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.
Know before you go
- Trail network is well-maintained and signed
- Hosts regional mountain bike races
What you can do here
One of the better networks in the western half of the state, well-maintained and signed, and it hosts regional races — which tells you the trails are built to survive traffic. A 2,600-acre park leaves room for real distance without repeating yourself. Outside Parkersburg, this is the closest thing the Mid-Ohio Valley has to a destination network.
Camping sits inside a 2,600-acre county park, which puts the trail network and the 50-acre lake within walking distance of a site. Being county-run, this does not book through the state park system — contact the park directly. Race weekends bring crowds, so check the calendar if you want a quiet night.
The lake covers 50 acres, big enough to warrant a boat and small enough to learn in a weekend. This is county park water rather than a state facility, so ask the park about ramps, motor rules and any local restrictions. Licensing and regulations for the fishing itself run through WVDNR statewide.
Disc golf is part of the park's mix alongside the trails, the lake and the old Volcano oil town site, and it plays year-round. No hole count or layout is published here, so pull the course up on UDisc before driving out. Pairing a round with a lap of the bike network fills a day easily.
Walkers share the mountain bike network, which is signed and maintained well enough that route-finding is not the difficulty. The site of the old Volcano oil town sits within the park's 2,600 acres and gives a walk a destination. Step off the tread when you hear a bike — this is bike-first ground, especially on race weekends.
Fifty acres of lake is a couple of hours of quiet water with no current to fight, which is what a first-time paddler needs. There is no shuttle to arrange and no whitewater to read: put in, work the shoreline, take out. Ask the park about launch points, rentals if any, and whether motors are allowed.
The signed, maintained bike network is what runners use, and that upkeep shows most in the shoulder seasons when unmaintained trail elsewhere turns to mud and blowdown. A 2,600-acre park supports long loops. Check the race calendar first — the same trails host regional mountain bike events and will be busy on those days.
Guides, gear and lodging near Mountwood Park
Place-level placement for operators within range of this trailhead, put-in or crag.
List your business hereNearby in the 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.
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.
Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park
An island in the Ohio River reached by sternwheeler from Parkersburg, holding a reconstructed 1800 Palladian mansion, horse-drawn wagon tours and quiet riverbank walking.
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge
Twenty-two islands and several mainland tracts scattered along nearly 400 river miles of the Ohio, protecting some of the last relatively undisturbed island habitat on the river — critical for freshwater mussels, migratory birds and river-bottom forest.
Hughes River
Three forks — North, South and Middle — draining a landscape of narrow ridges and small farms in Ritchie and Wirt counties, giving quiet Class I canoe water and good smallmouth fishing with almost no other boats.
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.