By mtestman in August, 2011
We (wife and I) rode this in two sections. We are fairly new to biking and are keeping rides under 25 miles per day at a slow under 7-10 mph pace at this point. Our first ride was from Shinnston going north. This was a great ride with a lot of awesome scenery. We rode a few miles past Worthington which had a very nice park to stop and rest at. The next day we started in Fairmont at the Mary Lou Retton Park. It was difficult to pick up the trail and it appears that the trail shown on trailLink that loops around Fairmont is not really a "Rail to Trail" and mostly city streets with typical WV hills .. not fun .. at least for us. Once we got off the city street (Norway Rd) that leads to the actual trail it was great. We road south past Monongah to near our turnaround spot from the day before. On our way back, we stayed on the rail trail and went just past the spot (about a half mile beyond) where we got off Norway Rd onto the rail trail. We followed that to the Rail bridge which crosses the West Fork. Very Picture worthy!
Advice: Ride this great trail, but avoid Mary Lou Retton park and Norway Road. Use Shinstonn, Worthingon, or Monongah to get on the trail. Also, do ride all the way to the Rail Bridge in Fairmont .. just not through the city streets in Fairmont.
By wvnurse1 in June, 2011
This trail is wonderful and I have enjoyed it several times....however....I took my son (8) to check out the Mary Lou Retton Youth Park Entrance. We not only didn't ride from that point, we locked the doors as we drove by! There where several people in the street (and they would not move to let the car pass at first). A young man stopped his car in front of us and talked to another youth for over 5 minutes blocking the one lane road. When we finally did find the entrance there were 5 shirtless young men hanging out by the gait blocking it. My son said "please don't stop here".
Definitely try out this trail but NOT at this entrance!
By lostwater in March, 2011
Rode this trail in 1998 from Durbin to Gladys. Camped at the Durbin town park. This is a superd trail, very beautiful, very private. The river is an ever present feature and impressive in its own right. The Gladys end had absolutely no services. Rode back on the Forest Service road and only saw one vehicle. Very highly recommended!!