I was born in Dante in 1945 and lived in Cigarette Holler until 1962 when I joined the Army. When I lived there, there were 24 families in that holler. Probably out of that 24, there were 50 kids that lived there. We built a swimming hole at the head of the holler where the water came out of the No. 53 mines, and kids from Bear Waller would come and swim with us. It was busy - very busy place. I loved growing up there. Now, had you gone up the road (which you can), you would've come to the site of our house. Years ago, we put a trailer home in there for my mother. The trailer house is still there and is used as a hunting cabin by my nephew-in-law. There's still one old man who lives up there, Gabby Louis. He's in his 80s and you'll see that he still walks out of Cigarette Holler to Dante and St. Paul. As far as you saying, "Don't go to Cigarette Holler," I feel you're wrong, because it's a wonderful place. When you get to the head of it, you see some of the old homeplaces. Everyone left when the coal mines closed, and many of them did very well in life. I'm one of them. I live in Texas now, have a wonderful family. Thank you for putting this video on.
Paddle Faster, I Hear Banjo's rings a bell for Cigarette Holler. Thanks for showing this one. Really brings back memories. Some of those roads the people that live there know when someone is coming before the people driving do.
I live in Kentucky I’m 65 years old and I’ve seen a lot of “ cigarette hollers” in my life. There are still a few crazy country roads like that here in Boone County Kentucky even. Hidden little roads that you need four-wheel-drive for. I used to take my four-wheel-drive and my kids and We would go out and explore like you guys and to me the most fun was going on up the “ Cigarette Holler” roads. In fact when I was a little girl there was a super big hill one lane twisty turny , no guardrail, And they were dirt and gravel but it was the main road taken down to the river so you can go to the farmers on the river. I used to cry to my mother as we go down the road, and I mean cry, please don’t go over the cliff mommy. Now, that’s how I want to live, up the holler where no one wants to visit and if they do…. I love the country and I love Appalachia. I know Kentucky is not as mountainous as West Virginia but here along the river in Boone County it sure is
We're across the river in Cincy. Love the hills n hollers. My mother's side was from Owsley Co KY, and my father was from Braxton Co WV. Big mountains!
It’s a rough holler and Dante is a rough, partially abandoned old coal town. But that’s what too much of coal country Appalachia here in Virginia looks like. Very cool a UK person is enjoying it as I’m from here and a bucket-list item is visiting and spending a lot of time in the UK.
Beautiful yours Videos in the Appalachia, Natural Beauty and very nice to live there a quiet and natural life. I'm Cuban but I love the Appalachian Mountains,Thanks for the Video. Marlene
You guys are so funny and unpredictable , been through Virginia bout 30 years ago , so very beautiful and the cleanest state that I remember, y,all tickled me. Mike
Imagine going up a holler almost like that one in a UHaul truck! Yep, when my ex and I were moving from Virginia to Ohio we kinda got lost and ended up driving that truck up a narrow holler in WV. It was VERY interesting getting that thing turned around, lol. I remember feeling so relieved to get back on the main road!
I just can’t believe you got cold feet and didn’t go on up to the head of the holler , we enjoyed the video as usual! Poor ole Melody bout had a conipsition !!! Y’all do have a time!! Come see us!
I read a history book about the Norfolk & Western Railroad. During the steam engine years, the train would stop in those remote areas when there was a doctor's call. The doctor got off the train where he would tend to a patient who just emerged from the woods. Once treated, the doctor got back onboard and the train continued on its journey.
I can't believe you gave up that easily. I would have kept driving to see where it goes. Up here where I live the longest distance I've ever had to back up was about a mile (there was a big tree across the road, and no way to turn around or go around the tree).
@@realappalachia I haven't done that kind of driving in ages, since I haven't had the use of my truck in over 10 years. Besides, I'm not going all the way to West Virginia from NJ on a challenge. lol.
I remember having to leave my Uncle Jimmy’s pick up truck on the long pot hole 🕳 filled dirt road that lead into Panther Holler where uncle Monroe’s cabin was. We walked a pleasant great distance through the forest 🌳 and crossed a handmade weather worn wooden bridge over Panther Creek. What an adventure for this city girl. It was more comforting than The Plaza Hotel in New York City. I am so proud of my kin and my Scott Irish, Cherokee bloodline. God bless West Virginia and God bless all Coal Miners.
Places like Cigarette Holler, that is real Appalachia. As long as there's no "No Trespassing" signs or the possibility of getting stuck in the mud or something, I would go. I'm just north of Atlanta though.
I live on a private "orphan road" in eastern West Virginia that's a lot rougher than this, but at least we have wide spots that we can get over for folks coming in the opposite direction.
Hi, that was pretty cool being so secluded like that. I wouldn't mind living in a place like that with all the beautiful mtns n scenery literally all around me. Just as long as the town wasn't too far for food n essentials. Thanks for taking us there !!!
There are a lot of copperheads and rattle snakes up in them there hills. When I grew up in West Virginia we had to always carry a snake bit kit. Luckily never had to use it.
Not great seclusion. High crime and drugs there. And you are definitely a trip from food, essentials, and even gas. I believe there is only one (maybe two) business open in Dante, though it may be closed again. It’s St. Paul or over the county line into Dickenson Co. for shopping.
The problem living secluded like this is that people will come up your road just to see where it goes. Also be careful driving in these roads because you probably have a gun pointed you and you don’t even now. I grew up on a road just like that. Also you are more likely to be robbed out in the middle of nowhere than in a neighborhood because there is no one around to see the crime.
