West Virginia 2008 Official State Travel Guide - (Page 44) REPORTS HIKING TRAILS by Heather Boynton Wild West Virginia Hiking in Canaan Valley g. West Virginia HIKING TRAILS Only four miles of the Appalachian Trail run through West Virginia, but they’re an important four miles. A Hiking atop Seneca Rocks foot bridge over the Potomac River leads into historic Harpers Ferry, home of the Appalachian Trail headquarters and Information Center. But within West Virginia are more than 1,500 other miles of hiking trails – equal to three-quarters of the length of the granddaddy that runs from Maine to Georgia. From a short stroll to some serious multi-day trips, there are hundreds of great options for hitting the trail. Starting just north of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and stretching northeast across West Virginia to Pennsylvania is the 252-mile Tuscarora Trail, an official offshoot of the Appalachian Trail. Another long-distance beauty is the 330-mile, north-south Allegheny Trail through the vast Monongahela National Forest. You don’t have to spend a month out to get some good tread in The Mon, however; the 24-mile trail along North Fork Mountain offers stunning Allegheny Mountain views, while the trail from behind the Discovery Center leads to the top of Seneca Rocks, one of the few peaks you can get to with no climbing required. For backcountry hikers, Canaan Valley throws up 3,000 - 4,000 foot elevations; less known is the Cranberry Wilderness, 35,864 acres of backcountry wilderness. Backpacker magazine ranked the 78-mile Greenbrier River Trail – a rails-to-trails project that has packed limestone, an easy grade and loads of scenic bridges and tunnels – one of the top 10 trails in the country. Babcock State Park h. STATE PARK GEMS Many of the real gems are in West Virginia’s 200,000 acres of state parks, forests and wildlife management areas. These slices of rich and varied landscape include the crashing falls and steep gorges of Blackwater Falls State Park and Babcock State Park, the pastoral setting of North Bend State Park and the wetlands and hardwood forests of Canaan Valley. You’ll hike past history in some of West Virginia’s other state parks – from the log forts and homesteads of pioneer life to pivotal Civil War battlefields. For overnighters, accommodations range from three-sided Appalachian shelters to pet-friendly cabins and year-round resorts. IF YOU GO: For more information about West Virginia’s state parks, call 1-800-CALL WVA or visit www.wvstateparks.com. g. 44 1 - 8 0 0 - C A L L W VA http://www.wvstateparks.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.