Ok, I love John Denver, and I am just north of the state of West Virginia. He wasn't talking about the state of West Virginia. He is talking about Western Virginia if I have my geography correct. The Shenendoah isn't in WEST Virginia if I remember correctly. I have never been in that part of Virginia.
Any Virginians out there? And I'm not talking Jame Drury. (Did I just date my self with that reference?)
Kim
My inquiring mind just had to know the answer. 
This is what wikipedia had to say:
Shenandoah Mountain is a mountain ridge, approximately 73 miles (117 km) long, that extends from northern
Bath County, Virginia to southern
Hardy County, West Virginia. Along the way, it defines the borders between
Highland and
Augusta Counties, Virginia and between
Pendleton County, West Virginia and
Rockingham County, Virginia. It forms part of the western margin of the
Shenandoah Valley and is part of the easternmost
Allegheny Mountains of the
Appalachian Mountain Range. It lies almost entirely within the
George Washington National Forest.
Shenandoah Mountain's highest peaks are Reddish Knob (Virginia/West Virginia; 4397/1340 m), Flagpole Knob (Virginia; 4383/1336 m), and Bald Knob (Virginia; 3680/1122 m).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_Mountain
Take Me Home, Country Roads
Denver was heading the bill in December 1970 at
Washington, D.C. folk club The Cellar Door; Danoff and Nivert opened for him as a duo named Fat City. After the post-Christmas re-opening night (the booking was for two weeks), the three headed back to their place for an impromptu jam. On the way, Denver's left thumb was broken in an automobile accident. He was taken to the hospital, where a splint was applied. By the time they got back to the house, he was, in his own words, "wired, you know".
Danoff and Nivert then told him about a song that they had been working on for about a month. Inspiration had come while driving to a family reunion of Nivert's relatives in nearby
Maryland. To pass the time en route, Danoff had made up a ballad about the little winding roads they were taking. Later, he changed the story to fit that of an artist friend, who used to write to him about the splendors of the
West Virginia countryside. Contrary to popular belief, there was no "risque" verse that was edited out.
They sang the song for Denver and as he recalled, "I flipped." The three stayed up until 6:00 a.m., changing words and moving lines around. When they finished, John announced that the song had to go on his next album.
The song was premiered
December 30,
1970, during an encore of Denver's set, the singers reading the words from a folded piece of paper. This resulted in a five-minute ovation, one of the longest in Cellar Door history. They recorded it in
New York City in January 1971.
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" appeared on the LP
Poems, Prayers, and Promises and was released as a 45 in the spring of 1971. It broke nationally in mid-April, but moved up the charts very slowly. After several weeks, RCA called John and told him that they were giving up on the single. His response: "No! Keep working on it!" They did, and on August 18 it was certified a million-seller.
Reception in West Virginia
The popularity of the song has inspired resolutions in the
West Virginia House of Delegates and
Senate to change the state song of West Virginia to "Take Me Home, Country Roads". So far, such resolutions have not carried, due to the fact that Denver occasionally sang the lyrics as "Take me home to the place where I belong Colorado, take me home Country roads."
According to a radio interview with Nivert, the road that inspired the song is nowhere near the state. It is a road close to her native Washington, D.C., in nearby
Montgomery County, Maryland, where Denver often visited.
Clopper Road still exists today, but the landscape has changed drastically from the bucolic landscape that once surrounded it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Me_Home,_Country_Roads
for your lovely rendition of Country Roads (it's plural)! 
Julie. All of the John Denver fans were singing along.