@@willie6185 and moonshiners 30's- 50's as a kid visit my uncle and family. i liked to wonder around, i was told someone one says stop (you stop) and tell them your uncle name, they will make sure you will get back. i recall going and we could cross some bridges and other you had to drive through the water. if you didn't know the area, you would have a problem. i recall writing letter giving date, car color tag number, and more, so wouldn't get shot at. i don't know anyone today, and never go back. been 65-70 years and i know where to go. BUT NO!!!
@@stanleycrowder9747 How old are you Stanley? I am 73 so it has been a few years since I lived back there. I lived in them there hills back in the 1950’s and 60’s.
Jim if you see this my name is WILLARD PHILLIPS we played together as kids. I always stop to see your dad when in VA I now live in Texas thank you for your post on CARLOS I hope you see this
You two remind me of my best friend and myself: we used to take random roads like this all the time before I had my son and we found ourselves in some pretty precarious spots. Now I need to put this place on our road-trip list!
Through the last 2 years of Covid isolation, I've been taking all sorts of backroads just like you two. I have been surprised at how much raw wilderness land there is even in Wood, Jackson, Roane, Wirt, Mason, Putnam and Kanawha counties in WV. You can really get deep in the wilderness and actually find people living out those ridges and in those hollows! Yesterday I went way down on Rt 3 off 119 through Yawkey and Hamlin doing what you guys do too. Enjoy your channel very much! Loved your trip to Butcher Hollow KY.❤️
My dad grew up in Lincoln County, WV and went to high school in West Hamlin. And in my early 20s, I was a case-worker in Mason County and got lost up in alot of hollers like that!
Awww Melody! I had to laugh at the face you made & the "shew!" when y'all stopped to end the video! Now if that had been me & hubby, he probably would have kept going just to see where the road ended no matter how much I begged to go back! Lol! We have found some nice places that way! Cigarette Holler will definitely be one to remember! Y'all make these crazy trips so much fun! As I always say, stay safe & God bless!
@@guidichris born and raised in Charleston area and still live there, accept for 4 year in the Marine Corps 1973 to 1977. As a little boy we lived in Ruth, WV 10 miles south of Charleston. We lived up a "holler" called the Potts Branch of the Trace Fork of Davis Creek. Love playing in the woods and creeks. Miss those days.
I was just wondering about where you live Devil Dog not a marine myself but I did serve in Army 9years while in basic training went up against you in D&C I was impressed but on a lighter note you can't beat being in the country.
My husband's family's cemetery is literally at the top of a small mountain (he lived up there as a kid, as did most of his extended family). There are chimneys everywhere, which used to have his family members' houses there. It is a narrow, very curvy, one lane gravel road with some steep inclines in places. I don't mind going up there in good weather, but it's not a place I'd visit in heavy rain or snow. There is one road leading off the main one, that literally looks it goes straight down, gravel of course. I would be scared to even walk on it but he says there are houses down in that part. Better them than me...
I've driven past so many roads like that and wondered what was at the end of that road. That one looked like it was getting a little sketchy when you guys started backing out of there !
Like the seclusion, lived in the rocky mountains for ten years, hated myself for leaving, been to West Virginia quite a few times, really got to like it, who knows if I don't move there sometime in the future
Wow, guys! I do not feel so bad now. About 28 years ago, I took a notion to take a trip and convinced my turn boyfriend to go. Now, I’m from very low flat lands on the coast. I wanted to go to Blowing Rock, NC. This was clean on the other side of the state. But, it was a Friday in October. We borrowed my step-father’s truck, and rented a tiny quarter-size pull behind camper; and lit out! My boo drove for hours and hours to get us in the vicinity of the town. This being 1993, and long before gps or cell phones, all we had was a paper map-which we later found out was not the version that included streets it only listed towns. So, we stop at a country gas station and ask directions but the locals tried to send us down a dirt logging road that had been blasted with dynamite the night before! We decided to take our chances and drive some more. We saw road signs here and there and thought we had found the spot! We commenced to drive up And up and up some more on the side of this mountain (in the black pitch of coal tar night!) there were several hairpin turns and things were beginning to look a bit dicey! Before we could look for a place to turn around, we are met headlong, bumper to bumper by a truck descending from the mountain top! My poor boyfriend had to back that little Nissan truck and tow behind camper down the entire mountain!!!! It was definitely one of the most terrifying drives I have ever been in! Back on the main road, we decide we will look for a campground and look for the park the next day. I bet we stopped at 10 campgrounds! They had all been closed for winter except one-and it had no bathhouse because it had been winterized! Needless to say, we stayed there anyway. There were MANY other *failures* on this trip but we never found Blowing Rock. I still have hopes to return one day. All these years later, it is a funny story to tell but that weekend was filled with Murphy’s Law!
My son and I took a wrong turn once at 2am after a very, very stressful and very, very bad day and ended up going down a holler like this and had no choice but to go all the way to the end of it in hopes of finding a place to turn around (we finally did). It was... well, we look back on it and laugh about it now.
What cool lady to ride the roads wIth! I grew up country and love to ride the backroads to get to my fishing spots but my wife rather stay in city! LOL! You all be careful up there and keep the adventures coming..
The person that pulled those mobile homes in there probably named it. That would have been hard on me, I like seeing what’s just around the next curve. Glad you got out safely. Thanks
we've got "hollers" just like this one in western North Carolina, only we call them coves. Though I haven't seen any quite as rough looking as this one. I wish you would've gone all the way up, but I also understand the fear.
