Lodge reopens at Cacapon Park

Cacapon State Park Lodge reopened over the weekend after workers and exterminators fought a bed bug infestation.

Health Department Administrator Lee Fowler said he was told by Park Superintendent Tom Ambrose that the rooms in the main lodge were shut down from Monday, July 19 through Thursday, July 22 for fumigation.

The problem surfaced after a recent tour group that had previously stayed in a New York City hotel stayed at the lodge, Fowler said.

Fowler inspected the lodge rooms on Friday, July 23 using a black light to help look for signs of the parasites.

“We did a thorough search of everything in the rooms. We saw no evidence of live bed bugs,” Fowler said.

“Bed bugs have become a very large national and international problem over the last 10 years as more visitors are moving around from state to state and from country to country. Some of the best hotels in the country have had the problem recently,” Fowler said.