Note: toward the northern end for about the last 7 miles they appear to be now mowing the sides of the trail as well and we saw the tractor with a flail mower unit attached and the sides of the trail had been mowed from there to Glady. Be prepared for a good workout but I found the scenery was worth it. The only problem is the grassy area's are a bit moist, thus slowing you like someone slammed on the brakes. The trail has been recently mowed in the middle however when trying to stay in the two main tracks the overhanging briers and bushes will force you into the grassy portion of the trail although I didn't find it very annoying. This was a good choice in our opinion, get the longer climb out of the way first. After checking out the grade and because we were riding the 22 mile trail out and back, we decided to start in Durbin and ride to Glady and back. My friend and I decided to ride it October 24th, 2015 on a cool cloudy day. This was my first time on this trail although I had heard about it for a number of years. Look for the trailhead on the left about 1 mile before you reach the town. Merge onto US 250 going south and follow it all the way to Durbin. To reach the southern trailhead from Elkins, take US 219 south to Huttonsville. The trailhead will be directly in front of you. When you come to the intersection of Glady and Elliots roads, continue straight on Glady through the stop sign and follow the road for approximately 0.25 mile to where it dead-ends. Follow it for approximately 10 miles to the town of Glady. To reach the northern trailhead from Elkins, take US 33 east and make a right onto County Road 27 (Glady Road).
Parking in Durbin is available at Highland St/CR 250/17 & US 250/WV 92. Parking in Glady is available by the West Fork Trail (0.3 mile south of Glady Road/CR 27). You’ll also find a café and grocery store in town, as well as the 1-mile Widney Park Rail-Trail, which connects a campground near the train station with a park.Ībout 15 miles south of Durbin is Cass, another tourist railroad town and the northern point of the state’s longest rail-trail, the 78-mile Greenbrier River Trail. The trail ends in Durbin, the century-old railroad stop that today is home to the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad, which hauls tourists in vintage rolling stock behind steam-belching locomotives to several mountain destinations. The West Fork is well known for its brook trout, and you’re bound to see anglers along the way. The trail traces the meandering river, which makes sweeping turns through a tight valley amid steep hillsides.
In a couple more miles, the West Fork Trail picks up the West Fork of the Greenbrier River, which you’ll follow on a slightly downhill, serpentine route to Durbin. Near the falls, you can walk along the tracks of a tourist train that stops here. In about 3.5 miles, you’ll meet the High Falls Trail, which takes a 6-mile round-trip (not part of this route) to a swimming hole and horse-shoe-shaped waterfall on Shavers Fork. Clearings in groves of conifers (the town is named for these glades) reveal views of the nearby mountains. Starting in the small town of Glady, you’ll travel south along a slope overlooking the West Fork of Glady Fork, a tributary of the Cheat River. In 1905, the Western Maryland Railway took control of the route, and in the 1980s it was taken over by the U.S. Opened in 1903, it connected with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway in Durbin at the southern end of today’s trail. The route was constructed by the Coal and Iron Railway to haul away the region’s coal and timber. The trail is not recommended for wheelchair use. Trail users should be sure to carry food and water, as there are no towns or facilities between Glady and Durbin. Forest Service crews perform maintenance on the trail a couple of times every summer-and a mountain bike or bike with wide tires is recommended for bicyclists. The trail can be a little rocky with ballast left over from the railroad days-despite the fact that U.S. The soothing gurgle of the river complements the trail’s serene environment of thick forests, trailside dis-plays of wildflowers in the spring and summer, and dazzling colors in the fall. The West Fork Trail snakes its way through remote mountain valleys for 22 miles in the Monongahela National Forest.