I live in the next county over from there (Dickenson) on a state maintained road (Meadow Branch) that's a bit over six tenths of a mile long. It's so narrow that two cars can't pass any place from end to end. Luckily there's only two houses on the road so we don't have a lot of traffic jams.
I do not explore the local hollers here in the Ozarks because there’s no telling what I’m liable to happen up on. EDIT: I’m surprised and pleased no one confronted you with a shotgun.
That has got to be the creepiest place I've seen so far. I wished you could have gone all the way up the road tho. Those two houses and trailer, all abandoned. Omg. I love being scared, I love ghosts and the paranormal and all that but I think this might be some place I couldn't go. It looks terrifying in daylight...cant even imagine it at night☠️👻😬😬😬
The electric service line kept going, there was probably a house at the end. Get a 4x4 and get back up Cigarette Holler! …what is a holler? We have entire neighborhoods that connect together on roads that look like hollers. They’re single lane roads with 2-way traffic and they’ve been getting more and more crowded as people are moving out of the cities. Nice video, thanks!
*Sounds crazy, but the best time to really see "what's in the woods" is at night. You can literally see smoke, and lights coming from the mountain tops where there are clearings for clans ( family )*
Been awhile since i watched. Nice to get away from the craziness that has become this world. That a new girlfriend you have there? Blessings to you both!!
Ok, i must comment. My grandparents lived in the first house on the right when you drove up the holler. Last name Coffee, Remarried, My step father John christian, uncle Allen Christian and SKipper and Jack Christian and aunt Linda Christian (Coal miner) . We visited them many time in the late 70's early 80's. the house first one on the left across the street from grandma house our great aunt lived by herself she was around 80 to 90 back then and she would sit infront of her coal burning stove year round chewing tobacco. Further up the holler used to be a small Store when we were kids head up to that store with a quarter and get tons of penny candy. Thanks for taking a video!
I'm a relatively new subscriber and you've probably said where you're originally from. I live near Welch and just by listening to your accents I could probably get close. Really enjoy your videos!
@@realappalachia You probably won't believe it but it's always been a kind of hobby to guess nationalities by last name, accents, and even our local dialects which change around every curve. I guessed you as probably Bluefield-Tazewell and her as Grundy-Hurley! I know that's Buchanan but hey not too bad! Thanks again for the videos.
@@realappalachia yes,,, 35 deg and cloudy today,,, we have kin folk in Wilmington NC ,,, but we always stop off in Beckley WV to rest up overnight ,,,, we just love that town and all the places we stop along the way the people are soo friendly 😊
@@realappalachia It makes me sad how poverty is so widespread in WV,,,, I wish I knew of a local church or preacher that helps folks in need ,,, food Bank or outreach for people in need ,,, I would like to donate on a Regular basis 😊
We took a drive to Bluefield years ago and drove up a steep, steep hill that overlooked the city. Once there I drove down the road a bit to look at the houses and my dad and I both felt a great sense of darkness. We turned around and left and I've always wondered what traumatic thing happened in that place that left a lingering spiritual oppression. Cig holler felt similar to me.
Dan you're being superficial. Don't you ever FEEL a place? I could go by a nursing home with my eyes closed and feel it. I'm a lass of the lower class myself. Nothing to do with run-down places.
I kind of get that vibe too from this holler. Best to listen to intuition in such cases. Don't listen to those who say that you all should have gone on up to the end---they were not there---you all were!
Greetings from a beautiful little Mountain town in Somerset Pa. I moved here from the city of Pittsburgh and my choice where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
Great vid. Enjoyment? Yeah, "can you imagine this with snow." So, I'm in Northern New Hampshire. These roads are common here, we are very rural and lots of snow and cold.
Nope, don't think I would want to live there or even go down that road.I wonder where it ends up at. I'd be thinking all the time what's in those empty houses and what's lurking in the woods. Thanks for sharing your trip though...
Roller coasters are for flatlanders! because if you live in Appalachia you do a roller coaster every day so the ones at the amusement parks really aren’t that thrilling compared
I was laughing a lot. I had a similar problem in Centralia, WV. I found out why people told me it I need a 4-wheel drive on road I was going to. I was driving a full size 1976 V8 LTD Ford at the time and thought I could go anywhere, I was wrong. I had to backup 1/4 mile while trying not to get stuck. A course I'm not too bright as I tried another road and bottomed out.
I had a '70 LTD coupe that would go almost anywhere. I traded it in on a new pickup. about 15 years later, I found another '70 LTD coupe and bought it. The second one wouldn't go as many places as the first, but was still comfortable. The huge difference was that the first one had a positive differential. The furthest I've had to back out was about a mile. I was going up an old logging road in my pickup, and it completely petered out. The limbs on each side of the road met about two feet from each other. It was scary because it was dusk and most of the way there was a wall on one side and a cliff on the other.
I was getting scared for you! Because I went with my Dad to visit my Great Grandmother in Lawrence County, Kentucky. My Dad was accustomed to the narrow dirt roads looking over a drop off but I was not as a young gal from a flat lands FARM in Central Ohio. It is totally different there now. To this day I have problems with such "roads"
And here I thought you just drove up the holler and stayed and then reversed the video tape to make it like you were backing out! I'm betting there's something up Cigarette Holler that y'all found that the rest of us would like but y'all trying to make it look like there ain't nothing there so y'all can keep it just for yourselves! Hell, I bet you two are still up there just a partying!!! ;-) How do you spell "kudzu?"
