Mon River Trails – Day 1 (Sunday, June 27, 2021)

After over a year hiatus from biking the Hall of Fame trails, Joyce and I decided to resume our quest by riding the Mon River Trail network in West Virginia. Prior to our trip, Joyce brought their bicycles up to our house so that we could transport them to West Virginia. She and her husband, Ron, planned to fly to Washington, D.C. to visit their son, Henry, his wife and their granddaughter before renting a car and driving over to West Virginia to meet us.

View underneath Cooper’s Rock

Since I was born in West Virginia and enjoy visiting the state whenever possible, my husband, Ed, and I decided to take a few days to tour Pipestem State Park, the New River National Park, Summersville Lake, Blackwater Falls State Park, Dolly Sods, and Seneca Rocks prior to meeting Joyce and Ron at Cooper’s Rock State Forest, which is located about just east of Morgantown. Traveling during late June is a perfect time to see the WV state flower, the rhododendron, which was in full bloom at Cooper’s Rock SF. Joyce and Ron drove over from Washington, D.C. this morning, and we parked our travel trailer at the McCollum campground at Cooper’s Rock SF. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at our campsite and took a brief hike under Cooper’s Rock before driving to Morgantown.

Covered Shelter w/ Local Artwork

Leaving Cooper’s Rock, Joyce and Ron followed us to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park in downtown Morgantown where they parked their rental car and then rode with us to the northern terminus of the trail in Point Marion, PA. Ed dropped us off at the trailhead in Point Marion about 4:00 PM, and we biked south on the Sheepskin Rail-Trail (1.4 mile limestone trail from Point Marion to the WV state line) toward Morgantown. At the state line, we continued south onto the Mon River Trail and biked six miles along the Monongalia River to Star City where the trail became paved. The 5-mile portion of the trail from Star City through downtown Morgantown is know as the Caperton Rail-Trail.

View of Monongalia River from Trail

Our ride from Point Marion to Morgantown was mostly tree-canopied and offered frequent views of the Monongalia River on our right. The trail was well-maintained and hard-packed, which made it easier to bike. This portion of the trail was fairly flat, allowing us to maintain a steady pace. We passed a few benches and covered shelters, but we did not see any restroom facilities until we reached the restored train depot in Morgantown; however, the trail map indicates that there are restroom facilities at the Van Voorhis Rd trailhead (MM4).

Wamsley Cycles adjacent to Trail

As we approached the outskirts of Morgantown, we passed a John F. Kennedy memorial (stopped for a photo op), the WVU Core Arboretum (wished that we would have had time to explore) and Wamsley Cycles (offers bike rentals and service adjacent to the Caperton Trail). My favorite view of the day was the WVU Mountaineer campus perched on the hillsides of Morgantown. The public university seems to dominate this college town, which is located in the northern part of the state, and its 20,000 students provide “life” to its local restaurants and businesses. We passed several college-age bikers on the trail. Although I did not attend West Virginia University, I’m a loyal Mountaineer football fan😊.

Amphitheater @ Hazel Ruby McQuain Park

When we reached the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park, it was almost dusk, and the sun was beginning to set over the 2,000-seat amphitheater, which is located adjacent to the Caperton Trail along the banks of the Monongalia River. We decided to place one of the bikes in the Swofford’s rental car so that Joyce could drive about a mile south to the R2T parking lot where my husband had parked our travel trailer. Ron and I biked the remaining distance across the steel pedestrian bridge and past several riverfront eateries down to the R2T parking area where we met Ed and loaded the bikes onto the truck.

“Singing Tree of Diversity” on Caperton Trail

After our ride, we walked back up the Caperton Trail to the Mountaineer State Brewing Company where we ate dinner on the patio adjacent to the Monongalia River. Fortunately, the restaurant is pet-friendly, so we were able to bring Rudy, our 6-month-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel to dinner with us. Ed and Ron tried their local craft beer, and we ordered dinner. I had the apple butter pulled chicken sandwich, and it was delicious.  After dinner, we walked back to our cars and drove to our respective lodgings for the night. Joyce and Ron are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Weston, and we had a campsite reserved at the Stonewall Jackson Resort State Park. Although there are several closer accommodations to the Mon River Trail, we chose to camp at the Stonewall Resort, which is about an hour south of Morgantown.

