The best boardwalk
Sandstone Falls
Sandstone Falls on the New River. A boardwalk from the parking area to a 1,500-foot-wide waterfall with no stairs at any point.
Full guide to Sandstone Falls →Accessible Recreation
Rail-trails have gentle grades, firm surfaces and long uninterrupted mileage, which makes them the most accessible outdoor option in the state. Several state parks operate accessible fishing piers, boardwalks and cabins, and accessible trail advocacy sits explicitly within WV TRAIL's statewide mission.
The rail-trails are the most accessible outdoor option in the state by a wide margin, and two boardwalks get you into landscapes that would otherwise take a hard hike.
Published accessibility information here is often incomplete — calling the individual park is usually more accurate than the website.
Our recommendations
Where we'd send you
For unusual ecology
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
Cranberry Glades. A half-mile accessible boardwalk across relict boreal bog, with good interpretation.
Full guide to Cranberry Glades Botanical Area →For distance
Greenbrier River Trail
The Greenbrier River Trail or the North Bend Extra Mile Trail, which was designed with guide ropes and braille for visitors with visual impairments.
Full guide to Greenbrier River Trail →Practical note
Rail-trail surfaces are crushed limestone, which is firm but not paved. TrailLink identifies the paved segments specifically, which matters for road bikes, wheelchairs and strollers.
What to know before you go
- TrailLink flags paved and accessible rail-trail segments
- Cranberry Glades and several state park boardwalks are fully accessible
- Contact individual parks directly — published accessibility detail is often incomplete
Regions that do it best
Rail-trails, limestone caves, gentle river paddling
Greenbrier Valley
The Greenbrier Valley sits on Greenbrier limestone, producing karst topography: sinkholes, springs, sinking streams and extensive cave systems, several with more than forty miles of surveyed passage.
Ohio River islands and the North Bend Rail TrailMid-Ohio Valley
The Ohio River corridor and the counties inland from it.
Water trails and forest trails near CharlestonMetro Valley
The Kanawha and Guyandotte valleys around Charleston and Huntington, containing the largest share of the state's population.
Every place we cover for accessible recreation
River · New River Gorge
Sandstone Falls
The largest waterfall on the New River — not tall, but 1,500 feet wide, spilling across the full breadth of the river between islands at the point where the gorge begins to open.
1,500 ft falls width10–25 ft drop
Trail · Greenbrier Valley
Greenbrier River Trail
Seventy-eight miles from Cass to Caldwell on a former Chesapeake & Ohio logging grade, crossing 35 bridges by the state park's count and passing through 2 tunnels, following the Greenbrier River the entire way.
78 mi length35 bridges
State Park · Greenbrier Valley
Beartown State Park
A half-mile boardwalk through a formation of large Droop Sandstone blocks separated by deep crevasses, some of which hold ice into early summer.
110 ac park0.5 mi boardwalk
National Forest · Greenbrier Valley
Cranberry Glades Botanical Area
The largest area of bogs in West Virginia — sphagnum and cranberry peat bogs holding plant communities left behind after the last glaciation, more typical of Canada than the mid-Atlantic, including carnivorous sundews and pitcher plants.
750 ac glades0.5 mi boardwalk
National Forest · Greenbrier Valley
Falls of Hills Creek
Three waterfalls in three-quarters of a mile, dropping 25, 45 and 63 feet — the last is the second-highest waterfall in West Virginia.
63 ft lower falls3 waterfalls
Trail · Mountaineer Country
Mon River Rail-Trail System
About 48 miles of connected crushed-limestone rail-trail through Morgantown: the Caperton Trail along the riverfront downtown, the Mon River Trail running north to the Pennsylvania line and south toward Prickett's Fort, and the Deckers Creek Trail climbing 19 miles east to Reedsville.
48+ mi connected19 mi deckers creek trail
State Park · Mountaineer Country
Cathedral State Park
133 acres of virgin eastern hemlock, the last substantial stand of old-growth mixed forest remaining in West Virginia.
133 ac old growth90+ ft hemlock height
State Park · Eastern Panhandle
Berkeley Springs State Park
The oldest spa in the country — warm mineral springs flowing at a constant 74°F that George Washington visited as a young surveyor.
74°F spring temperature1776 town chartered
Trail · Mid-Ohio Valley
North Bend Rail Trail
Seventy-two miles on the old Baltimore & Ohio grade from Wolf Summit to Parkersburg, passing through more than ten tunnels and over dozens of bridges — the longest tunnel run of any rail-trail in the region and part of the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail.
72 mi length10+ tunnels
State Park · Mid-Ohio Valley
North Bend State Park
A 1,405-acre park on a horseshoe bend of the North Fork of the Hughes River, with a lodge, cabins, campgrounds, a 305-acre lake nearby and direct access to the North Bend Rail Trail.
1,405 ac park305 ac north bend lake
AdvertiseThis space is available
Guides and rentals for accessible recreation
Reserved for a West Virginia operator serving this activity. The listings above and below it are unpaid.
List your business hereQuestions people ask
Are there accessible trails in West Virginia?
Yes. The rail-trail network provides the most accessible mileage, and several state parks operate accessible boardwalks, fishing piers and cabins. WV TRAIL includes accessible trail advocacy in its statewide mission.
Organizations, agencies and resources · 11
Groups that handle access, maintenance, licensing and conditions data for this activity. Starred entries publish updates worth following.
West Virginia State Parks
State parks, forests, rail trails, hiking, biking, paddling, camping, fishing, boating and lodging across 35+ properties.
Visit WV TRAIL — Trails & Recreation Advocacy & Information Link
Statewide
Statewide organization covering non-motorized trails of nearly every type: hiking, biking, water trails, equestrian, rail trails and accessible trails.
Visit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy / TrailLink
Biking
National rail-trail advocacy and the most complete West Virginia rail-trail inventory, with paved and accessible segments flagged.
Visit Greenbrier River Trail
Biking
78 miles, 35 bridges and 2 tunnels along the Greenbrier River — the state's flagship rail-trail.
Visit
Harrison Recreational Trails
Biking
Develops hiking, biking, running, equestrian, accessible and water trails in Harrison County.
Mon River Rail-Trails Conservancy
Biking
Maintains the Mon River, Caperton and Deckers Creek rail-trails through and around Morgantown.
Visit WV TRAIL — Accessible Trails
Accessible
Accessible trail advocacy is explicitly within WV TRAIL's statewide trail mission.
Visit West Virginia State Parks — Accessibility
Accessible
Accessible cabins, fishing piers, boardwalks and trail information across the park system.
Visit National Park Service — Accessibility
Accessible
Accessible facilities, overlooks and programs at New River Gorge and other WV park units.
Visit Rails-to-Trails / TrailLink — Accessible Segments
Accessible
Helpful for locating paved and accessible trails with surface and grade information.
Visit National Park Service — West Virginia
Federal lands
All National Park Service units in West Virginia, with alerts, conditions and closures.
Visit Related activities
Every organization we link to: local tourism offices, the state and federal agencies that manage the land, the nonprofits and clubs that keep access open, and the universities doing the research.
West Virginia has roughly 1.5 million acres of public land and a handful of places that carry almost all of the attention. The consequence is that a great deal of very good ground sits nearly empty, usually for one of three reasons: nobody has heard of it, the road in is gated or rough, or it is undeveloped and has nothing to advertise. Those are the places below — of them across regions.