By plant in August, 2011
Friday, December 11, 2009
Bike And Hike Trail Closed
WEST VIRGINIA .... Clarksburg
Harrison County officials have indefinitely closed the Northern Harrison County Bike and Hike Trail after lead and and other contaminants were discovered. Contamination levels haven't been determined, but a Maryland engineering firm that designed the trail will conduct further tests for the county. The entrance of the trail, which runs 7 miles between North View and Spelter, is located on a former glass plant site, and the state Department of Environmental Protection says contaminants found on the trail include lead and arsenic.
By neilbucklew in July, 2010
My wife and I had our first [and last] visit to this trail last week. It is by far the worst experience we have had on any trail listed on the TrailLink.com system. The introduction was iffy given the poor parking arrangement at the trailhead. The trail itself was in poor physical condition. It was eroded and overgrown in many places. Much of it is a black coal dust base and we were quite dirty when we finished. There were major puddles that we had to ride through. There were short sections with large stones as the base and we had to walk our bikes around them. We rode for at least 8 miles roundtrip and saw only two benches and each was unusable. There were no mile markers or maps. We saw no other bikers but did see two 4-wheelers and one car using the trail. The views were unattractive and the creek the trail followed was full of old tires and litter. The trail itself had no trash cans and there was plenty of litter to see.
We are relatively new weekend bikers and have been using the TrailLink.com website to identify trails within driving distance of our home in Morgantown. We have been excited by our trips to at least 6 sites between Cumberland and Ohiopyle and on the Mon River. I strongly urge the Harrison County Park system to discontinue the trail and its use of their name OR make an investment in a major upgrade.