🤣 You guys! Haha! Don't be a🐔!!! LOL! Seriously, I don't blame you for stopping where you did. You definitely WOULD have run out of "road", or whatever that driving path is called. :-D But thank you so much for trying! Another spot in the Bearwallow area I remember vividly. A dear friend "Larry" and his sister "Joy" lived in that white house just to the left at the beginning of the video. And the greatest resident of Cigarette Holler was, and still IS a dear friend of mine ... Charles Eugene Jennings Jr. ... alias SWEATBEE! The more I watch of your videos, it's like Time Travel back to a simpler, precious time for me. THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this. But be warned; this channel WILL Grow .. by leaps and bounds it'll grow pretty quickly now. Lots of hillbillies like me out here who have moved away, and yearn for a taste and a touch of days gone by. And here you are, serving them up on a regular basis. I am extremely grateful (can you tell? :-D) Stay safe, be careful and keep 'em comin'! ... EDIT ADD-ON. I forgot to comment on your closing comments about Cigarette Holler being your "worst" experience so far. It's interesting how this undesirable and low-rated experience for you guys is a GEM to me, and I'm sure many others. So don't get discouraged, or TOO Scared! Just know that even these very tough excursions for you have Great Value! I'm not sure any outing you guys do will be a "bust". They're all meaningful in their own way. Ok. I think I'm done now. :-D God Bless you two....
Thanks so much, Curtis, your comment was a real hoot. I have learned I need a better vehicle for these travels than a Toyota Corolla lol. Happy New Year to you
I go until the road stops!!! I was just getting into it and you guys back down. Thanks but it was kind of a let down. I understand though. Too bad...hard to tell what great stuff is back there. :)
I was born in Dante in 1945 and lived in Cigarette Holler until 1962 when I joined the Army. When I lived there, there were 24 families in that holler. Probably out of that 24, there were 50 kids that lived there. We built a swimming hole at the head of the holler where the water came out of the No. 53 mines, and kids from Bear Waller would come and swim with us. It was busy - very busy place. I loved growing up there. Now, had you gone up the road (which you can), you would've come to the site of our house. Years ago, we put a trailer home in there for my mother. The trailer house is still there and is used as a hunting cabin by my nephew-in-law. There's still one old man who lives up there, Gabby Louis. He's in his 80s and you'll see that he still walks out of Cigarette Holler to Dante and St. Paul. As far as you saying, "Don't go to Cigarette Holler," I feel you're wrong, because it's a wonderful place. When you get to the head of it, you see some of the old homeplaces. Everyone left when the coal mines closed, and many of them did very well in life. I'm one of them. I live in Texas now, have a wonderful family. Thank you for putting this video on.
This is an amazing childhood and life experience
Thank you! I believe they didn’t go far enough to fairly judge. I want to go there and show the proper cigarette holler as it is today.
Paddle Faster, I Hear Banjo's rings a bell for Cigarette Holler.
Thanks for showing this one. Really brings back memories. Some of those roads the people that live there know when someone is coming before the people driving do.
I was scrolling the comments to make sure someone else had not already mentioned I hear banjo's and paddle faster
I live in Kentucky I’m 65 years old and I’ve seen a lot of “ cigarette hollers” in my life. There are still a few crazy country roads like that here in Boone County Kentucky even. Hidden little roads that you need four-wheel-drive for. I used to take my four-wheel-drive and my kids and We would go out and explore like you guys and to me the most fun was going on up the “ Cigarette Holler” roads. In fact when I was a little girl there was a super big hill one lane twisty turny , no guardrail, And they were dirt and gravel but it was the main road taken down to the river so you can go to the farmers on the river. I used to cry to my mother as we go down the road, and I mean cry, please don’t go over the cliff mommy. Now, that’s how I want to live, up the holler where no one wants to visit and if they do…. I love the country and I love Appalachia. I know Kentucky is not as mountainous as West Virginia but here along the river in Boone County it sure is
We're across the river in Cincy. Love the hills n hollers. My mother's side was from Owsley Co KY, and my father was from Braxton Co WV. Big mountains!
I used to have a friend in Hazard who passed away back in February. Whenever anyone mentions Kentucky I think of her.
You sound like you are not far from Rabbit Hash. LOVE that place!!
Boone CO isn’t part of Appalachia. That’s suburban Cincinnati.
It may be a very nice Holler further up 😂
I’m loving these here in the U.K.
It’s a rough holler and Dante is a rough, partially abandoned old coal town. But that’s what too much of coal country Appalachia here in Virginia looks like. Very cool a UK person is enjoying it as I’m from here and a bucket-list item is visiting and spending a lot of time in the UK.
Beautiful yours Videos in the Appalachia, Natural Beauty and very nice to live there a quiet and natural life. I'm Cuban but I love the Appalachian Mountains,Thanks for the Video. Marlene
You guys are so funny and unpredictable , been through Virginia bout 30 years ago , so very beautiful and the cleanest state that I remember, y,all tickled me. Mike
Imagine going up a holler almost like that one in a UHaul truck! Yep, when my ex and I were moving from Virginia to Ohio we kinda got lost and ended up driving that truck up a narrow holler in WV. It was VERY interesting getting that thing turned around, lol. I remember feeling so relieved to get back on the main road!
imagine coming up and down in a coal truck
I wonder how they moved that mobile home on the left into place?
@@1940limited only God knows
The real reason they all moved away is that people kept driving halfway up the road and backing out. 🤣
Checkmate
hahahahahahaha
I just can’t believe you got cold feet and didn’t go on up to the head of the holler , we enjoyed the video as usual! Poor ole Melody bout had a conipsition !!! Y’all do have a time!! Come see us!
The road didn't seem that bad to me. I'd have kept going.
I would have parked at the bottom and walked the length!
