Find the top rated running trails in Wheeling, whether you're looking for an easy short running trail or a long running trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a running trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
If you choose a fall Saturday to go for a bike ride, expect a crowd on this trail. We found lots of pedestrians and few bikes until getting well north of Star City. Not sure if this is the norm or just that WVU was playing out of town and a pandemic is going on. The trail is fairly wide with asphalt in good condition making for a smooth ride. We rode from Deckers Creek north to connect to the Mon River Trail. We passed a couple riverfront parks, one with an amphitheater, and saw a riverside Ti Chi class in a pavilion. The only downer on this part of the trail is passing a water treatment plant with a multitude of gnats (this was early November too). Star City is a great rest spot - real restroom, bike repair stand, and playground too. We saw several parking areas at the riverfront parks. We parked a couple miles away on the Deckers Creek Trail at Marilla Park in Sabraton. This trail is perfect if you just want a short ride or if you want a long ride too as it connects to other trails to the north, south and east. Definitely will visit this trail again.
I rode a 5 mile round trip on this trail on a beautiful fall day. The trail is well maintained and in its short length has several interesting visual features such as two tunnels, a gazebo, and a 40 foot high trestle. Small markers along the way commemorate the conversion of the once rail line into a trail. The tunnels run under Interstate 70 and US-40 which historically is the old National Road from which the trail gets its name. For a rail trail it features quite a bit of elevation gain over its 2.5 mile length with a gain of about 223 feet. However, since it is a rail trail, the rise is never physically taxing. The only reason I did not rate this trail as a 5-star trail is because its short length leaves you wanting it to be longer.
This fully paved trail is flat with gentle curves, a view of wetlands and occasional fields. Birds and scurrying squirrels make this trail fun to walk. Enjoying the outdoors with young and old as well as family mascots makes this a fun getaway.
My friend and I designed our bike ride for today to go to Washington’s Landing as our destination. Once you get over there, the bike trail is very rocky, which makes it difficult to ride. It’s narrow as well. We ended up ditching the trail and riding around the area on the sidewalks and roads since there was hardly any car traffic. Been there, done that - it’s an area we won’t go back to.
I did the whole Mon River part of this trail system for the first time last weekend, and I hope my experience is helpful to others: The Sheepskin Trail, Mon River-North, Caperton, Mon River-South and MC trails are all contiguous, and can be thought of as one, mostly crushed limestone, trail. I started out on the Sheepskin Trial in Point Marion, PA, where I found easy parking and a stunning, huge outside wall mural of stained glass. Cyclists coming from the north may find it convenient to start here. I continued south as the trail turned into the MR-N, which can only be thought of as scenic if you appreciate waste water treatment plants, coal powered electric generating stations, and locks and dams. The Caperton section is a varied, mostly urban route that runs past the WVU campus and offers opportunities for food and drink right on the trail. Found MR-S the most scenic of the three and also enjoyed the quick little ride through the pretty state park and lighted tunnel into nearby Fairmont on the MC Trail before I turned around and headed back. Almost no port-o-johns, picnic tables or water anywhere along the trail. Few benches, several of which are in poor shape. Downed trees blocked much of the trail in several areas and had been cleared only enough for a bike to pass, not removed from the trail. The MR-S was often grassy and sometimes narrowed to a foot path. Seems like maybe this trail system could use some more volunteers! Haven't done the Deckers-Creek yet.
On June 30, 2020, I started in Cumberland at first light. Bike was fully loaded for a self sufficient adventure. I was on a carbon road bike with 23mm tires. There were only a couple sections where the gravel was soft an pillowy slowing me down a bit to ensure I stayed upright. The key to getting through this brief section is to keep pedaling. The more you pedal the more your bike wants to stay upright. Beyond that the the trail is very isolated in sections. At some parks/ parking lots along the route There are tool stations with air pumps. There are bathrooms along the that I thought were few and far between, perhaps due to Covid and some being removed. I was able to do 122 miles in one day fully loaded at about 13 mph, just interested to see how far I could go. I noticed most others were not moving at that speed. I made the return trip back to Cumberland the next day.
My kids are learning to ride their bikes and this was a safe, fun way for them to get into it. Plenty of stops with shelters om the way and beautiful scenery.
Labor Day gem! First time visit and would recommend to anyone. Can view the river most of the way. Lots of shade and easy grade. Really is a 5 star.
The poles between the trail are too close and too high. She clipped the pole and fell breaking her leg. Poor design but great trail. I could design a better pole in 5 minutes.
We live in Dover (about 40 minutes from Cambridge), but my husband works in Cambridge, so he uses this trail often; sometimes at lunch or after work to both ride and walk. He suggested it to my friend and me as we have been doing one "girls bike trail day" weekly. She liked it so well that she took her husband to ride the trail a couple of days later. It is such a nice area and trail is in good shape.... a couple of rough areas, but they have patched them which makes it smoother. Really enjoyed this trail and it will definitely be on our "girls bike trail day" again.
Did the whole trail today and don't think I'll be back. Pros--paved trail, good mile markers, good parking at trailheads, some with port-o-johns, fairly good directions where trail diverted onto roads or through towns, and small towns worth checking out at the beginning and end.
Cons--12 road crossings on the trail (!), some of which were potentially quite dicey/dangerous with poor visibility of possible oncoming traffic; several rather poorly marked on-road sections, restrooms closed at Lisbon trailhead. In general, not the kind of uninterrupted rural, bucolic trail I prefer.
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