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Crossing West Virginia
Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia?
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Crossing West Virginia
The C & O canal follows along West Virgina until you get to
Cumberland,Maryland. Then there is a Rails To Trails from Meyersdale to Pittsburgh which somewhat connects back to West Virginia around Weirton. Tom "200a" wrote in message ... Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia? |
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Crossing West Virginia
"mary" wrote in message ...
The C & O canal follows along West Virgina until you get to Cumberland,Maryland. Then there is a Rails To Trails from Meyersdale to Pittsburgh which somewhat connects back to West Virginia around Weirton. Tom "200a" wrote in message ... Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia? The off-road connection between Meyersdale and Cumberland will not be completed for a while. (Last I heard it was late 2004 for a tunnel between Meyesdale and the Mason-Dixon Line. The Cumberland to Mason-Dixon Line path is still in teh planning stage.) The ATATRAIL.org ebsite gives on-road work arounds to bridge the gap. Further south is a rail trail that goes about 1/3rd of the way across the center of the state from Parkersburg. Good luck. |
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Crossing West Virginia
I have taken US 50 and the North Bend Rail Trail (2002) and recommend
neither. I took the C&O from DC to Cumberland, MD, then south to Keyser, WV and US 50. Keyser to Clarksburg is very remote, unpopulated territory in the Potomac Highlands. Very pretty and low traffic. Few services as the towns died out after coal mining stopped. It is also exceedingly mountainous, with lots of steep climbs, some at 9%. The first climb was ~2000 ft at 6-9%. Up, down, and repeat. I was only able to do about half of my normal miles per day in this section. I'm glad the temperature wasn't too hot (50-65F) when I did this section.You have to be in very good shape, and have low gears. The North Bend Rail Trail goes from outside Clarksburg to Parkersburg. It is definately under construction, with many sections loose rock & gravel. I had difficulties on my touring bile (700x37 tires), and would only recommend this for a mountain bike with suspension. At times I could only go 6mph downhill. The section around the State Park and Cairo was OK. Instead, you can take the paralleling US 50 (busy, 4 lane divided, with shoulder), and old US 50 through the small towns. From Parkersburg to Huntington, I took the road on the Ohio side of the river (OH-7) , based on recommendations of friends in Huntington - better road with a shoulder and less traffic. I actually haven't heard of any good routes across WV. They are all quite challenging as you cross the Appalachian Mountains; then again, maybe that is what you are looking for. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go into PA (Pittsburgh) and then go down the Ohio River. "200a" wrote in message ... Anyone have suggested west to east route across West Virginia? |
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Crossing West Virginia
On Fri, 12 Mar 2004 09:59:22 -0500, "RG"
wrote: I have taken US 50 and the North Bend Rail Trail (2002) and recommend neither ... I actually haven't heard of any good routes across WV. They are all quite challenging as you cross the Appalachian Mountains; then again, maybe that is what you are looking for. If I were to do it again, I'd probably go into PA (Pittsburgh) and then go down the Ohio River. First, thanks for posting your report on the road conditions and extreme hilly parts. I've been reading this with some interest, and I am planning a trip from Memphis to Washington DC early this summer. I don't really want to avoid WV, since it is one of three states I'm still missing (the other two are KY and IN, so I should finish as 50 US states with this trip...). I let TopoUSA help pick a route West to East and it brought me via US 33 to Elkins, US 219 to US 50 and Eastbound to Winchester. It sounds like I should at minimum expect some steep climbs/descents and challenging terrain from Elkins and over via US 50, and anticipate shorter days as I cross the Appalachians. Other than the terrain, how is US 50 otherwise in terms of shoulders, rumble strips, traffic, locals you encountered, etc? --mev, Mike Vermeulen |
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