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My family and I rode the whole length of the trail June 7-8, 2019. We started in Parkersburg from the trail head at Happy Valley rd. About 10 miles in it was grassy and muddy. Some parts of the trail was nice with hard packed gravel but the honestly the majority of the trail was nothing but grass and mud. We were all very disappointed in this trail because it has potential and it was fun to ride through the tunnels and take a tour of the railroad station at Pennsboro. The Long Run tunnel was terrible with 3” of water at each end and very large gravel in the tunnel. Such a disappointment.
The first few miles is paved,then crushed stone.Was a little soft when we rode,but there was a lot of rain the days before.Uphill most of the way. A good challenge.River you could see most of the way. Was up pretty high for awhile then leveled out bit.We rode about 22 miles,there & back.The trail is right in the back of Spring Hills Hotel,so we just rode right out from there.
I have ran this trail several times due to it being fairly close to home.
I have biked this trail too, but did not enjoy it as much as running it.
This is a very nice, paved, mile marked trail.
The first 4 miles or so do have a couple decent hills that are a challenge.
The other challenge are the amount of road crossings. The reason that the bike ride was less enjoyable. Hard to get a steady stride going.
And a warning, for both runners and bikers, the cars on the roads DO NOT STOP for you to cross.
I've made a point of stopping and checking for cars approaching.
This is the only negative aspect of this trail.
You may get to see some wildlife and I enjoy seeing the very large cargo plane flying overhead. Very cool.
So as always, if in the area and looking to get a couple miles in, give this trail a run.
The trail had uncut grass and thorny blackberry bushes, making it difficult for our family. Not even a mile into the south end (Durbin), we had to navigate a rock slide. At roughly mile 8, we had a downed tree to go over that had probably been there only a few days. We planned to camp, and luckily we spotted some around the Iron Bridge area (about mile 10). Several campsites span that section on the parallel Forest Road 44. On day 2, we chose to ride the forest road instead - up to the Wildell access point, then back down to our car in Durbin. Very hilly and fun forest road!
There are areas on the North end of this trail where you have impassable rhododendrons to your right, a muddy, treacherously narrow dirt trail, with a dangerous drop-off to the left. My wife slipped at one spot. This trail needs some serious work, and I do not recommend it.
The southern half of the trail is not nearly so bad, but it can get quite wet. Be prepared to slog through mud.
We rode this trail in May 2019 from Happy Valley to Pennsboro. This trail is designated a WV State Park and it is in dismal shape which is too bad because it really has great potential. We rode after a rainy few days so I would expect puddles and mud but this was beyond puddles. Much of the trail is a made up of two single tracks thru grass or gravel so soft that your tires sink. Other sections someone has put down #2 gravel that only a Mtn bike could traverse. For the most part the scenery was nice and we saw several deer. We rode this over the course of a few days hoping each section would be in better shape than the previous...nope. I would NOT recommend this trail.
My son and I attempted to ride the trail from Thomas to Hendricks on Dec. 2,2018. While trying to avoid the deep water filled pot holes in the road I approached the railroad bridge located above Douglas Falls, out of position to travel on the narrow planks covering the ties. I proceeded down the center of the bridge across the railroad ties until my front tire met with a damaged tie about two thirds of the way across. The bike stopped, I flew over the handlebars down through the side of the bridge and hit head first into the steel beam above the stone bridge abutment. I suffered a broken neck, hand and torn rotator cuff, finally landing in the creek below.
My point in writing this is not to ruin anyone's experience on this trail. I have ridden it up and down before and found it to be a wonderful experience, which is why I wanted my son to experience it with me on this trip. The Park Service needs to completely cover the crossties with planking and add guard rails to prevent anyone from falling through.
Just biked this trail today. It’s 78 degrees F and sunny. This trail has no shade. No place to stop for water or facilities unless you get off trail and take a road to the Sheetz at Kearnehsville or there’s a coffee shop near Ranson end of trail. Otherwise, take plenty of water and sunscreen.
