USA-WV-Canaan Valley Area

[jhl99]

Some pics from a weekend recon trip in WV.

Google Map:  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fhome.windstream.net%2FJHLange%2F2010-07-WV-GladyFork.kml&sll=40.822629,-78.322731&sspn=0.788766,1.064301&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11

The Monongahela National Forest has a myriad of hiking trails, old RR grades and forest roads that are prime for mountain biking.  Wet, rocky and rooty are the typical conditions.  Unfortunately, overgrown and blowdown infested also creep in as typical conditions on lesser-used trails.


Some trails aren't necessarily good at dealing with the runoff.



Mid July is the start of the huckleberry season.



Those logs are slippery as all get out.


Old RR grade.  The trail tread is cinders.



The only explanation for grass being matted down like that is that spaceship landed.  Mowed grass:  this part of the trail is in a state park, so trail maintenance is done at a higher level.  Tourism is big part of WV's economy, so the state seems to treat their parks as a vital assets.


A section of road along the Dry Fork river.



Rocky wall


Trail Angel with a condensed biblical story. 



Trail shelter.  Relatively easy to get to, nearby spring, and it shows hardly any usage.  Go figure.



Old RR grade along the Glady Fork.



The sky view.  Pretty much all of the non-road riding on this trip was under the canopy.


Some hikers turned me on to this camp spot.  Fully furnished with the Flintstone Collection.



Sunday AM



Sun.



Flower



Route back to starting point included a ridgeline run along a county road.



WV32 on the way into Canaan Valley.

[Cereal_Killer]

Great pictures.  I used to live up there, just northeast in Cumberland, Md.  Wish I knew about the area back then.  Thanks for sharing.

[Majcolo]

Nice pics and route. What's your rig?

[DesertDog]

In Vegas now, but WV born and raised. 
That whole area used to be one of my playgrounds.


So, was that the Plantation Trail in that first sequence of shots?

[jhl99]

Desert Dog:  Good eye!  Actually that shot was on Davis trail maybe 1/10 of mile from the intersection with Plantation.  Truth be told, I've never ridden Plantation complete.

Intersection of Plantation Trail and Davis Trail

Cereal_Killer:  I've been through Cumberland a few times.  Road the C&O Complete years and years ago from there.  Might be a good place to live.  I spend a lot of time in far western MD  (Garrett County).

Majcolo:  My setup is pretty basic.  Cannondale Hardtail (has Headshock).  V brakes, el-cheapo 3x8 drive train,  rear Blackburn rack and front Bon You?  (cheap ) rack.  Homemade panniers and cheap 40 deg bag, Ridge rest and Eureka single person tent.

[DesertDog]

WV, the other 'slickrock' riding experience.
And then there's slickroot, slicklog and slickmud!

So many places to ride.
Check out the WVMBA site for potential riding areas.
There used to be 20+ races on the circuit all around the state.
They had a nice course at Canaan State Park
And a monster point-to-point that went from Blackwater Falls SP to Canaan SP.

Great riding; you need to go to Snowshow and Slatyfork for some DH fun!

Then there's Big Bear, Coopers Rock, Franklin, Charles Fork Lake, Kanawha SF, Mountwood, Calhoun CP, etc...

Now I wish I were on the plateau, playing at Dolly Sods!

[A]

I grew up in OH, learned how to mtn bike (full rigid) at Snowshoe and have ridden all those trails mentioned. I'm in AZ now, but WV has to be one of the greatest places in the world for a mtn biker. Wild, Wonderful, Almost Heaven. Thanks for the memories!

[DesertDog]

I grew up in OH, learned how to mtn bike (full rigid) at Snowshoe and have ridden all those trails mentioned. I'm in AZ now, but WV has to be one of the greatest places in the world for a mtn biker. Wild, Wonderful, Almost Heaven. Thanks for the memories!

Where did you live in Ohio?
I grew up in Weirton, up in the Northern panhandle, across from Steubenville, OH.

First mtb'n for me was at Kanawha State Forest, also on a rigid, a Fuji I got as a credit card premium in '97.  Amazing how much you can rack up when you're a road warrior.

[A]

Where did you live in Ohio?

Columbiana. South of Youngstown, just West of PA border, and North of you. The world is an amazing place. I wish I could go back and revisit and ride all the places I never got to. My dad and I always talked about biking the Greenbrier River Trail; that would be a nice vacation (fall, colors, water, etc).

[DesertDog]

I do miss the Fall colors.  Not the same living out here.

Definitely some nice scenery along the Greenbrier.    Did it with some friends back in '99.  While staging up for the ride, had my new Gary Fisher Paragon HT knocked down and backed over by one of our support crew!  Thought it was finished when I heard the metal scraping the pavement.  Luckily, only bent the crank spider!  After a front der. adjustment, it was rideable and we had a good trip, but I did have to replace the crankset.

[JP]

I was just in Canaan last week!!  I really enjoy biking in the area, really great trails.  Like you noted some places are overgrown, but pushing your way through overgrown trails only adds to the fun.  It was the first place I ever rode a "real" mountain bike back in the early 90's.  In my opinion some of the best riding can be found in WV. 

I picked up a map that blackwater bikes and a lot of the local stores were selling that mapped out a ton of local trails and dirt roads in the area. 
Worth getting if you are thinking of biking in the area.