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Agritourism Destination
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What says agritourism more than a campground on a sheep farm in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia? Tawney Farm offers a unique alternative to the overcrowded commercial campgrounds with its Gauley River Wild & Woolly Primitive Campground. Here you’re only a short drive from the New River Gorge National Park where you can go whitewater rafting or take a hike and experience the stunning beauty of the gorge, swim or paddleboard at Summersville Lake and Dam or go rock climbing on one of around 150 routes on the crags of the lake. Best of all, you’ll be within walking distance of the Gauley River with all it’s wild untamed beauty where you can kayak, swim, fish, paddleboard, or splash in a waterfall! And you get to camp on a sheep farm, where you have the opportunity to learn about wool and wool processing. You can even learn how to felt wool and take your creation home! Find out more about Gauley River Wild & Woolly Primitive Campground.
The Tawney Farm is a small-scale wool sheep farm in the Mountain Lakes region of central West Virginia. Adjacent to the beautiful Gauley River National Recreation Area and just a short drive to the New River Gorge National Park, our 129 acre farm lies nestled in between two beautiful mountains--one of them named Panther Mountain--in the Gauley River gorge. Here we raise Merino and Jacob sheep for their wool. Our farm is also home to a miniature horse, chickens, and of course, a dog and cats. We sell raw wool, processed batts and wool products and crafts online and in our campground office. See The Farm & Products. In addition to the campground, the farm is also an outdoor venue for special events such as family reunions, private parties, music festivals, corporate retreats or group meetings. Bird watchers and nature lovers will find our farm the perfect place to visit with access to our nature trails. During the Gauley Whitewater Season, we're super convenient for boaters and kayakers because our farm is at the top of the hill from Mason's Branch on the Middle Gauley. In addition to the NRG and Summersville Lake and Dam, also close by are Carnifex Ferry Battleground State Park where you can see where a crucial civil war battle took place, as well as Babcock State Park with its iconic grist mill and waterfall. Our region has it all! But why stay in an overcrowded, commercial campground? Leave the beaten path and enjoy peaceful and private, safe and secure primitive camping on our mountain farm. |
Gauley River Nat'l Recreation Area
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Summersville Lake & Dam
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New River Gorge
National Park
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Carnifex Ferry Battleground
State Park
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Babcock State Park
Grist Mill
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History of Panther Mountain
Having been settled since the late 1700's, the Panther Mountain area is rich in history. Its name comes from a story about a hunter who had killed two deer in the area known as High Rocks. Not being able to carry both deer home, he hung one of the deer he had killed in a tree to retrieve the next day. When he did return, he found two panthers at the foot of the tree eating his deer. He shot one panther and the other one turned on him. Not having time to reload his gun, he threw gunpowder in the eyes of the panther as it started to attack him, causing the panther to retreat some distance away until he got his gun loaded and shot it also.
With a critical battle fought only a few miles away at Carnifex Ferry, there are many Civil War stories about the area with several small skirmishes taking place between our farm and the little white church at the top of the hill. There's a beautiful farm house built in 1888 within a 1/4 mile of our farm that's been beautifully preserved.
With a critical battle fought only a few miles away at Carnifex Ferry, there are many Civil War stories about the area with several small skirmishes taking place between our farm and the little white church at the top of the hill. There's a beautiful farm house built in 1888 within a 1/4 mile of our farm that's been beautifully preserved.