EXPLORE
NEW TRAILS
FAYETTEVILLE’S MOUNTAIN BIKE MOMENTUM In the midst of a global pandemic, the West Virginia town built 17 miles of singletrack in six months. And they’re just getting started. BY JESS DADDIO
LAST OCTOBER, THE WEST VIRGINIA
adventure hub of Fayetteville rekindled an otherwise dark year with a bright light: the opening of Wolf Creek Trails. Tucked up on a hill three miles south of town, the 17-mile network of singletrack is Fayetteville’s largest purpose-built trail system and the first of its kind to be constructed for public use outside of federal public lands. “Fayetteville has always been known as a whitewater and climbing destination,” says Abbie Newell, Fayette County assistant resource coordinator and president of the Fayette
Trail Coalition. “Now we’re adding [mountain bike] trails, which will truly make this place a multi-day, multisport destination.” While the Wolf Creek Trails are the newest mountain bike-friendly singletrack in town, they’re hardly the first. People have been riding in Fayetteville since New River Bikes opened its doors in 1989. But back then, says New River Bikes owner Andy Forron, the riding was limited to old logging roads and multi-use trails. “The mountain biking was not that good,” says Forron, “but we had a bit of a scene because there were so many other outdoor activities and most people owned a bike. But for years, if you wanted to ride good stuff, you had to leave town.” That sentiment seemed to shift when the multi-use Arrowhead Trails opened on national park property in 2011. Constructed by the Boy Scouts of America, the 12.8-mile stacked loop trail system weaves along the ridges
high above the New River Gorge. Fast and flowy, Forron says the Arrowhead Trails were popular at first and still are among visiting and novice riders. But 10 years later, local enthusiasm for riding at Arrowhead has waned. That’s largely been fueled by frustrations with cumbersome park service processes for addressing trail maintenance and grievances over a lack of trail expansion. “A lot of us have worked with the park service for a long time,” says Gene Kistler, vice president of Fayette County Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and president of the New River Alliance of Climbers. “It’s gotten tougher to get anywhere working on
“TH E MOUN TAIN B IK IN G WAS N OT TH AT G OOD, ” S AY S FORRON , “B UT WE H AD A B IT OF A S CEN E B ECAUS E TH ERE WERE S O MAN Y OTHER OUTDOOR AC TIVITIES AN D MOS T PEOPLE OWN ED A B IK E. B UT FOR Y EARS , IF Y OU WAN TED TO RIDE G OOD S TUFF, Y OU H AD TO LEAVE TOWN . ”
projects with the park service.” In 2018, the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, located just 11 miles outside of Fayetteville, opened its privately owned 35 miles of mountain bike trails. As promising as that newfound access seemed, public use was limited to the off-season winter months and only to members of the Mountain State Trail Alliance, a local nonprofit that promotes rail-trail development. Public access to these trails has since been suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions. What Fayetteville riders needed, and so desperately wanted, was a blank slate of land close to town where they could build a mountain bike system on their own terms and free from federal oversight. And in 2016, the community got just that in Wolf Creek Park.
A M O U N TA I N B I K E R R I D E S T H E N E W W O L F C R E E K TRAILS IN WEST VIRGINIA. PHOTO BY CHRIS JACKSON
MARCH 2021 | BLUERIDGEOUTDOORS.COM
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