Mon River Trails – Day 2 (Monday, June 28, 2021)

Martha & Joyce Exiting Tunnel

This morning, we picked up Joyce and Ron at their hotel in Weston and drove to Fairmont where we purchased sandwiches at The Joe before beginning our ride. Originally, we planned to buy pepperoni rolls in honor of the WV coal miners who often carried them in their lunch pales; however, the restaurant had gone out of business. Ed dropped us off at the southern terminus of the paved Marion County Trail (McTrail) where we packed our panniers for the day-long ride. We biked through a 1200-ft tunnel on the 2.5 mile ride to Prickett’s Fort. Although we had packed headlamps to ride through the tunnel, we didn’t need them because it was well lit. The temperature in the tunnel was at least 10 degrees cooler inside. Joyce and I enjoyed the ride through the tunnel so much that we decided to ride through it again.

Prickett’s Fort State Park

It was a little after 10 AM when we reached Prickett’s Fort State Park. We parked our bikes and took a brief walking tour of the fort before resuming our ride. The park includes an 18th century recreation of Prickett’s Fort which provided refuge to colonial Virginians from Native Indians. At Prickett’s Fort, the McTrail connects to the southern portion of the Mon River Trail. We biked 19 miles north on the limestone Mon River Trail back to Morgantown. The southern section of the Mon River Trail is slightly downhill and very scenic, offering frequent views of the Monongalia River on our left. We passed numerous benches and a few covered pavilions but no restroom facilities.  This portion of the trail is very remote and there are only a few access points.

Trickle of Water @ Little Falls

We had planned to eat our picnic lunch at the foot of Little Falls, but there was barely any water flowing down the overhanging rocks. We were disappointed that the falls did not match our expectations. Prior to the trip, I saw a picture of the waterfall and thought it would be a perfect spot for our lunch; however, the photo must have been taken after a rainstorm or melting snow. Even though West Virginia is not in a drought, we would have biked right past the falls had Joyce not noticed the trickle of water flowing down from the rocks above. Joyce and Ron decided to eat at a nearby bench overlooking the river, but I climbed a few steps off the trail down to the base of the trickling waterfall and enjoyed the cooler temperatures while I ate my sandwich. After lunch, we approached a covered pavilion less than a mile north of Little Falls, which probably would have been a better spot to eat.

Monongalia River Lock near Morgantown

On our ride north to Morgantown, we passed at least two river locks. Monongalia is one of only a few rivers in the United States that actually flows south to north. We stopped to observe the locks and continued on our ride. We arrived in Morgantown about 45 minutes earlier than expected so we decided to enjoy a rootbeer float at the Mountaineer State Brewing Company while we waited for my husband to pick us up at the Mon River Trail parking lot. From Morgantown, we drove east along Deckers Creek toward Reedsville. Although we did not have time to bike the entire length of the Deckers Creek Trail, which is also part of the Mon River network, we decided to bike a 7-mile scenic portion from Masontown to Mellons Chapel.

Martha on Deckers Creek

The Deckers Creek Trail begins at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park in Morgantown and travels 18 miles southeast to Reedsville. We chose to bike northwest from Masontown to Mellons Chapel to take advantage of the 2% downhill grade. This portion of the trail paralleled Deckers Creek and was extremely scenic. We spotted a couple of riders who had abandoned their bicycles beside the trail to take an afternoon swim in the creek below. The shoals and small waterfalls along the creek offered a spectacular backdrop for this portion of the trail. Succumbing to temptation, I decided to park my bike and scramble down to the water where I removed my shoes and dipped my feet into the cool, rushing water. Joyce and Ron followed me down to the water’s edge, and we took a moment to soak in this beautiful spot. Although I fell a few times on the slippery rocks, I do not regret my decision to “get my feet wet.”

