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.

We rode 10 miles from Parkersburg to Walker on a cool late fall day. The scenery was beautiful! We passed only 1 person on the trail during our ride. The gravel trail covered in leaves was challenging. Definitely need wider tires - we rode Trek gravel bikes. But the real reason this trail got only 3 stars was 19 closed gates blocking trail that you had to ride around. Dangerous edges to squeeze around gate - my husband almost wiped out.

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

Rode this trail twice this summer, once in June and again in September. Beautiful trail. Well maintained and mostly flat. Easy to find trailhead.

Rode this trail twice this year, once I. June and again in September. Perfect quick ride on a sunny day. Nice parking lot with a portable bathroom. Great scenery.

I feel other reviews and pictures tell the story but a couple notes from my 2 day trek on the entire trail.

1. From the north side by the airport until Library it is a dedicated trail that is maintained well and has picnic tables, benches, (towards the middle) 2 free primitive camping areas, and portajohns. Completely dedicated portion is almost 40 miles. After Library the trail bounces between dedicated trail and riding on the road. I turned around at Library…. (Bad reviews probably came from section after Library)

2. The Panhandle Trail Connector has a parking lot right beside McDonald and is exactly in the middle of the dedicated portion of the trail. Perfect spot to ride north section and back one day. And south and back the 2nd day.

3. This is an awesome trail! It has wooded areas, hillsides, beautified urban areas, industry, multiple tunnels, spectacular bridge overlooks throughout, and you’re never too far away from lunch or ice cream or cell service. What more could you want????

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.

We rode 6 miles in from west end, 5 miles each way from park connector - did not hit any trail closures. They are working on fibre optic, but we able to get around the minor digging where they are pushing the cable.

Tunnels were dark and covered in slick mud - we ended up walking the three east from the park connector.

This is no place for skinny road tires - gonna need fat ones for the mud, dirt, and gravel/ballast.

Riverbend campground is ideal spot to camp and have direct trail access.