I parked at the Martinsburg trail head and biked to Ranson trail head and back. The trail was closed from Coast Guard to the next entrance (about 1.5 miles) due to the installation of a gas line. I had to detour to old route 9 with fast traffic and no bike lane to the turnoff for Shepherdstown and take a right and take the road until it met up with the trail entrance which was open and continue on to Ranson. Same on return trip. Adds about 3 miles to the ride total.
I’m from dc metro area so I’m used to trails with trees and places to stop for refreshments and facilities. This trail doesn’t offer much. It needs to be continued on the Ranson side to the shopping areas where there’s a Panera and other restaurants and should be extended to Charles Town and on to harpers Ferry. There are plenty of places to get food, coffee and water if extended. Same on the Martinsburg side. Should be extended into the town so there’s places to eat and facilities. Be careful of the many road crossings. Some have light traffic. But I saw heavy traffic on others. And with the detour. You’ll be biking on roads with no bike lane and drivers here don’t seem to be used to seeing bikers on the road.
A friend and I rode the Trail out and back from Morgantown in early April. We enjoyed the ride because of the workout from climbing and the numerous views of Deckers Creek spilling over rocks amid rhododendron.
The trail is paved for the first 3 miles, with frequent ridges in the asphalt. After mile 3 the trail is mostly finely crushed stone. One exception is coarse gravel by the rock quarry.
From milepost 3 to 14 you climb at 2-3% grade, a steady workout. It reminded us of the GAP Trail from Frostburg to Cumberland (although that's paved.) After milepost 14 the trail levels out with occasional rises.
We detoured into Reedsville to get lunch at the DQ. The highway into town had several 4" potholes.
We passed at least 30 riders and 30 walkers / runners on the trail. Glad to see it is well used. We liked it and will ride it again next time we're in town.
In early April two of us rode the Trail north to south, from Cass to North Caldwell, 77 miles. We really enjoyed the ride.
The Trail is double track or road, level or gentle grades. The surface is mostly small crushed limestone, with coarse gravel periodically. Pavement occurs around Marlinton. We rode 35mm wide tires, which were fine.
Several trees were down from a recent storm. The state trail crew removed them and cleared a small rock slide. Numerous small branches and sticks littered the trail, so we had to watch as we rode.
The two tunnels (511 and 402 feet) have rideable surfaces. It was helpful to have a light, as the tunnels bend.
The Trail follows the river, which is mostly placid with occasional riffles. Hills are on both sides.
We saw blue heron, woodpeckers, teal, wood ducks, Canada geese and deer.
The ride is very rural, passing occasional cabins and a few farms. Marlinton is the only town with services. We enjoyed red pepper soup at its Dirt Bean Cafe, which doubles as a bike shop. It’s important to carry hydration and food.
We did a layover day in Watoga State Park, which offers numerous hiking trails. Park cabins 1 and 2 (Riverside) are close to the trail. Unfortunately they were not open yet, so we stayed in cabin 3, up the hill but well worth the climb. By prior arrangement a cabin can be left unlocked, to avoid riding 5 miles from the trail to the Park office.
There is no lodging at North Caldwell, the south trail end. Lewisburg is 3 miles away and has motels, but requires riding on US 60 (a 2-foot shoulder and busy traffic).
We used Appalachian Sport to shuttle us back to Cass, about a 2-hour drive with a local who filled us in on picking ramps and ginseng.
Bottom line: if you like multi-day rural trail riding, the Greenbrier is an excellent choice, especially with a layover day in Watoga State Park.
We started the trail in Allingdale. There was no signage that we saw and we got on the trail at the tressel cafe. From what we could tell on the map it was a good location. Quickly we encountered a bridge in verrrrry dangerous condition. The next several miles were loaded full of views of garbage the locals dump while partying. Lots of rutted out roads from ATvs being on the trail. After we crossed the second very dangerous bridge the garbage thinned out. We went through the tunnel marked on the trail and it was in ok shape. Major sliding on one end and a huge hole full of water blocking the entire other end. Most trails we ride make some effort to prevent vehicles and atvs but at one point an atv hill climbed up a ridge we were on and nearly landed on us. This is super dangerous. Overall not a place I would recommend at all especially family riding.
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