This past weekend I had the good fortune to ride North Fork Mountain Trail near Seneca Rocks in West Virginia with a few other CAMBA folks and some riders from Pennsylvania.  This trail was so good that it instantly became o­ne of the top three best trails I've ever ridden anywhere.  Normally I wouldn't take the time to tell everyone about this trail, but it was so good that I feel a duty to share with my fellow mountain bikers!

This trail had all the components of a true epic ride.  It was very remote, it had literally dozens of vista points which were all unreal, it was 25 miles long, and the trails were fantastic.  To make things even more epic, we were chased by thunderstorms for about the entire second half of the ride.  Fortunately, we never actually got wet.



The views were non-stop and some of the best I've seen anywhere.  You ride a ridge line the entire way, so you can basically stop any point and check out the vistas.

The trail itself was probably 90% single-track over a variety of surfaces.  There were smooth sections and rocky sections and a wild downhill at the end.

This trail should o­nly be ridden o­ne direction as a point-to-point.  You'll need to set up a shuttle (meaning a car at either end of the trail) to make it work.  Doing this gives you a 25 mile ride that you'll never forget.  Running the full length of the trail is for advanced riders with strong legs o­nly.  The climbs aren't terribly long, but there are many of them and there's also a few hike-a-bike sections that are pretty tough (both uphill and downhill).



If you're a less experienced rider, you can still enjoy a good sample by riding it as an out-and-back (turning around when you start to feel you've had enough)  from where it starts o­n US-33 south of Seneca Rocks, WV.

This trail requires complete preparation because o­nce you're o­n it, there's really no way off until you reach the end.  You are deep in the back country at all points.  Plenty of food, water, tools, and first aid kits are all an absolute requirement.  Figure at least 5 hours to complete the entire trail at a good pace.  If you're new to these types of epic rides, it's best to go with someone who has done these types of rides before.



You can find maps here: http://www.wvhighlands.org/Pages/Maps_NFM.html

Finding the trailhead without somebody who has been there before will likely be difficult, which is really a shame because a trail this good shouldn't be hidden.  I'd suggest visiting this site and calling the numbers listed for advice: http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/sp/smoke_hole.html

The trail is pretty easy to follow since it's about the o­nly thing around there.  However, there is o­ne tricky point where you'll get o­n a forest road for a mile or two and then get back o­n single-track.

To me, this type of trail is the definition of what mountain biking is all about.  I can't wait to ride it again!