You have to travel pretty far into the heart of West Virginia’s wilderness to find the Cranberry River—and that’s a good thing, because nobody wants to share their backcountry experience with a crowd. Fortunately, Cranberry Adventures offers trips to secluded sites along the river, giving visitors direct access to trout waters, swimming holes, and much-needed disconnection in the Cranberry Wilderness. It’s the largest Forest Service wilderness area in the eastern United States: It spans 47,815 acres in Pocahontas and Webster counties, and it includes the entire drainage of the Middle Fork of the Williams and the North Fork of the Cranberry rivers. Elevations range from 2,400 to over 4,600 feet.
The Cranberry River—a 24-mile tributary of the Gauley and arguably one of the Mountain State’s most beautiful—is famed among anglers for trout fishing. But it takes a lot of help to get camping gear, fishing gear, and food out there. While backpackers carry minimal supplies, it takes more than a couple of rucksacks to haul everything camping anglers need for a few days.
Enter the hardworking duo of Jack and Clyde, Cranberry Adventures’ best employees. And if they’ve got the weekend off, Honey and Buck—the outfitter’s other workhorses—will get the job done. They’re not horses, though. They’re mules. And boy, can they haul—up to 30% of their body weight. Mules are the ideal pack animals, here. They’ve got tougher hooves than horses, so they can navigate rockier terrain, and their big ears allow them to radiate more heat, so they can handle hotter days.
Rick Green, aka “the Mule Man of the Cranberry,” began using mules to help share his love of the outdoors over 15 years ago, and he’s the only outfitter permitted to do so. The animals—Cranberry Adventures calls them “the biggest asses on the river”—pull the wagon loaded with a 12-person tent, cook stove, canopy, and wood-burning stove, so visitors can settle in for some downtime in a place where cell service and email are a distant memory and the rushing river and morning calls of birds are the only alarm clocks. If an overnight trip seems a bit too long to be gone, Cranberry Adventures also offers day trips out and back. Plenty of groups make a picnic, a healthy dose of wilderness, and a chance to socialize with the hosts—both human and hoofed—an annual tradition.
Visitors interested in a guided mule outing should book in advance, especially during peak fishing and summer months. Bring layered clothing and sturdy footwear for changing mountain conditions. And respect Leave No Trace principles—the wilderness depends on careful stewardship to preserve trout habitat and fragile forest ecosystems.