Returning to the trail, we biked a couple more miles to the parking lot at Mellon’s Chapel where Ed was waiting for us in the parking lot. Joyce and Ron rode with us, and we dropped them off at their hotel on our way back to our campsite. Later that evening, Joyce and Ron joined us at our campsite for dinner (enchiladas, salad, and garlic bread). After dinner, Joyce and I kayaked in Stonewall Lake. This was the perfect ending to resuming our bike rides on the Hall of Fame Trails. I can’t wait for the opportunity to vote for the 2021 inductee to the Hall of Fame trails, which will determine our next trip…

Mon River Rail-Trail and Deckers Creek Rail Trail, Morgantown, West Virginia; June 27- 28, 2021

View of Valley from Cooper’s Rock

This trip actually began with Ron and I flying to Washington, D.C. on Friday the 25^th to spend a day and a half with Henry and Daneille and our new little granddaughter Olivia, 5 months old now.  We rented a car in DC and drove about three and a half hours on Sunday morning to Cooper’s Rock State Forest east of Morgantown, where we met Martha and Ed at their camper for a lunch of Subway sandwiches that Ron and I had picked up on the trip over. (For the record, in her normal detailed manner, Martha had previously identified where we could get these sandwiches on the drive over). I want to add that for dessert we had some of Ed’s delicious made-from-scratch chocolate chip cookies that apparently have become a tradition on all their camping trips lately.  After lunch we had a nice—a little over a mile probably—walk to the lower view of Cooper’s Rock (huge rock!) and back around to the upper view of the valley from the top of the rock.  It was gorgeous, as are most of the West Virginia mountains and valleys.   

After that, we each drove over to Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park in downtown Morgantown, where Ron and I left our car and then Ed drove us and our bikes to the start of the trail at Point Marion Park in Pennsylvania.  To clarify some logistics here, I note that I had taken mine and Ron’s bikes up to Martha’s and Ed’s place in Canton, Georgia, before we left for DC and they had transported our bikes along with their bikes on the back of their truck and camper.  Ed was indispensable on this trip as a shuttler:  today he had left the camper back at the State Forest to bring us and our bikes to the start of the trail and then had to go back to Cooper’s Rock to attach the camper to his truck and then turn around and drive back to Morgantown (a trip of about 30 minutes each way, at least) to meet us at the end of this day’s ride.

Joyce & Ron on Mon River Trail

When we were unloading our bikes and getting our helmets on, Ron noticed that my Gary Fisher back tire was completely flat.  We tried to pump it up, but the problem seemed to be a break in the stem, so that air just would not go into the tire.  Not to let this deter us, we decided that I should just ride Martha’s Tern fold-up bike that conveniently happened to be on the back of the truck also.  No problem, so we took off soon after 4 p.m. and started pedaling.  The name of the trail in Pennsylvania is actually called the Sheepskin Rail-Trail until the trail crosses the state line and becomes the Mon River trail.  The trail follows the Monongahela River, which made for a scenic view.  It was made of crushed limestone, pretty well packed, and so not difficult, and was supposed to be slightly downhill, but as we rode we noticed that the river was not flowing the same way as we were riding, which caused Ron to think that we had tricked him again (we admit we have in the past done some slight misrepresentations about the difficulty of some hikes and trails) in order to get him to agree to go, especially in light of his lack of exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic that we were just coming out of. But, really, it was not a difficult ride, and he did the whole 11.4 miles just fine, or at least he didn’t complain about it.  It was not hot at all, and the view of the river was good most of the time, and it felt SO GOOD to me to be back on the bikes on a trail trip!

We met Ed at the riverfront near where we had left our car, loaded our bikes back onto the truck, and walked to a riverfront restaurant for a nice dinner on their patio.  Then we headed south to our respective lodging for the night—us at the Holiday Inn Express in Weston, West Virginia, and them at the Stonewall Jackson State Park.

Ron @ Tunnel on McTrail

At 8 a.m. sharp the next morning (Monday) Ron and I were waiting outside the Holiday Inn for Ed to pick us up to take us to Fairmont for the beginning of the trail on the south end, riding north today.  This part of the trail was actually called Mctrail, running for 2.5 miles to Prickett’s Fort State Park.  This part is paved, and I rode another extra bike Martha had brought, Ron still riding his Kona that our son Tommy had done a tune-up on before we left and so was in good shape.  Again, the trail followed the river, though I don’t remember seeing much of the river on this part—woodsy and cool instead—and we got to ride through a 1200 foot tunnel.  We had brought our headlights but didn’t need them because the tunnel was lighted, and we could see daylight at the other end of the tunnel.  It was fun, though, so Martha and I rode it twice! 

