundsville, West Virginia. A small town nestled in West Virginia’s coal country with great riding, an excellent restaurant, a superb natural history museum and a most interesting former state penitentiary.
- How to Get There: From either the east or west, it’s Interstate 70 to Wheeling, then 470 around the southern edge of Wheeling, and West Virginia Route 290 south for a delightful ride along the Ohio River (and for one of many great motorcycle roads in the area, stay on 290 as you leave Moundsville; you can thank me later).
- Best Kept Secret: The very nice woman who manages the West Virginia State Penitentiary gift shop (she was married to the warden and used to live on the prison grounds).
Things to do in Moundsville West Virginia
John Denver had it right: “Almost Heaven, West Virginia.” Hold that thought and let the music play in your mind as you read this article. I think I found the best place in America for motorcycling. If you like twisties, impressive views, points of interest and good food, Moundsville, West Virginia (and the roads around Moundsville) is where you want to be. Moundsville is named after the huge mound that dominates the town. It was in the 1800s when the family who owned the land wondered if it was an ancient burial mound (there were several such mounds in the area). The Native Americans who lived, and then disappeared, in this region were named the Adena. The mounds predate Christ. There’s an interesting museum next to the mound. The mound and the museum are free, and if you’re feeling up to it, there’s a circular stone stairway that takes you to the top of the mound.
Literally across the street from the mound is another point of interest: The former West Virginia State Penitentiary. It had been used for well over 100 years when it shut down in 1996 (the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled it inhumane). There’s a 90-minute walking tour we thoroughly enjoyed. This is a place with a horrifying history (it was one of the most violent prisons in America), and our guide drew from its history to make it come alive. Things were different back then. West Virginia used to hold public executions there and charge people admission. You see the prison’s electric chair as soon as you enter the lobby, but its use came late in the prison’s history and only nine people were executed in it. Another 85 condemned prisoners went via the gallows. In one public hanging, the gallows’ trap sprang open before the executioner slipped the noose around the prisoner’s neck. He dropped 25 feet, breaking numerous bones when he hit the concrete below. Undeterred, the staff strapped him to a stretcher, hauled him back up the gallows steps, and hung him while he was still on the stretcher. “Don’t mind the pain,” they told him. “In five minutes, you won’t feel a thing.”
The roads in rural West Virginia are exceptional. We could not find a bad one, and taking just about any route out of Moundsville will take you along twisting, scenic, two-lane (and sometimes one-lane) roads that are magnificent. Couple that with abundant 100-plus-year-old covered bridges in this region and the riding and photo ops make for a real treat.
One of the best kept secrets in Moundsville has to be Bob’s Lunch restaurant on 3rd Street. It’s in downtown Moundsville and it’s not fancy, but wow, the food is both spectacular and reasonably priced. We tried several different dishes; the signature dish (named “the Mound”) is my favorite. It’s a gigantic thick pancake topped with scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, cheese and then another thick pancake (a little butter on top, pour on the maple syrup, and don’t tell the American Heart Association). The turkey and roast beef sandwiches are great, too. Make sure to try the coconut cream or blackberry pie for dessert.
