In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
I've said many times that the road has always been my 'unwinding' place, and probably always will be. When I can't take a long road trip, the local country roads outside of town do just fine. For more than 12 years, I've been escaping to the back roads around Charleston for a few hours at least once a week - both during the day, in the middle of the night, or whenever I get the urge. Climbing gas prices have made the cost of this activity a little more expensive lately, but not enough for me to stop doing it. It's an important part of how I keep my sanity, so I'll keep spending the money at the pump. I've explored and driven on every through-route within a 30 mile radius of town, but two regions have become my favorites: the areas to the north and to the southwest of town. These areas, in my opinion, have the best combination of scenery and lighter traffic than other parts do.
These roads are the first that I frequented when I moved to Charleston. There are plenty of through roads to create a good variety of routes - and since they are mostly well south of the Kanawha Valley, you'll usually not have to deal with traffic in front of or behind you. The Coal River region is one of my favorite places in the Charleston area, with great landscapes and interesting roads. Some of the good driving routes in this area include:
Coal River Road - St. Albans, Tornado, Alum Creek
Ferrell Road & Pennsylvania Avenue - Tornado to St. Albans
Lincoln Drive & Upper Falls Road - Spring Hill to Tornado
Rabel Mountain Road - Alum Creek to Ruthdale
Poplar Fork Road - Scott Depot to Coal Mountain
Browns Creek Road - Coal Mountain to Tornado
Chestnut Road - Spring Hill to Ruthdale
Davis Creek Road - Southridge to Loudondale
Loudon Heights Road - Loudondale to Charleston
South Park Road - Loudondale to Kanawha City
Greenview Road - Alum Creek to Upper Falls Road
Scary Creek Road & Hedrick Road - Scary to Scott Depot
In the past few years, I've been spending a lot of time on the back roads north of town. The through roads and variety of routes are a little lesser in number, but are longer than in the southwestern areas. Traffic is also very light on these routes, allowing you to have the roads all to yourself. Most of these routes intersect I-77 and I-79, allowing for a quick return trip if time is at a premium. Some of the good driving routes in this area include:
Cooper's Creek Road & Five Mile Fork Road - Big Chimney to Tupper's Creek/I-77
Edens Fork Road - Big Chimney to I-77
Crestwood Road - Elk Hills
Little Sandy Creek Road - Big Chimney to Elkview
Wills Creek Road & Jordan Creek Road - Elkview to Falling Rock
Indian Creek Road & Pinch Road - Big Chimney to Elkview
Aaron's Fork Road & Pocatalico River Road - Elkview to Sissonville/I-77
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From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
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I've said many times that the road has always been my 'unwinding' place, and probably always will be. When I can't take a long road trip, the local country roads outside of town do just fine. For more than 12 years, I've been escaping to the back roads around Charleston for a few hours at least once a week - both during the day, in the middle of the night, or whenever I get the urge. Climbing gas prices have made the cost of this activity a little more expensive lately, but not enough for me to stop doing it. It's an important part of how I keep my sanity, so I'll keep spending the money at the pump. I've explored and driven on every through-route within a 30 mile radius of town, but two regions have become my favorites: the areas to the north and to the southwest of town. These areas, in my opinion, have the best combination of scenery and lighter traffic than other parts do.
