Explore the best rated trails in Bartow, WV, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Rocky Point Trail and Red Creek Trail . With more than 34 trails covering 331 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
We love the Jackson River Trail and ride it several times a year - yesterday was the first for this year. The trail extension was delayed by a terrible mudslide, but has now been beautifully completed two+ miles north into Bath County. I wish Bath County would complete the trail all the way into Hot Springs! It would rival the Creeper Trail for sure. This trail is the best maintained trail we've ridden. There had been inches of rain the day before but there were no puddles, no debris - the trail was completely clear. The Parks and Recreation guys of Covington keep it nicely mowed and the restrooms are amazingly clean. We highly recommend this rail trail. And if you want a great place to eat afterward, try Trani's Grille! Great food!
My wife and I rode this trail 4/15/2025. Great surface, very scenic and NOT busy during the week. Signage was great as we're trailheads
Most of this trail consists of a wide grassy median with two narrow gravel ruts on either side. This is great for bicycles but recumbent trikes, or anything with more than two wheels, will be forced to ride with at least one wheel up on the grass making for a slow rough ride. I rode almost the entire trail over two days on my trike, from mile marker 25 to 77, and it is a beautiful trail -- for bicycles. Short sections that are in full shade in deep forest are pure crushed stone, no grass. This makes it clear that when the trail was originally constructed it did not have a grassy median; the grassy median is due to bad maintenance. Politicians love to attend ribbon cutting ceremonies for new infrastructure, and the press will cover new stuff, but who ever read about politicians attending a ceremony to celebrate routine annual maintenance? Build and neglect.
My wife and I rode the Jackson River Scenic Trail over two days in late summer, Intervale to Smith Bridge the first day and Smith Bridge to the end on the second. We thoroughly enjoyed this trail. The trail was shady, scenic and peaceful. It is one of the widest, flattest and smoothest rail-trails I've ever been on, perfect for kids or casual riders who don't like incessant bumps or grinding grades. The trail is well equipped with picnic areas and restrooms. (No interpretive signage however; it would be a nice upgrade to showcase the human and natural history of the area.) Two of the best sights are located just off the trail. A small sign will direct you to a suspension footbridge over the river. It's well worth the detour to bounce over the bridge. (A sign warns you not to bounce, but just walking across the thing sets it into motion!) Just below the Smith Bridge parking area is the decommissioned Smith Bridge, open to foot traffic only. It offers big views of the river. A couple of caveats: 1) While the trail traces the river for most of its length, there are no places to get wet directly on the trail. A public access area just off the trail at Smith Bridge has a shallow area perfect for getting wet. 2) The lower portion of the trail is located a few miles from a huge paper mill. Depending on weather conditions, you may smell it.
Some friends and I rode the entire Greenbrier River Trail as part of a four-day 180-mile bike tour. (The entire route is part of Adventure Cycling's Short Routes collection at https://ridewithgps.com/routes/46271108)
On the Greenbrier River Trail, you're enfolded by green mountains, flowing water, wildflowers, solitude, and lots of places to get wet. And quiet! The near-total lack of cell coverage meant no dinging intrusions from the "real world". So relaxing to disconnect and reconnect!
There is a remote feel to this trail, but you’re never far from camping or water. The primitive campsites along the trail are free and first-come first-served. The campsite at Mile 28.5 was an especially nice place to swim and gather around a campfire. There is also an adjacent Hipcamp and Watoga State Park for those who want a hot shower.
Cass, a former lumber boomtown, has a steam excursion train a small museum for rail buffs. Marlinton offers a respite to trail food, including a combination bike shop-café. Jack Horner's Corner, just off the trail in Seebert, has good food and ice cream.
Several things set this trail apart: the feel of isolation, the abundant camping options and the trailside displays showcasing the human and natural history of the Greenbrier valley.
Beautiful scenic trail !! I rode it in entirety over two days doing out & backs from near Seebert. I particularly enjoyed the remoteness and the beautiful river views. I’ll definitely revisit this trail on a regular annual basis. My drive to get there was 6 1/2 hours, but getting to drive through the Monongahela National Forest to get there was a bonus. I saw bears, deer, all sorts of birds and other wildlife along the way.
Some lovely scenery and wildlife, especially wetland species. Definitely a wilder feel than many. There are several issues.
The first is the trail surface. While impediments like downed trees are obviously taken care of, the trail surface itself doesn’t look to have been renewed since the trail was first built. The surface varies from fine gravel to thick gravel to mud to grass. Grass is the dominant surface. There are places where horse hoof and ATV tire prints have hardened into speed reduction bumps, which are jarring. Don’t assume you will be able to maintain a speed similar to other rail trails. Having completed the trail from Glady to Durbin, we ended up riding the gravel road back to our vehicle in Glady - more climbing, but a good trade off. For reference, we’re running 2.0” (50mm) and 2.35” tires on rigid steel framed bikes.
The second issue is lack of amenities. There are no obvious campsites, no pit toilets, no wells. This undeveloped aspect will likely appeal to some even if the trail surface doesn’t. Probably due to the undeveloped nature of the trail, and the fact that we rode on weekdays, we saw no other trail users this trip.
The last issue is connectivity. Currently, combining this trail with the nearby Greenbrier River Trail means a road ride of at least 16 miles. Bridge the gap with trail and make improvements to the West Fork and you’d have a trail system of approximately 118 miles long, which would bring many more riders to the area.
I've been checking some of the local urban trails and this walk was next on the list. Some of the urban trails seem to push the concept of a rail trail but at least this trail does parallel an active railroad (the Cowen Subdivision). The trail is entirely paved and consists of two large loops that go around various balls fields. It does parallel the Buckhannon River a good bit and Buckhannon Riverwalk was the only name I saw listed anywhere. There is a spur that crosses the railroad and parallels it for a ways. It's a pleasant walk but unless you're in the area I wouldn't go out of my way for it.
Hiked this trail in three days. Very scenic and peaceful. A lot of history to take in and enjoy.
Did this over 2 days stopping to camp in Watoga State Park. I don’t recommend paying for a river view camp site because we did and couldn’t see the river. We went from Cass to Lewisburg. Fairly well maintained trail but a few rougher patches and narrow lanes. Mostly shaded in Sept which was nice in the heat. Mostly downhill this direction but on gravel somehow it always feel like uphill. The tunnels and bridges were a fun part of this ride. Water available on the trail was cool and tasted great. My filter failed so this was a pleasant surprise.
We rode the portion of the trail for 20 miles from Marlinton up toward Cass for a 40 mile round trip. Trail riding doesn’t get much better than this. The surface was mostly double track crushed gravel except for about a mile of asphalt leaving Marlinton. It was in excellent condition with no rocks, ruts or washed out areas. North of the tunnel the brush along the trail could use some trimming. During this morning ride on a beautiful day we encountered only 13 cyclists (1 on an e-bike), no walkers and 2 deer. No other wildlife. Beautiful scenic, forested route you would expect following a river through West Virginia. Only one restroom facility and no food or drinks. Now one of our favorite trails.
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