Find the top rated dog walking trails in Clarksburg, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_16901_st.jpg)
_181117_st.jpg)
I started a hike at Hendricks and traveled north. The trail opens into a great hiking trail after a mile or so of road. There are great waterfalls and vistas along the way. The trip from Douglas to Thomas was my least favorite, not great trail and views, perfectly fine for bikers, but slow going on foot. Then finished with a bite at the Farm Up Table before heading back down to Hendricks.
I first rode this trail around 25 years ago and at the time thought it was the worst railtrail I had ever ridden and in my mind it occupied that spot from then on. I went back to see if the trail was any better after about 25 years since I had heard of improvements and there weren’t any recent TrailLink reviews. Sadly it wasn’t better and may be worse.
When I first rode it around 1996 much of the trail was being used by ATVs and in bad shape. Additionally the trail dead-ended at a wire fence near Spelter because of ground contamination. The gate is now gone and you can ride through to County Rt 19/33 now.
I started at the Clarksburg end and right away there is no formal parking for the trailhead. You just park along the road by an abandoned glass factory. There is new signage and at the beginning the trail is paved which it was not years ago. The pavement only lasts for 1/4 mile though and then turns to gravel. There are also some ditches and steel plates from apparent ditching work. This gravel is okay but not great.
After this the gravel changed to 1” size and was progressively harder to ride. The scenery would have been nice if I could have looked a bit but the trail was constantly challenging. At 3.5 miles the bottom fell out. At this point the trail turned to what can only be called an offroad track. The gravel was gone thankfully and the surface smooth, when it didn’t consist of huge mud holes and some tire tracks. This “trail” is obviously being used by vehicles of all types and I figured out why later. For the next 3 miles you constantly are trying to avoid this mud and water and hitting occasionally rocky areas. One section about a 100 ft long was filled with 4” gravel. The last half mile or so before Spelter is gravel again and halfway decent but not great.
As I stopped at the end for a break before going back I realized a huge issue with this trail - not a single gate was closed on it. You could drive it with the appropriate vehicle end-to-end. In fact, on the way back I passed an ATV and a pickup truck using it.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone go to ride this trail - it’s just not worth it when there are better options nearby such as the West Fork River Trail or the Mon River and Deckers Creek trails in Morgantown.
Based on other reviews, i decided to go to main parking lot where the playground is located to try to prevent blocked entrances or stairways. Getting to that main parking lot was not the best drive. It was kinda creepy and there was only 1 other car beside me. But once I got to the trail, it was fine. Very quiet given there was only 2 of us out there at the time. From the beginning of the trail, left side is 3.5 miles and right side is the other.9 miles. Back and forth it is 9 miles Views were great.
Oct 2021. Trail in excellent condition. Views of the trail itself is great. Mostly uphill going east/south. Not bad. Easy to follow. Very impressive. Mature Appalachian forest turns to spacious farm land then a little reminder of the business world on both ends. No dogs or distractions. Several road crossings so keep the kids close. Cool watching the creek fall away from the rising rail trail. Then 10 miles later it comes back to greet you. Ye
October 2021. Trail surface in perfect condition. I did a 30 mile out and back as I wasn’t sure if me and the battery could make the 48 round trip to Parsons from Elkins. Lots of shade and a few views of fields and wind turbines. Lot of noise from the bordering highway.
10/02/2021 Took new ebike from Parsons to Thomas and back today. Trail in working order. Rough gravel. First time and was I amazed at the scenery, the massive trees, water falls, big views. One thing no one has mentioned is the constant roar of the river ask you ascend and decend the mountain. Always with you. I really look forward to riding it again some day.
I really loved running on this well marked trail. There were many people along the way they smiled and waved very peaceful ran through words at times. I will be back. There’s also really good parking areas all around it.
Great trail, as described with more words by others.
Just one thing: When you head down from Thomas and you get to the sewage plant, make sure you hook a right at the end of the fence that surrounds the plant. It's easy to miss the actual entry into the trail. If you miss the entrance, you ride through some river-bottom neighborhoods and get peoples dogs excited.
It's definitely mountainbike territory once you get past the forest service gate. Pretty coarse gravel and the occasional branches across the path. Also, a few small washouts that are well marked.
And while it's a 'rail trail', the grade is a bit steeper than you will find on many other rail trails. During the coal hauling days, they would add 6 locomotives to the train just to get the empty hopper cars up the hill. Nothing wrong with it, just something you need to anticipate for the way back up.
We started our ride at the Douglass road crossing where there is a sizeable parking area and headed north. The first section is in fairly decent shape with a crushed gravel base. There is a washout fairly soon after starting but easily rideable with mountain bikes. Several historic markers along the way. Soon you reach a nicely decked bridge over the North Fork of the Blackwater River and pass a sewage treatment plant. From here on the trail is a shared use gravel road. It is in decent shape into Thomas. If you continue north the gravel becomes coarser and many large puddles appear. Fortunately the puddles have solid bottoms so you can ride right through if so inclined. The trail ends at Rt 219 where you can backtrack. There are a few access points into Thomas where you can find food and drink. We stopped at the TipTop and were not disappointed.
After a ride on part of the Blackwater Canyon railtrail yesterday my buddy and I decided to check out this trail. Traillink has exactly one sentence mentioning that this segment exists and that's it though it does appear on the map. This segment along with the Blackwater Canyon trail and the as of now unimproved Davis Branch between Thomas and Davis are all supposed to eventually be part of the AHT - I suspect that is several years away if it happens.
As for the segment which is called the "Corridor H railtrail" on some other biking sites it was decent enough. It is easy to find. After turning on Rt 93 from Rt 219 go a short distance and take the first left shortly before the road turns to 4 lanes. There's a decent parking area and the trail is easily seen with bike signs. This is a fairly flat trail that has a little bit of rise and fall. You start right along the higway but soon pull away enough to not really notice it. Surface is fine gravel most of the time with some a bit coarser. There is one spot by what appears to be a beaver dam with some ruts washed out but we were able to ride it. There is a short paved section at the end and then the trail ends at a road going to a coal prep plant. Be aware that this trail has almost no shade so it can get a bit hot but up this high there is usually a breeze. 3 stars only because it's disconnected from anything but once connected to the town of Davis I would probably bump it up to 4.
I rode this trail out of North Bend State Park North to Pennsboro. It was about 11 miles each way. The next day I rode to Petroleum from North Bend State Park. The area is very nice. I saw a lot of deer on my morning ride south to Petroleum. Petroleum had a nice rest stop with bike work stand, restroom and shelter. It happened to be on a road and in someone's front yard. I went thru the "haunted" tunnel. fairly long, one could not see. Either bring a light or walk. I walked and I still went into a wall.
Cairo was in sad shape. The town needs revitalization. Services will be spotty.
Pennsboro has services but it was a Sunday and almost everything was closed. Horse droppings was prevalent going east. It would be a mess on a wet day. Went thru 4 tunnels, it was nice to break the trail monotony.
The trail is in generally in poor quality. Maintenance is done by putting down 1-2 inch gray stone rock as fill. Too bad the people responsible for the trail do not see how other trails across the country are kept. The Pumpkinvine trail in Indiana accepts donations online. There is a fiberoptic underground line being put in along the trail. I hope royalties help with trail maintenance. A town like Cairo could use some business from trail users. A better trail would bring people.
North Bend State Park is a very nice campground. It is very convenient to the Trail. It has showers and flush toilets.
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_0_st.jpg)
