For those headed for the Cranberry Highlands of West Virginia, take heed that scenic WV-55 was extended along the Gauley River for a reason. The overlook at Crupperneck Bend off of WV-20 (multiplexed with WV-55) rises little more than 300 feet over the Gauley River, but it is just enough to take in the entire 180-degree loop in the river. If you stay on WV-39 (which is scenic in its own right), you miss this spectacular part of West Virginia altogether.
Before WV-55 was extended in 1982, most West Virginians chose this scenic route using former WV-43 from Muddlety to Craigsville and then WV-20 back down to get back to WV-39 at Fenwick if the weather was good. It's my understanding that the traffic counts remained higher on this route than WV-39 itself, triggering the DOH to come up with scheme to for a scenic through route. Not sure if extending WV-55 made any lick of sense, but it got the point across to tourists that this is an optional route.