Find the top rated birding trails in West Virginia, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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On 27Nov2019 - weather unseasonably warm high 50s with heavy overcast damp & light mist, rain forecast. I was hesitant - 62 & riding solo - I brought the wrong bike (with All Condition tires 700x28mm - not a mountain bike). I was diligent about keeping my eyes on the trail and both hands on the bars. A wider tire would have been much better but the ride was still wonderful. I strongly recommend dismounting & walking the railroad bridge N of Douglas Falls. AT&T cell fair.
rode this route as a RR passenger when I was a kid..[from Burgettstown to Pittsburgh]..memories around every bend!....
My husband, sister and I rode the trail end to end and back this past summer. We are from Pittsburgh and have the Great Allegheny Passage trail that runs from pittsburgh to Cumberland Maryland, about 150 miles. So I am a bit spoiled having the best trail in the country, in my opinion, in my backyard. The Greenbrier River trail was disappointing. The trail surface was bad. It was basically two narrow tire tracks with grass in the middle taking up most of the trail. You can’t take your eyes off the trail to look at the scenery because of the trail surface being so narrow. There are almost no amenities on the trail, just the one town of Marlinton at mile marker 55, and a convenience store in the town of Seebert, but there are picnic tables and port-a-potties often along the trail. There are few choices of overnight accommodations. We started in Cass and stayed at the Bear Creek Lodge,It was close to the trail, nothing fancy and it had food on the first floor. Our next stop was in Seebert. We where lucky enough to find the Hillsboro House B&B, about two miles from the trail at Jack Hornes Cornes convenience store in Seebert. It was a great place to stay. But it is an uphill climb from the trail. I recommend not taking the road there, it was very busy with no berm, take Burnside rd. to Workmen rd. to Denmar rd. That takes you right to The Hillsboro House. At the end of the trail near Caldwell, we stayed at The Greenbrier River Cabin, it was beautiful and right at the end of the trail. There are just not a lot of amenities close, just a convenience store about a mile away, again on a very busy road with no berm. We had pizza delivered to the cabin. Due to the radio wave tower in the town of Green Bank, you probably will not have cell service on the trail. We had no service the entire trip until we got to Caldwell. We have done long distance bike trips (200 miles) every summer for the last 10 years in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Missouri, and Michigan. This is a trail I would not recommend. Although the scenery in West Virginia is breathtaking ,the trail is remote and the trail surface was not good. Had the trail been in better condition I would rate this trail higher.
EASTERN SECTION. Starting at the Wolf Summit terminus, I rode 10 miles (and 10 back) on a Saturday afternoon 10/19/19 on an old Schwinn LeTour w/ 27 x 1 1/4 tires. I knew it was not an appropriate bike for this trail but it's what I've got.
Yes, the trail is in awful shape, and the state should invest in its improvement. Even during an especially dry fall, I encountered mud and soft ground frequently. The surfaces really varied. The most common surface was grass, but there were sections of fine stone/hard trail (w/in Salem especially) and sections of single and double track. There were a few spots where gravel had been put over previously-muddy problem areas. But the gravel was too big and laid thick to bike through. In the 10 mile section I biked, there were a lot of paved roads that ran parallel to the trail in part. On the way back, I took those to switch it up.
I will bike here again because I live closeby, the tunnels are cool, and it's remote. I will absolutely not bike here in the spring (trail will be soft&wet and a mess then) or after a lot of rainfall.
We loved this trail. My family and friends are 100% amateur bike riders. We parked at the south end at Caldwell and shuttled up with Chuck at All Sports to Cass. We hit the trail at 830 am and biked 47.3 miles the first day. It took us until about 6 that evening to reach camp. But that was with lots of stops including the grocery store in Marlinton and water and ice cream at Jack Horner Corner in Seabert. Which is an awesome store with bike parts accessories rentals beer pizza food etc. super nice place.
We camped at a designated spot in hammocks. The bathrooms where nicer than expected. All the water wells had water that I recommend you use. The trail was clean and mowed recently. No over hanging brush or tall grass. There were lots of places to get in the river. The calls are well cared for and have fire pits. It even appeared that the forest guys leave the fallen trees cut into firewood blocks trail side. We finished up the remain miles on day two and ended around 3pm. It was me (36) my wife (40) my friend (39) and our kids. 14 13 and 12. The kids had a blast and let the pack both days.
