By IronLenny on September 15, 2008
Day two of our Morgantown rail trail adventure had my wife and I cycling the Decker Creek Trail. We started at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park. It is 19 miles to the end with a gradual uphill slope the you don't notice much until you're on the way back and are sailing along at 15 mph. The highlight of the trip was the stop at Dave's Snack Shack which is located right beside the trail at MP 9. It broke up the ride and made my wife happy as right acoss the trail Dave has several chairs, a bench and a glider set up under a roofed shelter. His place was stocked with snacks of all sorts including ice cream and m,any different drink products. This turned out to be very welcome as the trail doesn't have any convenience stores or towns close by. One interesting thing he mentioned was that if his shack isn't open he has a doorbell there that rings down at his house just off the trail and he'll come out to serve the cyclists needs. We had a nice rest there and several other cyclists came by and most of them knew Dave.
The trail condition is excellent with a nice crushed stone surface that makes for easy pedaling even with skinny tires. The trail is very senic as you're cycling along a creek almost all the time. There was lots of noise though as large gravel trucks kept up a steady pace along nearby Hwy 7 until we got past the Greer Quarry around MP 10. At the end again there are plans to extend the trail which can only make it better. We rode steady going back with only a quick stop again at Dave's as we were getting tired. Totals for the day were 38 miles ridden with 5.0 hrs of seat time.
By Greg Wells on October 20, 2006
"My girlfriend and I just did the stretch from Morgantown up to mile marker #9 where Dave's Snack Shop is located. Dave grew up in the nearby village of Greer and had lots of great history and stories to share. His little snack shop along the trail is a great slice of Americana. He also owns a nearby, long-abandoned, century-old chapel that is easily accesible for viewing right off of the trail. There's also an old, small church and cemetary around mile 7. As for the ride, it was a fun and relatively easy climb up to just about the halfway mark. We spotted several hawks and a hedgehog, which didn't seem to mind us at all. You also pass a farm around mile 6 with plenty of horses and cows. The water was always nearby and the fall WVA weather couldn't have been nicer. We would've went further, but we're on a tight schedule. We'll definitely return to do the full trail and hopefully sample some of the others out of Morgantown. The ride down was very swift as we coasted and lightly peddled around 15-18 mph. Highly recommended."
By Lyle Clugg on October 30, 2005
"I couldn't find the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park on any maps I had, and we didn't see it when we passed by (it is a very narrow strip of land), so we turned south on Hwy 7 and followed it a mile or so until we saw the trail and another park on our right. From the park, we rode up the creek to mile 15, just past the coke ovens near Masontown, and then returned on an easy ride back down the hill into Morgantown.
When we returned, we continued on to the riverfront park. Once there, it was hard to see how we missed it (it is near the intersection of Garrett St. and Don Knotts Blvd, about 3 blocks SW of the Hwy 19 bridge.)
The trail itself is paved in town, then changes to an excellent crushed gravel surface for the rest of the journey. You pass through but are disconnected from the town for a few miles, then the creek dominates your thoughts as you continue past waterfalls and rapids and through beautiful woods. We turned around at mile marker 15, just past the unique abandonded coke ovens. Although it was uphill most of the first 15 miles, it is an easy grade. It just sets you up for a wonderful return."