Explore the best rated trails in West Virginia, whether you're looking an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Blackwater Canyon Trail and Allegheny Highlands Trail. With more than 65 trails covering 589 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 biked this in early October. Parked in Monongah at the lot next to City Hall. The trail is nicely paved except for less than three miles at the southern end in Shinnston. DO NOT try to park at the Mary Lou Retton park shown at the North end of the map. The loop shown on the map is a rural residential area with very narrow roads and you have to go down a short, steep dirt hill to get to the real trail. I've uploaded pictures of the trail's sign, which shows several parking areas along the trail.
We got a wonderful work-out on this trail, but the hills were not overly difficult. we biked late afternoon/evening in October. We started on the Martinsburg end, which is definitely hillier that the east end. We stopped for coffee at the Black Dog on the way back. It was a perfect stopping place, with nice bathrooms.
I have ridden this path several times. There are many hills and some come straight down to a stop to cross the road. After which, you then pedal straight up hill. However, the path is quite do-able. There are two treats for you on this ride - 1) a stop at Black Dog Coffee and at the Martinsburg end, you can cross the highway (carefully) to find the Berkeley County Human Society and visit with the pooches! Enjoy and cycle safe!
This is our local rail trail, so we use it because it is convenient for biking with the family. We have covered from North Bend State Park to the Eastern Terminus near Wolf Summit on hybrid bikes and a trailer for our two small children.
The Good: The section between Ellenboro and North Bend State Park is beautiful! Surface is good, very scenic, a joyous experience! From Central Station to Smithburg has been re-surfaced this year, and is also very nice. Central Station Tunnel is now well surfaced and passable. Tunnels in general are really cool! The kids get a kick out of them. I like the fact that there is little concern with road traffic, especially with the children in tow.
The Bad: While the section b/w Ellenboro and North Bend State Park is great, it is also frequented by horses. With horses comes manure...that is sometimes impossible to dodge. Trail surface around Central Station is in progress (uneven, industrial gravel, etc). Trail surface east of Smithburg is fair until you get past the Long Run Tunnell, and then things get iffy quickly. The surface between Long Run Rd and West Salem is non-existent in places, there is a large slip between miles 61-63. The trail through that section has a slight uphill grade, which we definitely felt while pulling a trailer and a tag-along bike through tall grass and mud. The trail surface is also horrible in places, muddy, lots of rocks and debris, etc from East Salem to the Eastern terminus in Wolf Summit. Plan accordingly.
We will keep riding this trail because it is local. It's a great opportunity to get our nephews out and to explore, have adventures, etc. There is an opportunity for some school projects down the road based on our adventures. However, we also look forward to getting somewhere with some asphalt or finer crushed rock as pulling our kids in the trailer is difficult on the current surfaces of certain areas.
I recently rode from the Harmon Creek starting point in Weirton, WV to just east of Oakdale, PA, a 50 mile round trip. The trail is crushed limestone for just under 4 miles from Weirton to the Pennsylvania state line, where Washington County has recently competed blacktopping their section of the trail. There were a few muddy ruts on the unpaved West Virginia section but nothing terrible. The new blacktop was welcome, as it is a slight uphill grade for the first 10 miles towards Burghettstown, PA. The paving continues the length of the Washington County section, a distance of 17.5 miles. The trail continues east towards Walkers Mill as crushed limestone, but in much better condition than the West Virginia side, which seems likely to continue deteriorating unless Hancock County takes some pride in its section.
It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ride. I plan to do it more often now that it has additional paving.
My goal is to ride 10 miles in all 50 states, we have now done 42 states and this is one of the most enjoyable trails that we've done. Great trail!!
We were staying at the Ogelbay Resort in WV and took a ride on the Wheeling Heritage Trail which follows a portion of the Ohio River. The trail is ok but if your looking for a scenic trail along a river don't bother. The trail is paved and in decent shape but you see more of the gritty side of old industrial Wheeling than you see of the river. We're from the Pittsburgh area and in my experience the trails here are far superior.
Ran here in July while on vacation.Trail was well maintained,friendly people,scenery was just okay.Expected more views of river.Would not travel a great distance to run this trail.
We hiked in from the Lower Trailhead just outside Parsons. As mentioned by a user, it starts out kind of rough after crossing the suspension bridge (This bridge is beautiful). The first 4-5 miles after that are okay, but there are places that I believe a Horse will not be able to navigate, if they made it past the first rough spot. Once the trail crosses Otter Creek with a mild ford (We went in August after a lot of rain the day or two prior) it becomes very overgrown with many logs to maneuver over/under. There is a spur trial around the 6th mile that you should take to avoid a few near washouts along the edge of the creek. This spur trail is pretty good, then you come back to the creek right by Otter Creek Falls. We camped a little ways above the falls in an established campsite.
Overall I rated this good as a backpacker trail. It is a bit rough and was overgrown in August, but there are wild blackberries along the entire trail. As far as horseback? I believe there are too many downed logs as well as tricky areas to maneuver the rocky slick trail.
It is real nice to see some of the old rail ties in a few areas. Many campsites along the way. I believe I will return next year!
My wife and I rode this trail on June 25, 2017. We started in Marlinton and rode north for about 10 miles before turning back. What we liked about the trail:
Beautiful scenery
Lots of wildlife. Deer, rabbits, groundhogs
Ample shade
Sharp's Tunnel is impressively creepy to ride through
What we didn't like:
The trail is becoming overgrown. In many places, it looked like a rutted country road, with weeds growing in the middle and encroaching on the narrow path. There was only about 16 inches per path. There was a fallen tree across the trail near the tunnel. You had to get off your bike to squeeze under. It looked as if maintenance is seldom done on the trail. It could use a good mowing and new layer of crushed grave.
Recently the crunched limestone was covered with asphalt from the east side of McDonald for at least 10 miles to the west. This is now an unpleasant ride. The area is surrounded by hard surface paved road. Why add more? It rides harder, hotter, doesn't drain as well and over time as it buckles and potholes what will maintenance be like? and what will it cost?
Trail has gone from one to enjoy to one to avoid.
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