WOAY-TV (Oak Hill, WV): Do you want to enjoy everything Mother Nature has to offer in West Virginia? How about the longest trail in the state that can be used for many purposes.
That means if you are a hiker, if you are a biker, if you like the canoe, if you like the kayak, if you want to learn a lot about West Virginia’s history, this trail offers everything for you today.
Paula Kaufman of Charleston, W.Va., says, “I had a wonderful time running a part of the trail. I was impressed by how well it was marked and really glad to be able to hike a section because a month ago I went out on another section and volunteered just helping mark the trail and clean up some of the brush. I’m super excited, hopefully in the spring to hike the entire trail. But today the section I saw that passed Greenbank was just an awesome experience.”
President of the West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners, Adam Casseday, says, “I love to run the Allegheny Trail because when you set foot on the trail, you know that you’ve got, you know, hundreds of miles in either direction. Where I normally access a trail is outside Elkins where I live. It’s so cool. Whenever I start on the trail, I know that that trail doesn’t end for another 100 miles or more. If I go north and if I go south, I can tie into the Appalachian Trail and run all the way to Springer Mountain, Georgia. In theory, it’s almost like a throwback in time for part of a trail where you get to go back and you don’t hear or see anything but nature. So you get to dive into your own piece of land or the things we love about the trail, too.”
Nicolle Flood-Sawczyszyn, Allegheny Trail Volunteer Coordinator, says, “It’s an all volunteer nonprofit organization, so everybody you see out here is doing it because they love nature. They love to help people get out and enjoy nature and they believe in outdoor recreation. One of the things we have along our trail is wonderful Trailhead. We have a whole shelter system. We’re on the far out, internationally acclaimed gold standard app.”
You might be thinking, this is a great adventure for my husband or my wife, our family, our older kids. But how can the youngsters have fun on the Allegheny Trail? Soon, the Allegheny Trail will connect with Sweet Springs, W.Va. They have about a half mile to go, but even so, right now, you can enjoy plenty of activities for the kids by just hopping off the Allegheny Trail and this sweet spot in West Virginia, we have interactive activities for the children.
Arietta Dupre, Executive Director of Sweet Springs Resort Park says, ” They stop and pick up their little scavenger hunt that they can use on the trail, and when they come back down, they get a prize for completing their scavenger hunt. We’re working on an ABA area where people can come in and they can’t hike so that their family can hike. They can actually have interactive activities as well, like birdwatching. We’re putting in a small ADA trail, so they might be able to just take a nice small walk. We’re trying to make this trail available to everyone. It is for hiking and mountain biking.”
Now, folks, it only takes a tank of gas to get to and from the Allegheny Trail. Why? There are many entry points in our region, including one in Greenbrier County along State Route 92, just north of White Sulfur Springs, very close to the small town of Trainer.
And each season probably has its special entity, correct? Casseday says, “Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I love riding go the Allegheny Trail in wintertime and enjoying seeing the beauty of it, you know, covered in snow and watching the leaves change in the fall. Absolutely.”
Learn more about everything the trail has to offer here.