Really enjoy these videos been following for some time, just never comment. Thanks for giving people a peek into the Appalachian hollers.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting, much appreciated
I read a history book about the Norfolk & Western Railroad. During the steam engine years, the train would stop in those remote areas when there was a doctor's call. The doctor got off the train where he would tend to a patient who just emerged from the woods. Once treated, the doctor got back onboard and the train continued on its journey.
I can't believe you gave up that easily. I would have kept driving to see where it goes. Up here where I live the longest distance I've ever had to back up was about a mile (there was a big tree across the road, and no way to turn around or go around the tree).
Go for it homie and send back videos cuz we'd like to see it
This is the kind of place I would love to ride a horse down.
@@realappalachia I haven't done that kind of driving in ages, since I haven't had the use of my truck in over 10 years. Besides, I'm not going all the way to West Virginia from NJ on a challenge. lol.
I remember having to leave my Uncle Jimmy’s pick up truck on the long pot hole 🕳 filled dirt road that lead into Panther Holler where uncle Monroe’s cabin was. We walked a pleasant great distance through the forest 🌳 and crossed a handmade weather worn wooden bridge over Panther Creek. What an adventure for this city girl. It was more comforting than The Plaza Hotel in New York City. I am so proud of my kin and my Scott Irish, Cherokee bloodline. God bless West Virginia and God bless all Coal Miners.
Places like Cigarette Holler, that is real Appalachia. As long as there's no "No Trespassing" signs or the possibility of getting stuck in the mud or something, I would go. I'm just north of Atlanta though.
I live on a private "orphan road" in eastern West Virginia that's a lot rougher than this, but at least we have wide spots that we can get over for folks coming in the opposite direction.
Funny! Glad you got out!!! Would love to see Wolf Creek Indian Village at Bastian VA sometime, near Richland and Tazewell.
i really enjoy your videos. Reminds me of down home....
really need to get back there more often. Thanks guys, I'll definitely keep watching.
Hi, that was pretty cool being so secluded like that. I wouldn't mind living in a place like that with all the beautiful mtns n scenery literally all around me. Just as long as the town wasn't too far for food n essentials. Thanks for taking us there !!!
There are a lot of copperheads and rattle snakes up in them there hills. When I grew up in West Virginia we had to always carry a snake bit kit. Luckily never had to use it.
Not great seclusion. High crime and drugs there. And you are definitely a trip from food, essentials, and even gas. I believe there is only one (maybe two) business open in Dante, though it may be closed again. It’s St. Paul or over the county line into Dickenson Co. for shopping.
The problem living secluded like this is that people will come up your road just to see where it goes. Also be careful driving in these roads because you probably have a gun pointed you and you don’t even now. I grew up on a road just like that. Also you are more likely to be robbed out in the middle of nowhere than in a neighborhood because there is no one around to see the crime.
@@willie6185 and moonshiners 30's- 50's as a kid visit my uncle and family. i liked to wonder around, i was told someone one says stop (you stop) and tell them your uncle name, they will make sure you will get back. i recall going and we could cross some bridges and other you had to drive through the water. if you didn't know the area, you would have a problem. i recall writing letter giving date, car color tag number, and more, so wouldn't get shot at. i don't know anyone today, and never go back. been 65-70 years and i know where to go. BUT NO!!!
@@stanleycrowder9747 How old are you Stanley? I am 73 so it has been a few years since I lived back there. I lived in them there hills back in the 1950’s and 60’s.
You guys are so funny!! Good thing you are a prayin' woman!! Give us a tour of the Little Grand Canyon of the South (Brakes Park) It's gorgeous there.
That’s the kind of holler I like to explore on a motorcycle. The advantage is much easier to turn around if it comes down to it.
I grew up there in the gold house . So many coal mining family's lived there . But old people died and look now. Best memorizes for this old man !
Jim if you see this my name is WILLARD PHILLIPS we played together as kids. I always stop to see your dad when in VA I now live in Texas thank you for your post on CARLOS I hope you see this
You two remind me of my best friend and myself: we used to take random roads like this all the time before I had my son and we found ourselves in some pretty precarious spots. Now I need to put this place on our road-trip list!
All kinds of good hollers around Dante
Through the last 2 years of Covid isolation, I've been taking all sorts of backroads just like you two. I have been surprised at how much raw wilderness land there is even in Wood, Jackson, Roane, Wirt, Mason, Putnam and Kanawha counties in WV. You can really get deep in the wilderness and actually find people living out those ridges and in those hollows! Yesterday I went way down on Rt 3 off 119 through Yawkey and Hamlin doing what you guys do too. Enjoy your channel very much! Loved your trip to Butcher Hollow KY.❤️
Thanks so much for watching and commenting. We are glad to hear from someone who appreciates these backroads like we do
My dad grew up in Lincoln County, WV and went to high school in West Hamlin. And in my early 20s, I was a case-worker in Mason County and got lost up in alot of hollers like that!
found it on Google maps. Nice place to turn around at the end. owner probably likes the road like it is to discourage people driving up the road
Awww Melody! I had to laugh at the face you made & the "shew!" when y'all stopped to end the video! Now if that had been me & hubby, he probably would have kept going just to see where the road ended no matter how much I begged to go back! Lol! We have found some nice places that way! Cigarette Holler will definitely be one to remember! Y'all make these crazy trips so much fun! As I always say, stay safe & God bless!
I just discovered your channel today and I love it. Cant get enough of these great videos!
Thank you so much!
@@realappalachia You're very welcome my friend.
I discovered it about a week ago. I learned what a holler is!
