photo ©E. Belling
ENJOY THE MON RIVER / CAPERTON / DECKERS CREEK TRAILS
Currently, 48 miles of the Mon River / Caperton / Deckers Creek Rail-Trails are open for non-motorized use, primarily walking, cycling, jogging, and cross-country skiing with a smooth, durable surface for wheel-chair use and all types of bicycles. In Morgantown and Star City, eight miles of trail are paved, allowing for in-line skating. The rail-trail connects three counties, Marion, Monongalia, and Preston Counties in North Central West Virginia.
The Caperton Trail has an urban feel with neighboring city parks, restaurants, and shops. The relatively flat Mon River Trail meanders along the wooded river valley with occasional bottomland and field habitats. The Deckers Creek Trail is more of a challenge as it climbs at approximately a 2% grade 1,000 feet over 19 miles with rhododendron and hemlock groves, deciduous forests, into more open fields and farmlands in Preston County.
The entire trail network is designated a National Recreation Trail.
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Follow @monrailtrails
Currently, 48 miles of the Mon River / Caperton / Deckers Creek Rail-Trails are open for non-motorized use, primarily walking, cycling, jogging, and cross-country skiing with a smooth, durable surface for wheel-chair use and all types of bicycles. In Morgantown and Star City, eight miles of trail are paved, allowing for in-line skating. The rail-trail connects three counties, Marion, Monongalia, and Preston Counties in North Central West Virginia.
The Caperton Trail has an urban feel with neighboring city parks, restaurants, and shops. The relatively flat Mon River Trail meanders along the wooded river valley with occasional bottomland and field habitats. The Deckers Creek Trail is more of a challenge as it climbs at approximately a 2% grade 1,000 feet over 19 miles with rhododendron and hemlock groves, deciduous forests, into more open fields and farmlands in Preston County.
The entire trail network is designated a National Recreation Trail.
Follow MRTC on Facebook
.Follow @monrailtrails
Collins Ferry Connector Trail
We reached and surpassed our $75,000 fundraising goals! Thank You for all that donated to the Collins Ferry Connector Fundraising Campaign.
The Collins Ferry Connector Trail is a 1/2 mile trail linking the Suncrest and Collins Ferry Road neighborhoods to the Mon River Rail-Trail. The wooded path, once the road right-of-way, goes from end of road down to the rail-trail. The connector trail will become a formal walk/bike right-of-way with the Department of Energy (NETL) and make the route easier and safer with new compacted stone surface, drainage improvements, and safety fencing.
This is one of several neighborhood and downtown connections that the Mon River Trails Conservancy is currently working on to make Morgantown and Star City easier to walk and bike to destinations. MRTC hopes that the Collins Ferry Connector Trail will increase the trail use from Suncrest and Collins Ferry neighborhoods, increase bike commuting to work and more people walking on their lunch hours. It will also decrease the need for cars and parking lots to get to the rail-trail.
STATUS:
We reached a major milestone with fundraising but still have several steps to go:
1) Recreational License agreement with Department of Energy
2) Engineering Designs
3) Construction
Major Funders
Division of Highways DOT Recreational Trail Grant Program
People for Bikes
WV Land Trust
Mylan Pharmaceuticals
Timberline Apartments / Vanguard Residential
We reached and surpassed our $75,000 fundraising goals! Thank You for all that donated to the Collins Ferry Connector Fundraising Campaign.
The Collins Ferry Connector Trail is a 1/2 mile trail linking the Suncrest and Collins Ferry Road neighborhoods to the Mon River Rail-Trail. The wooded path, once the road right-of-way, goes from end of road down to the rail-trail. The connector trail will become a formal walk/bike right-of-way with the Department of Energy (NETL) and make the route easier and safer with new compacted stone surface, drainage improvements, and safety fencing.
This is one of several neighborhood and downtown connections that the Mon River Trails Conservancy is currently working on to make Morgantown and Star City easier to walk and bike to destinations. MRTC hopes that the Collins Ferry Connector Trail will increase the trail use from Suncrest and Collins Ferry neighborhoods, increase bike commuting to work and more people walking on their lunch hours. It will also decrease the need for cars and parking lots to get to the rail-trail.
STATUS:
We reached a major milestone with fundraising but still have several steps to go:
1) Recreational License agreement with Department of Energy
2) Engineering Designs
3) Construction
Major Funders
Division of Highways DOT Recreational Trail Grant Program
People for Bikes
WV Land Trust
Mylan Pharmaceuticals
Timberline Apartments / Vanguard Residential
Masontown Elkins Coal and Coke Building Receives Federal and Local Funding for ReUse
MRTC was awarded $92,000 in federal funding from the WV Division of Highways (WVDOH) to transform the Elkins Coal & Coke Building, a 1907 industrial facility, into an information center and restroom facility for rail-trail and scenic by-way travelers. Located near mile 13 of the Deckers Creek Trail, it will be the first public restroom facility for the 19-mile rail-trail. For rail-trail users, the next closest facility is at mile 0 at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park in Morgantown.
MRTC is matching this funding with $23,000, the 20% local match that is required to make this project a reality. With the $115,000 total project cost, the 1907 Elkins Coal and Coke Building will be engineered and rehabbed as bathroom facilities and visitor information center for the Deckers Creek Trail and the Old Route 7 Scenic Byway.
The City of Masontown, in Preston County, owns the building and property and will maintain the facility once construction is complete. As a friend of the rail-trail, they have already rebuilt a bridge that connects the trail with the building and constructed a picnic weather shelter next to the trail. By 2016, the Masontown Trailhead will be transformed with great new amenities.
Your donations are always needed and get put to good use: http://montrails.org/join.shtml
MRTC was awarded $92,000 in federal funding from the WV Division of Highways (WVDOH) to transform the Elkins Coal & Coke Building, a 1907 industrial facility, into an information center and restroom facility for rail-trail and scenic by-way travelers. Located near mile 13 of the Deckers Creek Trail, it will be the first public restroom facility for the 19-mile rail-trail. For rail-trail users, the next closest facility is at mile 0 at Hazel Ruby McQuain Park in Morgantown.
MRTC is matching this funding with $23,000, the 20% local match that is required to make this project a reality. With the $115,000 total project cost, the 1907 Elkins Coal and Coke Building will be engineered and rehabbed as bathroom facilities and visitor information center for the Deckers Creek Trail and the Old Route 7 Scenic Byway.
The City of Masontown, in Preston County, owns the building and property and will maintain the facility once construction is complete. As a friend of the rail-trail, they have already rebuilt a bridge that connects the trail with the building and constructed a picnic weather shelter next to the trail. By 2016, the Masontown Trailhead will be transformed with great new amenities.
Your donations are always needed and get put to good use: http://montrails.org/join.shtml