Morgantown's identity is inseparable from West Virginia University. The downtown campus is a handsome collection of late-Victorian brick buildings centered on Woodburn Circle, while the separate Evansdale campus upriver handles engineering, agriculture, and the health sciences. Between them, the city's unusual PRT system runs on elevated guideways — a working relic of 1970s transit experimentation that still carries students and curious visitors daily.
The Monongahela River waterfront anchors the south edge of downtown, and the preserved Old Stone House near the river is one of the oldest standing structures in the state. On fall Saturdays, everything stops for WVU football — game days are a civic spectacle worth experiencing even for those with no interest in American football.
Coopers Rock State Forest is the outdoors escape closest to the city, a 13-mile drive east on I-68 with dramatic canyon views and solid rock climbing.