You are getting way back in the hills now. Greetings from a West Virginian.
Born and raised in Welch. Miss the mountains.
@@guidichris born and raised in Charleston area and still live there, accept for 4 year in the Marine Corps 1973 to 1977. As a little boy we lived in Ruth, WV 10 miles south of Charleston. We lived up a "holler" called the Potts Branch of the Trace Fork of Davis Creek. Love playing in the woods and creeks. Miss those days.
@@guidichris a friend of mine lived in McDowell County. He called it "The Free State of Mac-Dowell County." Lol
Welch is a big city where I'm from!
I was just wondering about where you live Devil Dog not a marine myself but I did serve in Army 9years while in basic training went up against you in D&C I was impressed but on a lighter note you can't beat being in the country.
Gosh, there's something comforting about your videos.
Thank you so much
I think trying to get an ambulance up and back down that holler would be a pretty scary proposition, much less a fire truck
Very true
That wasn’t bad. I like exploring, it’s like going back in time at times.
My husband's family's cemetery is literally at the top of a small mountain (he lived up there as a kid, as did most of his extended family). There are chimneys everywhere, which used to have his family members' houses there. It is a narrow, very curvy, one lane gravel road with some steep inclines in places. I don't mind going up there in good weather, but it's not a place I'd visit in heavy rain or snow. There is one road leading off the main one, that literally looks it goes straight down, gravel of course. I would be scared to even walk on it but he says there are houses down in that part. Better them than me...
Shew, sounds rough
Oh my!! I'm so sorry I did laugh at your dilemma, 😁 but on the other hand that made me nervous for ya too! Glad you got back on the main road!
Sounds like you went through all the same things that we did lol
Well, I won't call you chickens, but... I've gone into places a rabbit wouldn't go and I'm still alive. Enjoyed it. Thanks
For some reason a Johnny Horton song came to mind when I read that comment...
@@realappalachia The hounds couldn't catch 'em.
@@teresadalton741 exactly lol
@@realappalachia Thanks to you that song is now stuck in my head, haha!
@@teresadalton741 you're welcome lol
Come on back to McDowell county WV. You can stay a week here exploring many hollers and back roads. Enjoy your videos be safe on these old roads
I live in McDowell too. Super highways compared to Cigarette Holler!lol
Yes! Hagerman Hollar 🤣
I've driven past so many roads like that and wondered what was at the end of that road. That one looked like it was getting a little sketchy when you guys started backing out of there !
You are fired after this one. I was screaming “keep going!” Bah!
Like the seclusion, lived in the rocky mountains for ten years, hated myself for leaving, been to West Virginia quite a few times, really got to like it, who knows if I don't move there sometime in the future
Wow, guys! I do not feel so bad now. About 28 years ago, I took a notion to take a trip and convinced my turn boyfriend to go. Now, I’m from very low flat lands on the coast. I wanted to go to Blowing Rock, NC. This was clean on the other side of the state. But, it was a Friday in October. We borrowed my step-father’s truck, and rented a tiny quarter-size pull behind camper; and lit out! My boo drove for hours and hours to get us in the vicinity of the town. This being 1993, and long before gps or cell phones, all we had was a paper map-which we later found out was not the version that included streets it only listed towns. So, we stop at a country gas station and ask directions but the locals tried to send us down a dirt logging road that had been blasted with dynamite the night before! We decided to take our chances and drive some more. We saw road signs here and there and thought we had found the spot! We commenced to drive up And up and up some more on the side of this mountain (in the black pitch of coal tar night!) there were several hairpin turns and things were beginning to look a bit dicey! Before we could look for a place to turn around, we are met headlong, bumper to bumper by a truck descending from the mountain top! My poor boyfriend had to back that little Nissan truck and tow behind camper down the entire mountain!!!! It was definitely one of the most terrifying drives I have ever been in! Back on the main road, we decide we will look for a campground and look for the park the next day. I bet we stopped at 10 campgrounds! They had all been closed for winter except one-and it had no bathhouse because it had been winterized! Needless to say, we stayed there anyway. There were MANY other *failures* on this trip but we never found Blowing Rock. I still have hopes to return one day. All these years later, it is a funny story to tell but that weekend was filled with Murphy’s Law!
Wow, doesnt sound like you had a lot fun but, man, did you ever make some memories lol
I'm in love with the sound of this woman's voice.
Lol, you and me both! My next girlfriend-if that's even possible-must be from WV! 😉😍
They do make a nice team the way she compliments or adds to everything he says. Too cute! :-)
Mountain girls make the best wives @@plasticinthetree4261 🙂
My son and I took a wrong turn once at 2am after a very, very stressful and very, very bad day and ended up going down a holler like this and had no choice but to go all the way to the end of it in hopes of finding a place to turn around (we finally did). It was... well, we look back on it and laugh about it now.
Some real memories there lol
I would’ve loved it if some guy came out of that shed on the left and started walking towards your car when you started backing up.😂😂
What cool lady to ride the roads wIth! I grew up country and love to ride the backroads to get to my fishing spots but my wife rather stay in city! LOL! You all be careful up there and keep the adventures coming..
The person that pulled those mobile homes in there probably named it. That would have been hard on me, I like seeing what’s just around the next curve. Glad you got out safely. Thanks
I do wonder how they set up the mobile home on the right. Now it's abandoned after all that effort.
we've got "hollers" just like this one in western North Carolina, only we call them coves. Though I haven't seen any quite as rough looking as this one. I wish you would've gone all the way up, but I also understand the fear.