I’m super impressed With this trail system and we plan to
Make this trip annually. I would suggest if your a amateur rider to do it in 3 days. So you can relax and enjoy camp
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I would recommend this trail to anyone who wants a well maintained trail with a slight incline. Thanks to the volunteers.
There’s nothing really special about this trail as mentioned by other reviewers. It runs through the urban part of Wheeling and parallels Rt 2 in sections so closely that you almost feel like you’re riding on the shoulder of the road. The other trails in the region such as the Panhandle, Montour, or GAP have more of the scenery and character which we enjoy.
Went in at Fenwick post office, backpacked 13 miles to the tunnel. No signage there. Hiked about a mile back to a wonderful campsite by the river and spent the night.. very peaceful and quiet. Did encounter ATVs and even one pickup truck south of the tunnel. Weather very dry, all springs dried up, only one muddy spot on trail near Fenwick. Section from Fenwick to Holcomb is not mowed. Due to high bridge and brush you cannot access the Cranberry River from the trail.
I am a section cyclist who over time has completed all sections of the 77 mile Trail. The Trail has no bad sections. Traillink’s Greenbrier River Trail description and reviews give complete and accurate information on the Trail. I will not repeat. I share three observations.
First, if you have time to do only one section, this is the one. It is in the Northern Section between Clover Lick southward to Sharp’s Tunnel and bridge. This Trail section has the most scenic and remote mountains. It is a ‘gorge’ with the mountains sloping down to each side of the River with a mountain sharing the Trail on one side. No roads or houses for 5 miles. Two of the greatest landmarks on the trail are in this section. They are Sharp’s Tunnel and the adjacent curved bridge over the Greenbrier River. Hey, it’s the reason they are shown on the cover of the State Parks’ brochure.
Second, the fastest trip to Clover Lick, Cass and the Northern trailheads is from the East side of the River. From Marlinton the trip uses some combination of WV routes: 39, 28, 92, 66 depending on the trailhead. Note: The Clawson/Thorny Creek trailhead is on the end of a painful and s-l-o-w drive on a rough steep gravel road for 5 miles which takes 15 minutes. I have a front wheel drive minivan, but I made it out. Instead, I recommend access to this fine Trail portion by taking the Trail from Marlinton or Clover Lick.
The Northern trailheads can also be reached from Marlinton on the West side of the River using US 219 to County Road 1 immediately north of Marlinton. Know that this route is scenic but slower as it is a rural, paved and one lane shared road in many places.
Finally, the Greenbrier River Trail State Park reviews can be found on two web sites. You found one. The other is Trip Advisor which is free. You have to query ‘West Virginia’ and run through the menus to find the Trail listing. In Sept. 2019 there were 120 reviews. Trip Advisor rates the Trail as # 11 of 169 Outdoor Activities in WV. I have cross posted this review.
We parked at Star City parking lot and headed to connect to Deckers Creek Trail. I was glad they had marked the bumps on the asphalt portion with orange. Once we were out of town we started the 1000 foot climb which was gradual. Once we were on the cinder part of the trail we really warmed up to this trail. While you do hear traffic, you are surrounded by beautiful woods and rock formations. You do pass some industry but I really enjoyed the woods, rocks, and creek. Be mindful of some of the bridges as there can be an inch or two rise. It took us about 3 hours to go to end of trail (about 23 miles) when normally we go 10 miles an hour. There are no bathrooms until about mile marker 13.
The Allegheny Highlands Trail (AHT) isn't perfect but I think that's why I enjoyed this trail so much. There are certain parts where the trail goes from single track gravel to grass where you can tell where the path once was. This is not a road bike trail, I ride a hybrid bike and had no issues with this trail. There was Corridor H work which if the trail was closed between mile 15-17 I don't know if there would be a viable detour. I was able to ride the entire trail from downtown Elkins to Hendrincks and I loved every mile.
The extension into downtown Elkins is complete (Sept 2019), you can get on right behind the Visitor's Center. This adds about a mile and a half to the length of the trail and I highly reccomend it. There are trail heads every few miles. These trail heads only offer information as there are no amenities along the trail unless you stop at Elkins or Parsons. The scenery goes from farmland to residential to quiet streams and dense canopy. I rode the day after Labor Day and there were only less than a dozen other people (all very nice) on the entire trail.
If the AHT was closed at miles 15-17 I would have rated the AHT much lower since I don't think there was a viable on road section near the closure. Approach the AHT with an open mind and you will enjoy every minute of your ride!
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