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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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.
I love walking on the Panhandle Trail and have been doing so for well over a decade. I usually start where the trail intersects with Scotch Hill Road and walk to Sturgeon and beyond. Unfortunately, the rains this year have washed away much, and in some places all, of the crushed stone between Scotch Hill Road and Sturgeon, so now I start at Sturgeon and walk to McDonald and beyond. It would be great if the aforementioned section could be fixed.
Rode from NE trailhead, finding the first mile plus nearly impossible to bike. Treacherous descent / ascent through area of former trestle (pushed / pulled bike, cannot imagine riding it). Many downed trees and branches at intervals the entire length. Although we pulled smaller ones that we could manage, off the trail, significant more remain, most will require tools. Good signage, including reflective markers through the first section where the trail is nearly indiscernible; mileage designations would be helpful. Recommend riding from SW trailhead 3 miles to trestle site, then turn around and ride back. Those 3 miles scenic, with the trail elevated through woodlands. No mountain views while trees in leaf. Consider that elevation rises from NE to SW.
Great trial for running and biking. Scenic. Love it. It never gets old.
The first few miles north of Elkins is paved and offers a nice ride with nice views. The trail then turns into what I can best describe as mostly as two cow paths with a minimum of crushed rock and plenty of grass. Makes it difficult to enjoy the countryside views when needing to concentrate of navigating the terrain.
Also blew a tire driving there on West Va state roads as hit a pothole. As the mechanic that fixed my tire commented "we don't have potholes in WV, we have craters!" Suggest anyone thinking of driving state/local roads in this state avoid them unless driving a dump truck or larger vehicle.
My husband surprised me with a trip to this trail for my birthday! We started at the south end and did the first 11 miles (in and back out) and then rode the northern section from Cass down to Marlinton on the 2nd day and the 3rd day went from Marlinton to Beard. It was honestly the best surface on a Rail Trail that I’ve seen... The terrain is pretty well flat (I think it descends 740 feet over 78 miles) and is an easy ride for any level of rider. Not a lot of places to stop to get water, snacks or food so carry all that with you. We didn’t get to finish all the trail but will be going back. My favorite part was from Marlinton to Beard though.
I went onto this trail at the northern terminus at the dam / power station as a detour from a longer road bike ride I was taking. Be forewarned: there are long steep stairs down to the trail at this end. Be prepared to carry your bike, stroller, whatever, ~40 steps.
For the first northernmost half-mile or so, there was a lot of big gravel on the trail. This was unpleasant and a rough ride and not like the reliable fine surface of other area trails (such as Mon River or Decker's Creek). But it was only 1/2 mile like that.
The worse problem was that ~2.5 miles south, the trail was gated and locked. This was a nice weekday, 330PM, late August before Labor Day weekend... I talked to another biker on the trail, and he said that the gate should've been unlocked by park staff. So unfortunately almost half the trail was randomly inaccessible this day. I did not go find any park staff and I do not know the gate locking schedule.
This is a beautiful trail though with lake-bridges and park amenities (restrooms, water fountains [not working], swimming beach, picnic tables, playground,...). I'd go here again to walk or swim but not out my way to ride here.
My husband, 7 year old son, and I rode this trail over three days on our hybrid bicycles. Cass to Marlinton (about 25 miles), Marlinton to Renick (almost 32 miles) and Renick to Caldwell (about 21 miles). There is a slight downhill slope if you begin at Cass and end at Caldwell. The only exception was around mile 13 where it appears that there was a rockslide and the best way for the trail maintainers to fix the trail was to build a short, moderately steep incline and equally short and moderate decline on the other side.
We arranged a shuttle with Chuck at Appalachian Sports in Marlinton for the first 2 days and a shuttle with Bobby and Cyndi at Free Spirit Adventures in Caldwell for the 3rd day. All of them were very helpful and friendly.
The trail itself was fairly well maintained, with occasional brush sticking out into the pathway and only one blowdown for which we had to dismount and push our bicycles over the branches. The surface is mainly crushed gravel with a few miles of pavement approaching and leaving Marlinton.
The trail is generally 15-30 feet above the river, sometimes veering away from it, and has river access at various points, the best access was in the final section between Renick and Caldwell. We saw multiple people swimming in the relatively shallow Greenbrier River in this section.
There are outhouses, water pumps, and campsites or shelters scattered along the way, but you definitely want to pack your own water. If you wanted to bike camp and had the map, it would easily be doable. We plan to do this in a future trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed our ride, despite the temperatures being in the high 80s/low90s and took advantage of the river access and water pumps to stay cool.
My wife and I rode a tandem on a weekday morning (08/22/2019) starting at the Caperton Trail access adjacent to the Jeep Dealer about 0.6 miles from the start of the Deckers Creek Trail (DCT). The parking area at the Morgantown end of Deckers Creek is blocked off due to construction. As is the description, the first part (about 2.9 miles) of the DCT is paved. It is also fairly flat. Once you cross Carnegie St (behind the Springhill Suites), the trail turns to dirt/cinders and starts to climb. While the asphalt paving was "cleaner", it was bumpy in places where cracks formed due to tree roots. It turned out that the dirt part of the trail was actually smoother - with the exception of the occasional stick/twig/small branch. The dirt part of the trail is a steady climb at about 1.5% for 10 miles. The condition of the surface is "smooth" enough for road bike tires - knobbies are not necessary. Commuter/hybrid tires would be best. The gates along the trail have openings that are clear enough for us to ride a tandem through without too much trouble.
The length of the DCT that we rode (up to the Masontown Trail Head) had nice tree cover, but let in enough light so that visibility was still very good.
I like riding the Panhandle trail nice black top from Washington county to WV. The lack of water is something I think needs to be looked into at some point. The water fountains that are there already are not working at mile 0 and 4.5 with the one at 5.5 just working enough to get some water. Just past the brewery there is a very rough spot. Otherwise the trail is great to ride. The WV side has been repaved this year so it's nice to ride that section now.
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