I live in the next county over from there (Dickenson) on a state maintained road (Meadow Branch) that's a bit over six tenths of a mile long. It's so narrow that two cars can't pass any place from end to end. Luckily there's only two houses on the road so we don't have a lot of traffic jams.
Cigarettes Hollar is great went in with Jeep no problem to bad for you not exploring the mountains
What a Handsome couple! Thank you for showing us West Virginia. :)
I do not explore the local hollers here in the Ozarks because there’s no telling what I’m liable to happen up on.
EDIT: I’m surprised and pleased no one confronted you with a shotgun.
We are too lol
I’ve backed out of a few here in the Ozarks with shaking hands.
Very nice video.I enjoyed well.Thank you guys.
That has got to be the creepiest place I've seen so far. I wished you could have gone all the way up the road tho. Those two houses and trailer, all abandoned. Omg. I love being scared, I love ghosts and the paranormal and all that but I think this might be some place I couldn't go. It looks terrifying in daylight...cant even imagine it at night☠️👻😬😬😬
Not abandoned. At least one of them absolutely is occupied by an older guy.
The electric service line kept going, there was probably a house at the end. Get a 4x4 and get back up Cigarette Holler! …what is a holler? We have entire neighborhoods that connect together on roads that look like hollers. They’re single lane roads with 2-way traffic and they’ve been getting more and more crowded as people are moving out of the cities. Nice video, thanks!
*Sounds crazy, but the best time to really see "what's in the woods" is at night. You can literally see smoke, and lights coming from the mountain tops where there are clearings for clans ( family )*
Been awhile since i watched. Nice to get away from the craziness that has become this world. That a new girlfriend you have there? Blessings to you both!!
You guys are the BEST! Makes me want to visit WV real soon. Thanks Again ✋🏼😃
That's why they call it exploring ☺
Ok, i must comment. My grandparents lived in the first house on the right when you drove up the holler. Last name Coffee, Remarried, My step father John christian, uncle Allen Christian and SKipper and Jack Christian and aunt Linda Christian (Coal miner) . We visited them many time in the late 70's early 80's. the house first one on the left across the street from grandma house our great aunt lived by herself she was around 80 to 90 back then and she would sit infront of her coal burning stove year round chewing tobacco. Further up the holler used to be a small Store when we were kids head up to that store with a quarter and get tons of penny candy. Thanks for taking a video!
Keeping it real my friends I wouldn't go up that holler stay safe out there 👍
I'm a relatively new subscriber and you've probably said where you're originally from. I live near Welch and just by listening to your accents I could probably get close. Really enjoy your videos!
Thanks so much, I'm from Tazewell county, Va and she is from Russell county, Va so we are really close by
@@realappalachia You probably won't believe it but it's always been a kind of hobby to guess nationalities by last name, accents, and even our local dialects which change around every curve. I guessed you as probably Bluefield-Tazewell and her as Grundy-Hurley! I know that's Buchanan but hey not too bad! Thanks again for the videos.
@@bradlane3662 I do the same thing, there's distinct differences even between towns just down the road
Jus subscribed,, love you two ,,,, Hello from Michigan 😊
Thanks so much, hope you're well in Michigan
@@realappalachia yes,,, 35 deg and cloudy today,,, we have kin folk in Wilmington NC ,,, but we always stop off in Beckley WV to rest up overnight ,,,, we just love that town and all the places we stop along the way the people are soo friendly 😊
@@midniterider300 I was just in Beckley a couple of weeks ago, love it there too
@@realappalachia It makes me sad how poverty is so widespread in WV,,,, I wish I knew of a local church or preacher that helps folks in need ,,, food Bank or outreach for people in need ,,, I would like to donate on a Regular basis 😊
@@midniterider300 I dont know of any specific ones but McDowell County but you could probably find a good one online for there.
We took a drive to Bluefield years ago and drove up a steep, steep hill that overlooked the city. Once there I drove down the road a bit to look at the houses and my dad and I both felt a great sense of darkness. We turned around and left and I've always wondered what traumatic thing happened in that place that left a lingering spiritual oppression. Cig holler felt similar to me.
I can relate to that feeling
@@danbailey96 don't do that. It takes a special and sensitive spirit to attune to such things.
Dan you're being superficial. Don't you ever FEEL a place? I could go by a nursing home with my eyes closed and feel it. I'm a lass of the lower class myself. Nothing to do with run-down places.
You can feel people too if you pay attention.
I kind of get that vibe too from this holler. Best to listen to intuition in such cases. Don't listen to those who say that you all should have gone on up to the end---they were not there---you all were!
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 y’all reacted the same as I would. You too are a hoot. Lol.
Thank you so much
You all get bonus points for that one! I sure look forward to your videos.
Just imagine turning around on a big motorcycle on that road or path or whatever it was.👍🇨🇦
Fascinating!!! Thanks for sharing that!!
im in glade springs va i would like to go there just to see if i could make it to the end and then back down sounds fun
I've been in that situation a time or two. I was wondering how far you was going to take your car up there. Take care.
Was REALLY regretting that I only have my Corolla now instead of my jeep or truck
It looks like an old railroad bed called a switchback.
Never heard of a holler until today, love from England 😘🇬🇧
Greetings from a beautiful little Mountain town in Somerset Pa. I moved here from the city of Pittsburgh and my choice where I wanted to spend the rest of my life.
You can't call it least favorite if you don't get into it. I couldn't imagine turning around so soon.
Viewership is picking up for your channel. Might have to start heading up 81 to get some PA and NY haunted towns
We were just talking tonight about how great it'd be to go to PA
What about the guy that delivered the mobile home up there on the right?
wish you had a drone to go to the very end of Cigarette Holler!! wonder how it ends?