Joyce & Ron @ Prickett’s Fort

We did a little walking around at Prickett’s Fort but didn’t stay long enough for a tour before we got back on our way.  We had purchased a sandwich for lunch along the way in Fairmont, so we were set for the day’s ride and wanted to get going again.  The view of the river was really pretty—a nice wide river, the trail was hard-packed with crushed limestone, and at least three-fourths of the trail was under the shaded canopy of the trees lining the trail, with about a twelve-foot cliff on our right and the river on our left.  We were going with the flow of the river, but it felt more flat than downhill, except in a few short places. 

Covered Shelter North of Little Falls

Martha had picked out a little waterfall for us to eat our picnic lunch beside, but it wasn’t where we thought it would be on the trail, so we rode on a little bit until we did see a trickle of water coming out of a rock on the cliff, that we figured was the waterfall.  Ron didn’t want to eat lunch on the ground, but Martha wanted to sit on the rocks by the little waterfall, so she stayed there, and Ron and I rode a little farther to where we could see a bench to sit on.  (Unbeknownst to us, a covered shelter was just a little farther up the trail where we could have had a bench under some shade, but Martha would not have had the sound of falling water, so in the end it was okay the way it worked out.)  We saw few people on this trail—maybe six total—so it was a nice country ride for the 19 miles of the trail into Morgantown, back to Hazel Ruby McQuain Riverfront Park.  The ride reminded me of the LeHigh Gorge Trail in Pennsylvania that Martha and I had taken a few years ago.  The one thing I noticed about this trail is the lack of any bathroom facilities, except for the woods, and even then the woods were not very thick.  Fortunately, today’s ride was not one that had me anxious about finding a toilet, so it worked out just fine.

Joyce Cooling off @ Deckers Creek

Since Ed wasn’t on time to pick us up, we locked up our bikes and had a rootbeer float at the Mountain State Brewing Company (they made their own rootbeer, and it was very good) to cool off and relax (and use their bathroom facilities) before we headed to our next trail.  Still no complaints from Ron, so he must have been in better physical shape than he thought.  After Ed got there and we loaded the bikes back onto the back of the truck, indispensable Ed again drove us to our next trail ride, this one about 45 minutes away in Masontown, where we would ride for about seven miles on the Deckers Creek Trail to Mellsons Chapel.  This trail was again compacted crushed limestone and followed the creek instead of the river, so it was more mountainous in the scenery.  Plus a good part of this ride was downhill, so that was really nice.  It reminded me of being on the Bizz Johnson trail in northern California, but don’t get me wrong that I think if you’ve done one you’ve done them all.  They are similar, but each of the trail rides is a unique experience.  There’s just a limited number of ways trees and creeks and trails can interact.  Along the way, Martha wanted to get her feet wet in the creek, so she found a good place we could park our bikes and walk down to the river and sit on the rocks and let our feet dangle in the cool water.  Fun! This part of the whole ride probably was the favorite part for all of us, either for the scenery or for the downhill aspect, but I do have vivid pleasant memories of the Monongahela River flowing along on our right as we headed north earlier that day.  It deserved to be a hall-of-fame trail for the scenery and ambience.

Joyce Kayaking on Stonewall Jackson Lake

After driving us back to the Holiday Inn, they went on to Stonewall Jackson, and after a little break, we drove over to their camper and had a great dinner of enchiladas that they had prepared (along with more cookies!) and then Martha and I went kayaking on the lake there.  Beautiful surroundings and smooth water—first time kayaking for me in quite a while, but Martha is a good teacher. 

The next morning Ron and I headed back to DC, met Henry at Olivia’s day care, turned in the car and had a good dinner with them at their home.  They also surprised us with a birthday cake for the two of us!  (both birthdays coming up later in the month)  We flew back to Atlanta the next morning, glad that we had made the trip, and as I said before, it was SO GOOD to be back on the trail again after this year of isolation.