Should you worry about driving up the mountain to Roseland?

The drive to Roseland Resort from Fitchville, Ohio was different because we were on a two lane road for almost half of the trip. It was pretty and on the gentle rolling hills it was easy to handle the rig, at least until we reached I-77 heading south, eventually getting on I-70 east to Wheeling, when the hills get much higher. In Wheeling, we headed south on Hwy 2 towards Moundsville.

Roseland Store & Office Building

Finally, in Moundsville we start heading up the mountain. In some places the road is indeed very narrow, with multiple switchback turns and the rig is working very hard to tow the 22k pounds up the mountain. If you know your rig, use common sense and know how to handle those mountain roads, you will not have too much difficulty getting to Roseland—otherwise, don’t plan to go there with you rig, drive a car and stay in the facilities they provide!

As we reach the entrance, there is a Class A Motorhome parked at the entrance, which had to move before we could pull into the entrance road. We later heard they felt they were experiencing brake problems or maybe they simply could not handle the mountain roads and someone was coming to help them. We drive nearly a mile down the gravel road to the office and park the rig, getting the dogs out to allow them to stretch their legs too.

Residence

In the office Matt checks us in and tells us that there has been a change of plans we will be staying at 104 the original site scheduled for us. Well, that is almost a half of a mile back down this very narrow, gravel road. We don’t really feel we can back up that distance, so we turn around in the parking area in front of the cabins. That turned out to present a very difficult situation, because then at the other end of the road, there was not enough room to turn the rig around to back into our site. After a couple of various attempts to make a tight turn and back up we gave up and headed the next half a mile outside the resort. Finally, we find a small patch of land adjacent to a barn I was able to back the trailer into and just enough room on the ridge to turn the truck in the other direction. We drive back along the ridge into the entrance and then back up the hill into our site. The phone call Sunday sure made this whole situation much more difficult than it should have been!

We are set up adjacent to the owner’s home, on Nob Hill which includes 3 rental rooms and a cabin. Their driveway heads just past our awning, so we do not have a large site, but the view to the south over the mountaintop is breathtaking!

Roseland Santa Fe Pool Complex

Walking the dogs around the cg is a challenge, the hills are steep and it is very hot, so we are all panting and sweating when we come back. We do enjoy the pool. It is new this year and also has a waterfall, so the sound is soothing, once you get over the sound of the pump. Also, the water appears somewhat cloudy. When you walk down the steps into the pool area it does feel like you are Scarlett O’Hara coming down the steps at Tara! All eyes are on you too! The people turn out to be very friendly just like most other places.

We are told to wander around and look at the cabins and rooms for rent in the owner’s house. The cabins offer limited and full accommodations including refrigerators, stoves and microwaves sharing a bathroom in the adjacent house. The owner’s home is fairly new and has two nice rooms with private bath and a loft sleeping area, all complemented with a shared kitchen and a baby grand piano.

Roseland Hiking Trail

We took a hike around the blue trail, cutting off on the red trail to hike further to the waterfall. Unfortunately, it has been very dry and there is no waterfall, in fact, there is very little water in the “run”.After wearing ourselves out on the hike we went to the pool to cool off only to find 10 – 15 guys groping each other in the pool—so that is why the water is so cloudy.

The Barn dance did not get going until nearly 10:30. It appeared everyone was having fun, but in wandering around we discovered that parties happen everywhere you want them to happen.The nighttime skies were mostly clear and beautiful. They do have an observatory under the supervision of the resident astronomer “Doc”. They have specific organized and unorganized events with the equipment to show how amazing and small a part we really play in the universe.

The barn offers the most comprehensive and one of the nicest “play facilities” of anyplace we’ve been! I am glad to see that condoms are being used, but it was disgusting to see used ones left lying on the floor.

Roseland Observatory

There was a complete power failure on the mountaintop on Monday night. Daniel the owner stopped by and chatted for a while. He told us that he originally bought the land in the 1980’s as a private weekend retreat. As his life unfolded he ended up moving from Baltimore and starting the resort in the 90’s. It is amazing how he has grown from a private residence and some outbuildings to the huge complex he now operates.We have enjoyed our stay but are heading back home. We have been gone over two months. I have mixed emotions about heading home—that means this is coming to an end, but it will be good to be off the road for a while too.

Read the next sequence to our blog: “Gay Friendly”