My dad grew up in Cigarette Holler
I knew Dan Glass and his kids. Hope you get this I also grew up in Cigarette Holler. say hello to Everone From Willard Phillips now in Temple Texas
I really wanted to see what was at the end of the road. What's that plant on the left side?
Whatever...I'd love to live in a place like that!
Thanks for that! The creepy ones are fun to watch.
Great vid. Enjoyment? Yeah, "can you imagine this with snow." So, I'm in Northern New Hampshire. These roads are common here, we are very rural and lots of snow and cold.
Nope, don't think I would want to live there or even go down that road.I wonder where it ends up at. I'd be thinking all the time what's in those empty houses and what's lurking in the woods. Thanks for sharing your trip though...
I googled it and there looks like a farm at the end of the holler.
You should of went to end of it,I'd like to see what all was back there. Love your videos!
Roller coasters are for flatlanders! because if you live in Appalachia you do a roller coaster every day so the ones at the amusement parks really aren’t that thrilling compared
I was laughing a lot. I had a similar problem in Centralia, WV. I found out why people told me it I need a 4-wheel drive on road I was going to. I was driving a full size 1976 V8 LTD Ford at the time and thought I could go anywhere, I was wrong. I had to backup 1/4 mile while trying not to get stuck. A course I'm not too bright as I tried another road and bottomed out.
I have a little Corolla and it was dragging on this road so I feel your pain lol
I had a '70 LTD coupe that would go almost anywhere. I traded it in on a new pickup. about 15 years later, I found another '70 LTD coupe and bought it. The second one wouldn't go as many places as the first, but was still comfortable. The huge difference was that the first one had a positive differential. The furthest I've had to back out was about a mile. I was going up an old logging road in my pickup, and it completely petered out. The limbs on each side of the road met about two feet from each other. It was scary because it was dusk and most of the way there was a wall on one side and a cliff on the other.
I love you guys. That was some excellent driving skills! I'm in NC and we would almost call that road a pig path. Lol
Kind of dug it pretty cool
I was getting scared for you! Because I went with my Dad to visit my Great Grandmother in Lawrence County, Kentucky. My Dad was accustomed to the narrow dirt roads looking over a drop off but I was not as a young gal from a flat lands FARM in Central Ohio. It is totally different there now. To this day I have problems with such "roads"
I can definitely see why
So this is where you are building your new home then ??
man,ya'll be careful. go up doesn't mean your coming out. looking for the next
I would like to ride my ebike up there. I can go about 50 miles on a charge. What do you think?
And here I thought you just drove up the holler and stayed and then reversed the video tape to make it like you were backing out! I'm betting there's something up Cigarette Holler that y'all found that the rest of us would like but y'all trying to make it look like there ain't nothing there so y'all can keep it just for yourselves! Hell, I bet you two are still up there just a partying!!! ;-) How do you spell "kudzu?"
What do people do for a living in the remote hollows?
My father always used to say don't, drive in anywhere you can't back out of 😎👍
That's just about exactly what crossed my mind when I hit the reverse
I love all of them. Makes me feel at home
It was interesting to me.
I agree with Mary! Cool being secluded!! You are on another thirdary road. Be careful and toot your horn going around a curve.
Lol this is so funny, I travel Dante mountain all the time. Just be glad there isn't any snow.
I have relatives in Big Stone Gap, so I've been through Dante a few times, but don't remember Cigarette Holler.
How much to buy cigarette holler
Omg 🤣 that was scary! Lol I’m glad you guys turned around!! 👍🏼 I’m from Ohio on the border of West Virginia, been to some of those places lol 😂
Sounds like you know the deal lol
🤣 You guys! Haha! Don't be a🐔!!! LOL! Seriously, I don't blame you for stopping where you did. You definitely WOULD have run out of "road", or whatever that driving path is called. :-D But thank you so much for trying! Another spot in the Bearwallow area I remember vividly. A dear friend "Larry" and his sister "Joy" lived in that white house just to the left at the beginning of the video. And the greatest resident of Cigarette Holler was, and still IS a dear friend of mine ... Charles Eugene Jennings Jr. ... alias SWEATBEE! The more I watch of your videos, it's like Time Travel back to a simpler, precious time for me. THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this. But be warned; this channel WILL Grow .. by leaps and bounds it'll grow pretty quickly now. Lots of hillbillies like me out here who have moved away, and yearn for a taste and a touch of days gone by. And here you are, serving them up on a regular basis. I am extremely grateful (can you tell? :-D) Stay safe, be careful and keep 'em comin'! ... EDIT ADD-ON. I forgot to comment on your closing comments about Cigarette Holler being your "worst" experience so far. It's interesting how this undesirable and low-rated experience for you guys is a GEM to me, and I'm sure many others. So don't get discouraged, or TOO Scared! Just know that even these very tough excursions for you have Great Value! I'm not sure any outing you guys do will be a "bust". They're all meaningful in their own way. Ok. I think I'm done now. :-D God Bless you two....
Thanks so much, Curtis, your comment was a real hoot. I have learned I need a better vehicle for these travels than a Toyota Corolla lol. Happy New Year to you
I go until the road stops!!! I was just getting into it and you guys back down. Thanks but it was kind of a let down. I understand though. Too bad...hard to tell what great stuff is back there. :)
I hope you're driving something better than a bottom dragging Toyota corolla when you do it...
Did you hear any banjo music?
I'd have gone all the way into the end of the dirt road.